Flea Control Products For Your Home
Fleas in your home are a problem even if your pets are on flea medication. Remember, fleas will bite you and your family, too!
If you have a flea infestation inside your home, there are many over-the-counter indoor pesticides and insect growth regulators that should help you solve your problem. Using pesticides indoors is a little trickier and more dangerous than outdoors because youre spraying potentially harmful chemicals in your living space.
Here are some safety precautions to take before you apply pesticides inside your home:
- Put pet food and water dishes away until after the pesticides have dried
- Cover aquariums and disconnect their air pumps
- Pick up all items from the floor and from underneath furniture
- Put away any food left out around the house
Pesticides will kill any fleas that come in contact with them and help prevent more fleas from getting inside in the future, but they cant cover the whole house. Youll have to do a little deep-cleaning to make sure you get every last flea, larvae, pupae, and egg that already exists in your home.
Deep cleaning to get rid of fleas in your home should include these tasks:
- Wash or discard pet bedding
- Wash all sheets and blankets in hot water
- Vacuum or wash all carpets, rugs, and upholstery
- Mop areas with hard flooring
IMPORTANT: Follow the manufacturers instructions carefully when using pesticides indoors. Dont risk harming yourself, your family, or your pets because of an oversight.
Where Do Fleas Like To Hide In The Yard
When outdoors, these insects prefer to live in the shade rather than in the sun. Thus, the fleas will hide and can be commonly found in dark areas of the yard which are not lit by the sunlight as they thrive in darkness.
Also, if you dont mow your grass often and it becomes too long, the lawn would host fleas as they could lay their eggs at the base of the grass leading to more infestation. The ideal grass height could also attract spiders and ants that prey on the fleas, which as a result can reduce the infestation.
Again, as already mentioned, fleas would hide in the warm and moist grass, soil, and dirt as they do well in a warm and moist environment, and they could also hide in the yard clutter that doesnt have access to the sun.
If you are still not sure where to look for fleas in the yard, you can wear white long socks and walk around the yard, alternatively, hang white socks above the grass, especially in places where your pet loves to visit. The fleas will jump onto the white socks, thinking this is a new host. This way you will easily spot the fleas as they become visible on the white socks.
Trying To Get Rid Of Fleas For Good
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A flea infestation can cause a whole heap of problems for both humans and pets. When it comes to dealing with a flea infestation, you can use chemicals and insecticides that will eradicate fleas but these chemicals can be dangerous to both pets and children. You can deal with the problem by using natural remedies that are not only safer for your family but could very well be a whole lot cheaper.
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Other Tips To Get Rid Of And Prevent Fleas
Many methods can be used to get rid of fleas in your backyard, and this article has given you a few great options that work. If you have a flea infestation, the first and most important thing to do is to give your pet a flea bath. Then you can use flea spray on your yard and around the foundation of your home to get rid of the flea population. If your pet has fleas, you will need to treat your yard and home for approximately 3 months. Once you have gotten rid of the fleas , it is important to make sure that you put flea prevention into effect. There are several flea preventative minerals, sprays, and collars to help prevent fleas, and these can be used along with flea treatments to help keep them away.
Do Fleas Bite People Too
Yes! Fleas are after blood and can bite people or latch onto our clothes or shoes. However, they really do prefer animals. Pets are ideal hosts because thick fur provides plenty of shelter for fleas to latch onto skin and feed, or lay eggs.
If fleas do bite you during an infestation, it will likely be around your ankles, or in folds of skin. Flea bites can cause an allergic reaction in the form of hives.
life cycle of the flea depends on a lot on environmental conditions. Fleas flourish in warm climates and usually die in the winter season.
Flea eggs are small but can be seen if youre looking closely. They are smooth and white or light in color. A single adult female flea can produce up to 2,000 eggs in her lifetime. These eggs may be laid in your pets fur, deep in the carpet, or in tall grass.
In ideal conditions, fleas will evolve from egg to adult within 2 to 3 weeks. Adult fleas can live up to 100 days.
Fleas are ready to feed within a day of hatching, and begin to suck blood within 10 seconds of landing on a host.
If the weather isnt ideal and there isnt a host to feed on, flea larvae may remain dormant for months while waiting for better conditions to develop. This is a key reason dealing with infestations can be so difficult.
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Flea Control For Your Pet And Home
Unfortunately, fleas dont stay in one spot. If you have a ton of fleas in your yard, some of them will inevitably latch onto you or your pet and follow you inside. Youll soon have an indoor flea infestation on your hands, which is much more of a pain than an outdoor one. Plus, some of those inside fleas will follow you back out to the yard, and the cycle will repeat over and over.
To get fleas out of your life for good, you cant just treat the yard. You have to treat your pets and your home, too.
