Uncomfortable and itchy – flea bites are irritating and painful. If they get worse, they can even become a rash or become infected. This is why fleas shouldn’t be tolerated inside your house.
Fleas suck the blood out of their host and can live up to a year. But will you wait for a year before you try to remove them from your home? How will you get rid of your fleas problem? Keep reading below to find out.
How Do Fleas End up in Your Home
Fleas ride their host and lay their eggs on them. These eggs fall off onto the floor or the surroundings, effectively infiltrating the environment they’re in. It doesn’t take much for a flea infestation to happen as they grow in numbers fast enough. Fleas can lay up to 500 eggs in their lifetime, with an average of 20 to 50 eggs a day.
Here is how they can get to your home:
- Pets – Often, your dogs and cats are the ones that bring in the fleas after playing outside. But your pets can still have fleas even if they don’t go out and are kept inside.
- Old furniture – You must double-check those you got from a garage sale or someplace else as they might have a hidden infestation.
- Clothing – It can be from your clothes or from a guest who has an already infested home. This doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens.
- No host – Fleas can just waltz into your home because they are small and can fit any crevice.
How to Manage Fleas Infestation
These are fool-proof recommendations that will work for anyone.
Clean Your House
Remove any stray and unneeded items in the house. Check toys, shoes, clothes, and other items that may be grounds for fleas to lay their eggs on.
Be warier of carpeted areas, if you have any. Vacuum them regularly, along with your upholstered furniture. Don’t forget to vacuum underneath your big and heavy furniture. Move them if you can to completely clean every surface.
Regularly tour your house searching for any possible infestation, such as places your pets like to sleep on. Look for dark specks and dried blood. Pay extra attention to “flea dirts” that the larvae feed on as these places are their breeding grounds and thoroughly vacuum these areas. Vacuuming does not only remove the flea dirts but also forces the cocoons to hatch prematurely so they don’t stay insecticide-resistant. If you put insecticide in the carpet, vacuuming will also help knead the insecticide further within.
Take Care of Your Pets’ Hygiene
Always bathe your pets, especially after they play outside. Use a flea comb and wash it in hot soapy water to kill the fleas. Be more attentive to your pet’s neck and tail, as these are the areas where fleas mostly hide.
Check-in with your vet and ask them for any other possible flea control solution. If you have more than one pet, make sure to check all of them for infestation. If you don’t, fleas from one pet can still go to the others, and all of your pet will be infected anyway.
Change your pets’ beddings weekly, for at least a month. You can wash them in hot, soapy water to kill eggs and larvae, dry clean them, or discard them in favor of new ones.
Let the Sun In
Fleas don’t thrive in heat and dry areas as moisture is necessary for larvae to turn into pupae and adult fleas. Extremely high heat tends to kill fleas and their eggs, so it’s advisable to clean your clothes and your pets’ beddings using high heat.
Trim plants or bushes that prevent light from coming into your house. Make it a habit to tie your curtains so more sunshine can penetrate inside.
Take Advantage of Flea-Removal Methods
The following are some removal methods you can choose from:
- Aerosol sprays – Often preferred over foggers, aerosol sprays can be directed to infected areas such as underneath furniture.
- Foggers – Also called bug bombs, this device contains insecticides and creates a fog to destroy pests. See to it that your insecticide contains adulticide and insect growth regulators. These chemicals kill fleas that are in all stages of their life cycle.
Wear gloves when applying the insecticide and stay away from the treated area until the insecticide is dry. You can open the windows to help in drying the insecticide faster.
- Green lights: This is a device that imitates the shadow of a passing host. This faint, slow blink attracts fleas and takes advantage of these pests’ eyes being sensitive to green and yellow.
- Sticky flea pads: As their name suggests, sticky flea pads can be placed near infected beddings and areas, so the fleas get trapped in the pads.
- Organic flea fillers: boric acid, cedar oil, rosemary spray, baking soda, salt, diatomaceous earth.
It’s hard to live with fleas in your home. They are a threat not only to your pets but also to you and your children. Follow the guide above and maintain the cleanliness of your house, and you’ll soon be flea-free!