Flea infestation

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) Do electric flea traps work? I've vacuumed the carpets twice, but :) still have fleas. The vacuum is old and doesn't have a very powerful :) suction. SHould I get a steam vacuum? I want to avoid using pesticides :) and carpet powders. I would like to know if those plug in flea traps :) with glue traps attached, work. :) The adult fleas are only a percentage of the on going problem..there will be eggs, larvae and pupae to deal with. An easy flea trap can be made that will attract adults, but will not stop a infestation from happening. Plug a night light in an outlet near the floor or place a small lamp on the floor and place a pie pan with water (few drops of dish soap optional) under the light.

Treating the pets is a must..the fleas will develop where the host animal is spending time...the adults are on the animal feeding...laying eggs dropping fecal matter (dried blood). Where ever the animal is walking, laying around, eating, etc. the eggs and fecal matter will fall off. The eggs hatch and the larvae will find the fecal matter and other organic matter and feed, so these areas also need to be treated with an insect growth regulator or IGR to stop the cycle by killing the eggs and keeping the larvae from developing into adults. Most products will contain the insecticides permethrin or linalool which only hang around a short period of time and will help kill the emerging adults from the "cocoons" but the growth regulator in the products will be active a number of months, but only effect the eggs and larvae.

You can get rid of a problem by only treating the pets with Frontline or Advantage, but it takes time...if the company you hire truly has a steam cleaner you should be able to stop the infestation if all areas are hit, including under the beds and furniture cushions. But the fleas will be back in a couple of weeks.

[Pop]

Yup, I think you're going to have to. Go the the store and read the directions on different kinds and see what you like. You'll likely have to do more than one treatment also - there will be lots of eggs left over. Are they ONLY in the home, or are they under it too? If they're all over under it or around it, in the soil/grass whatever, you're gtoing to have your work cut out for you.

I'd suggest a trip to google.com and read up on the various methods of flea controls. No, the electric gizmos, traps etc. don't work for a full fledged infestation which you seem to have.

HTH,

Pop

[Gort]

Borax powder is said to dehydrate both the fleas and their eggs, thus killing them and preventing further infestations. I'd check into that. It's non-toxic to humans and normal house pets. Also, it's cheaper than pesticides.

[ByzeiwIG]

Whenever I walk around the house, especially in carpeted areas, fleas attach themselves to my legs and feet. Worse for my mother. In the course of three or four days, we caught about fifty fleas. Instead of trying to kill them with our fingers, we will pick them off, and drown them in a big bowl of water.

Do electric flea traps work? I've vacuumed the carpets twice, but still have fleas. The vacuum is old and doesn't have a very powerful suction. SHould I get a steam vacuum? I want to avoid using pesticides and carpet powders. I would like to know if those plug in flea traps with glue traps attached, work.

I have a feeling I will have to order insecticides and powder.

[PipeDown]

Vacuum all you want, you'll never get them all.

Start with powdering the rugs, vacuuming all furniture and curtains, washing all affected laundry, linens etc. Powders containing primarily Pyrethrums are very safe. Steam cleaning will probably help but again, many fleas may not be in the rug.

Glue traps don't work for fleas because they do not forage like ants or cockroaches but wait for a meal to walk by before jumping. Maybe you can wrap an object in fly paper and warm it to body temp then wave ot over the carpet. (sounds crazy and might catch a few but not all)

If the infestation continues, you'll need to get a bug bomb (also at supermarket or pet store) and treat all rooms according to directions and stay out of the house for a day at least.

Even if you kill all the fleas today, you will need to retreat to kill the ones waiting to hatch from the eggs tomorrow.

Give in and get a spray or powder. Is your discomfort and risk of getting an infection from scratching a bite worth worring about the negligabe risk of toxic reactions to flea treatments.

I assume you have a pet. get it treated. Frontline or similar works best. Clean the areas the pet goes to and have it checked for worms too as they can be transmitted by flea bites.

[ByzeiwIG]

No pets. A few months ago, a raccoon came down the chimney and gave birth while we were on vacation. THe mother abandoned the babies, which were perhaps a week old, since their eyes were closed.I got the raccoons to a wildlife preserve. Anyway. My mom noticed a few fleas. I didn't notice any. Fast forward a few months and the flea infestation. My money is on the the mother raccoon being the flea carrier. Man do these fleas multiply.

There is a product sold by Home Depot called Zep flea killer. Active ingredient is Nylar, which is an IGR according to the net info. SUpposed to be safe for mammals. Its a spray for carpets, furniture and drapes, and supposed to last for 7 months.

There are IGR powders sold on the net which meld to the carpet fibers and are supposed to be vacuum proof. Home Depot's website only showed the Zep flea killer spray.

[maradcliff]

I had this happen years ago. First, you got to get them off your pet. Flea collars really help. Then get some flea spray made to be sprayed on the pet. Get several cans. Thoroughly spray the pet. Then spray the carpet and furniture with the same stuff. I did that once and the fleas were gone. However, keep working on the pet, and keep a flea collar on them.

[Danglerb]

Fleas are intolerable houseguests, but ones that aren't that hard to evict.

