The Known Facts About fleas

Things to know about fleas.

Fleas are tiny little bugs that really prove to be a big pain.
Not just animals suffer from this, humans do as well.
Fleas can be quite a problem to rid from your houses.

These are a few facts about fleas to consider.

Blood is necessary for fleas to continue living and gives them the ability to reduce.

Over 140,000 fleas can come from a single female through three months of reproducing.

Both humans and animals can contract diseases from fleas.

A lot of itching and discomfort can come from a flea bite. Allergies may be stirred up from this as well. Capable of leaping over 70 times their own height fleas can travel great distances. There are two stages within their life cycle that fleas are protected from pesticides.

• The egg
• the pupa

Cycle of a Flea's Life

Ranging between a few weeks to a couple of years, the life cycle of a flea can take a while. During the egg and pupa stages the flea is protected from pesticides.

Stage 1, Egg: The eggs are laid directly on the animal, they can fall off into your home.

Stage 2, Larva: This worm like form enjoy getting into your bedding as well as carpet. It looks for moist areas away from the sunlight. This larva can survive off dried blood, loose hairs, and old skin.

Stage 3, Pupa: In this stage they take a cocoon form which is well protected for around a year.

Stage 4, Adult: Upon hatching the adult looks for blood. The adult form is capable of surviving for many months without having to eat.

However, the issue is the fact that you don't even need pets to get fleas in your home. Without pets for the fleas to suck blood from they go after humans. They can travel through the use of your clothing to reach new areas.
Flea bites on humans is common.

They can be transplanted from other infested lawns as well. All of these facts about fleas are good to keep in mind. Through the knowledge of how fleas live you can know just what to do in order to remove them.

What Do You Consider When Looking For A Pest Exterminator?

What’s a pest?  To you it might be the fleas living in your house or the birds eating your sunflowers.  It could mean those raccoons that eat your dog’s food at night or the cock roaches scurrying around at night. Whatever you’re meaning of pests is you’ll need the right pest exterminator to eliminate that problem.  Not all pest exterminator are made equal.

Exterminators can get rid of any problem you have but you need the right exterminator for the right pest. Some pests can cause a lot of problems and should be eliminated before they cause too much damage, other pest problems are just that, pest problems. Choosing the right pest exterminator is easy if you know what to look for in a professional pest exterminator.

Whether it’s  mice, fleas, spiders, rats, bed bugs,  roaches or other outside invaders, a pest exterminator can eliminate the problem.  The most important thing an exterminator will do is examine the pest problem and decide what the pest is and the best way to get rid of it. If they just come out and start spraying or try to wrap you around a yearly contract they probable don’t know what they are doing.  Always be sure to research or get a friend to recommend a pest exterminator.

Most exterminator services will take care of insects, bugs, mice, fleas and many more but if they don’t normally exterminate, say scorpions, then you want to research until you find a company that specializes in them before hiring them for your pest problem. Choose the right pest company for the right pest.

Make sure the exterminator service dose a thorough inspection of your home and tell you (in writing) what the problem is and how they will fix it Also what chemical or treatment they’ll use and how often it’s needed to control your pest problem.  Since most pest problems take more then one visit by the exterminator company, be wary of promises that your problem can be fixed with one treatment. If they don’t know what they’re doing and you should continue to look for a good pest exterminator.

If you choose a yearly service make sure the treatment takes care of interior and exterior.  Pests come from outside to the inside of your house looking for food, water or shelter. Their service should include treatment of soil, turf, or mulch areas outside the house. They should also include door thresholds, windows casing and under eaves as well as any entry points.

Pest exterminators should offer treatments around crack and crevices in the kitchen, bathrooms, and utility rooms.  They should include treatment under and around appliances as well.  Your garage and carport should be included in the service contract.  Don’t forget the attic, crawl spaces and drains where pests can easily get in.

Using the right pest exterminator for the right pest will effectively rid you of your pest problems.