Flea larvae growth hormone stuff is the big weapon, fairly harmless and it LASTS a long time, but does nothng for existing adult fleas. Patience or other ingredients will get them soon enough.

Decent performing upright vacuums (do best on floors) are less than $100, get one and sprinkle some powder stuff then vacuum thoroughly. When the fleas are snacking on you, something like 90% of the blood comes right out of them as little lunch boxes for the larvae etc. in the carpet to eat. Vacuum the bloodmeal up and keep the carpet dry with sprinkled powder and you hit them where it counts. Anything left the hormone stuff prevents from becoming an adult.

[Bonnie Jean]

Get over your aversion to pesticides for one day. Go get yourself some flea bombs. Their effect is residual, so you most likely will not have to re-bomb. My recommendation is not to skimp either. Use one bomb per room because the fog has a difficult time making it from one room to the next. This can be an expensive proposition but I would go this route. Bonnie in NJ

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) Borax powder is said to dehydrate both the fleas and their eggs, thus :) killing them and preventing further infestations. :) I'd check into that. It's non-toxic to humans and normal house pets. :) Also, it's cheaper than pesticides. :) :) Borax powders/dust are probably the most toxic application you can use comapred to other solutions..along with it can be a pain for years cleaning up dust afterwards.

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) the raccoons to a wildlife preserve. Anyway. My mom noticed a few :) fleas. I didn't notice any. Fast forward a few months and the flea :) infestation. My money is on the the mother raccoon being the flea :) carrier. Man do these fleas multiply. :) :) There may be a new host animal hanging around that will need to be addressed if the raccoon was months ago... Check the ingredients of the Nylar can and make sure it also has an insecticide on the label, if not you may want to release a fogger to kill the exposed adults for the growth regulator will do nothing for them and the ones in the cocoon stage.

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) My recommendation is not to skimp either. Use one bomb per room :) because the fog has a difficult time making it from one room to the next. :) This can be an expensive proposition but I would go this route. :) Bonnie in NJ :) :) :) Never over do the flea bombs...they can be ignited by a spark or pilot light.... then house goes boom.

[ByzeiwIG]

No pet. Do you rmeember the brand of product you used, or what the active ingredient was?

Thank You to all who responded to my dilemma.

[BocesLib]

Do that myself and it worked fine. No fleas in YEARS!

[Ron Hardin]

It works. Almost 20 years ago I dropped a snow of Borax on the carpets in question and scuffed it in. The fleas disappeared, and have not reappeared. The stuff works forever, apparently.

This on the advice of a post to rec.pets long ago, said to have been advice of a Florida vet.

There followed a string of reports of success, and some reports of failure from the West Coast, so maybe the West Coast fleas are different. Ohio fleas succumb.

Then there followed the alarm posts, that Borax is toxic, toxic data sheets, etc. etc., and the panic-inclined attempted to clean up all the applied Borax (good luck getting it out of the carpet - that stuff is there to stay).

My first Doberman lived to 13 1/2 so it can't be too toxic. The follow-on Doberman is 6 and going strong, without fleas by the way.

For all I know, the stuff is in fact toxic, but I'm not panic-inclined and it's been a permanent flea fix for my house.

No flea collars or anything have been needed ever since the first application.

[G Henslee]

Do what, stupid? Lick your balls?

[Norminn]

Do you have a pet? When we treated our cat, with Advance or whatever it was, the fleas disappeared. It's been a while, and the cat is gone, so I don't recall the name of the stuff. When we got the first prescription, the vet also advised dusting carpet with boric acid powder, which we purchased from him in a rather large cannister. He advised leaving it on a week, then vacuuming it up. As it turned out, we did not need to use it. Trust me, bug bombs are worthless. Vacuuming religiously and disposing of what you vacuum is important. Eggs take about three days to hatch, I believe, and you have to kill the newly hatched before they lay eggs.

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

Not so expensive compared to the aggravation of flea bites. Back in the days of my owning a cat, every mid summer I'd get eaten alive by the little bastards. I'd toss the cat out and fog the house... like you said, one can for each room, and come back in a couple of hours and air the place out. I'd powder down the cat before he was let back in.

Then in 10 - 14 days I'd repeat it to get the eggs that were now hatching. That generally took care of business until the following summer.

You can usually find foggers in three packs at the grocery store or home center. It would work out to about $3/room if I recall correctly.

My new critter (a dog) doesn't seem to get fleas. I give her a pill every month and life is good.

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

They sure worked for me. The cat brought them in; the bug bombs took them out. End of story.

I'm not suggesting foggers are the only way to rid oneself of fleas; I'm only saying that it is one of the ways to do so, and it does work... particularly if you'll repeat the spraying in a couple of weeks. The idea is to catch the newly hatched fleas before they mature enough to lay their own eggs, breaking the cycle.

[dadiOH]

Yes, of some sort. Regardless of what you eventually choose, be prepared for the eradication process taking much longer than you think - up to a year - because the flea eggs are viable for a long time. If you have been thinking of getting new carpets, now is a good time...but get rid of the old carpets and the fleas/larvae/eggs they are harboring first.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

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