Flea Control

To get a good integrated flea control program you must includes good sanitation and treatment of the pet and environment. You can eliminate fleas from your home or building with proper treatment, but it may take time and perseverance, especially if the infestation is heavy.
 Sanitation.
To be successful you need to vacuum thoroughly and change pet bedding regularly. Vacuuming removes up to 30 percent of the larvae and up to 60 percent of flea eggs from a carpet depending on your vacuum cleaner, as well as the larvae’s food supply of dried blood.
If you really want success with flea control be thorough when vacuuming, you need to vacuum under furniture, cushions, chairs, beds, and along walls. Get rid of vacuum cleaner bags at least once a week, better yet get rid of bags when your through vacuuming. Fleas can continue to develop inside vacuum cleaner bags and re-infest the house.
Treating your Pets.
A flea comb and a good bath is your pet’s first line of defense for flea control. Soap acts as a gentle insecticide and helps control light infestations on your pet. Though time consuming, combing helps reduce the need for insecticides. Flea combs have fine teeth that remove adult fleas from fur. Most dogs and cats seem to enjoy this treatment; pay particular attention to the face and neck, and the area in front of the tail. Dip the comb frequently in soapy water or an alcohol solution to kill fleas removed from the pet.
    Insect growth regulators, or IGRs, are a safe preventative treatment for fleas. These products work by disrupting the normal development of flea eggs and larvae. When exposed to IGRs, adult fleas are unable to reproduce; eggs fail to hatch and larvae die before they complete their development. Because most IGRs kill only eggs and larvae, they do not eliminate adult fleas quickly. For this reason, they are usually mixed with a mild insecticide.
    Insect growth regulators are available as sprays, spot-ons, pills or food additives. One product designed for internal use is called Program^® (active ingredient: lufenuron). Program^® can be given as a pill (for dogs), food additive (for cats), or injection (for cats). A similar product, Sentinel^®, contains lufenuron plus a heart-worm preventative. These products are available only through veterinarians. They are very effective for flea control, particularly for indoor pets.
    Two other insect growth regulators for topical use are methoprene and pyriproxyfen. Methoprene is sold under several trade names including Precor^® and vIGRen^®. Methoprene and pyriproxyfen are available at pet stores as dips, pet sprays, spot-ons and flea collars. Control requires 4 to 6 weeks.
    For severe flea problems and better flea control, an IGR treatment may not be quick enough. Use a product that kills adult fleas, such as imidacloprid (Advantage^TM) or fipronil (Frontline^TM). Both products have low toxicity to mammals and pose little risk to pets or people. Advantage^TM and Frontline^TM provide 1- and 3-month protection from fleas, respectively. Frontline^TM also kills ticks for up to 1 month after application. Both Advantage^TM and Frontline^TM are available from veterinarians as spray and spot-on treatments.
    Spot-on treatments (pesticides applied to one or more spots on the animal’s back) control adult fleas effectively. Natural oils on the fur help transfer the pesticide to all parts of the pet’s body. Before you apply any products, read and follow label directions carefully. Puppies and cats are different from adult dogs and the products designed for them are different, unless specified on the label.
    Botanical (plant-based) insecticides kill adult and larval fleas and are relatively low in toxicity. Botanical insecticides include pyrethrum (or pyrethrins) and citrus oil extracts (limonene and linalool). Use botanical insecticides with care. Though usually safe when applied according to label directions, some pets (especially certain cat breeds) are sensitive to botanicals-especially citrus oil products.
    It is sometimes claimed that garlic, Brewer’s yeast, cedar bedding and various herbal sachets control fleas, but there is little scientific evidence to support such claims. Volatile oils in fresh cedar chips are toxic to fleas, but the effect lasts a very short time. Tests have shown that Brewer’s yeast does not protect pets from fleas.
 One of the reasons the profession exterminator is successful with flea control is the application and the follow up. With out follow up you might as well not even bother.
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How To Get Rid Of fleas

Below is some questions I ran into on How to get rid of fleas

Question:

My house is infested with fleas! I have never had fleas before I moved into this house. I bought flea collars for the dogs and flea spray made especially for cats, and some spray for the carpet, but what else can I do? I need all the help I can get! Thanks.

Answers by various people about how to get rid of fleas:

If you don't want to use frontline or that other chemical they have (can't think of the name right now) you might try setting off a bug bomb (get everyone including pets, out of the house first), give dogs baths (with flea shampoo),then start feeding them small amounts of garlic, and that ought to solve the problem.

When my house was infested (many years ago) I got some bombs, spray, and shampoo from the vet. I bombed the house and the inside of my car because the dog was in there a lot. Worked great, and I have been using frontline type flea control ever since. Only have to go through it once to learn...what a royal pain! The vacuum is your friend right now too. Get every nook and cranny.

Flea collars are a scam. Get the between the shoulder flea drops and put on the pets or animals and start vacuuming every day for a month, and that should get rid of the problem.

All the above answers are very good to some degree when it comes knowing how to get rid fleas; the one thing that is missing is the follow up. You must repeat the process in 2-3 weeks to be successful. You really only need to vacuum a couple of times, more important is to get the bag out of cleaner or dump contents outside in a plastic bag and throw into garbage. Fleas will escape out of a vacuum cleaner.
Remember this if you cannot get rid of the problem please call a professional exterminator, so that the animals will not be miserable.

Good luck to you!