Flea Control For The Yard
Most of the time, you wont have enough fleas in the yard to warrant treatments, but outdoor infestations can happen.
If you do find yourself with a large flea infestation in your yard, you can treat it with:
When using pest control treatments for fleas , you only need to treat the shady areas of your yard. Fleas wont hang out in sunny areas, so spreading treatments in those spots will only waste product.
Plus, your pets are most likely to lay down and rest in shady areas, picking up any fleas lurking in the grass.
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Kill Fleas In The Yard: 5 Weird Tricks That Work
Do you need to kill fleas in the yard that have gotten out of control? Fleas are one of the most annoying creatures on Earth. They bite humans and animals and can infest our yards and homes.
Once your home or garden is infested with fleas it can be incredibly difficult to get rid of them.
Fortunately, there are a handful of homemade flea remedies you can try to help prevent and kill fleas in the yard. Read on to learn home remedies to eliminate fleas from your yard and a recipe for homemade flea repellent spray.
Some Information About Fleas
It is estimated that various different species of fleas occur worldwide, and they can live almost anywhere. Fleas are very small jumping insects without wings. They bite animals and humans and suck their blood for food. If you are raising a puppy or a kitten and you often walk your pet around the garden, you are highly likely to be infested by fleas, who jump from the vegetation and the sand onto your clothes or pets. When you see your pets scratching incessantly, its time to check your house and garden thoroughly.
Flea bites can cause a lot of discomfort for both yourself and your pets because they make the hosts skin swollen, itchy and painful. More seriously, fleas can transmit diseases, such as murine typhus, mycoplasma haemofelis, and tapeworms.
One of the reasons why getting rid of all fleas is virtually impossible is that they reproduce dramatically. On average, one single flea can produce up to 1,000 fleas on your pets in only 21 days. What experts in multiplication! With this amazing speed of reproduction, if you dont take measures immediately, you will have a big problem on your hands. The most important thing is to know where they live and breed outdoors.
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How To Get Rid Of Your Pets Fleas
If you suspect that your pet has fleas, you should act fast to prevent them from spreading.
You may be able to see the insects hopping around on your pets fur, but sometimes a closer look is needed. A flea comb may reveal adult fleas or their eggs. Dabbing around with a wet cloth on your pet or its bedding can show flea dirt .
A flea infestation usually requires a combination of tactics. Even if you use a topical flea medication or spray, you still need to continue cleaning. Fleas lay a lot of eggs, and the cycle can start over if you arent vigilant.
How To Get Rid Of Fleas In The House: 6 Compulsory Steps
After that, you can start! Choose a day during the weekend and begin eliminating fleas. You have already understood that youll have to clean out all of the rooms, havent you? This is the first and most essential step when getting rid of house fleas. So, youll have to:
1. Wash your bed sheets, blankets, curtains, all of your pets bedding, toys, pillows and blankets. Its even better to dry clean them. This measure will help identify not only fleas, but the bed bugs, which are more visible on the mattress and upholstery. Wash everything on your washing machines highest temperature .
2. Clean the carpets and furniture. Did you know that most often fleas bite your legs? That happens because most fleas live and breed in the carpets which you walk over daily and on the furniture where you sit, so you have to ensure they are always clean. Pay special attention to front door mats if you have any. Also, do not forget to vacuum the bathroom mat as well. Once youve finished, put the contents of the vacuum cleaner in a sealed plastic bag and throw it in the trash immediately, so that the nimble fleas wont have time to come back. For better removal of fleas from the carpet, use diatomaceous earth, chemical insecticide sprays with IGR or concentrated IGRs. Repeat vacuum is required some time after such treatment.
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How To Get Rid Of Fleas Naturally
Organic methods of getting rid of fleas have been used for over 100 years. Many of them are effective enough to compete with industrial chemicals and are suitable for getting rid of the insects both indoors and outdoors. Here are some of these treatments:
- Extreme cold/heat Fleas like moderate warmth, and extreme temperature fluctuations are lethal for them. Therefore, it is important to wash everything that is contaminated at a temperature of 120 degrees F and over, and, if possible, to take out the carpet/furniture/mattress and leave them under the sunlight. Cold can be used similarly: If the outside temperature is below 30 F, take everything you need outside and let the nature do its job.
- Wormwood This plant has been regarded as a powerful insect repellent for many years. You can plant it in your backyard or simply sprinkle it generously on the floor and carpets in the house. Its smell is truly bitter, but many people actually like it.
- Lemon juice can be mixed with water and spray this cocktail on furniture, floors and any other surface. It can kill fleas on contact but has no residual action.
- Essential oils of citronella, rosemary, tea tree, mint and citrus fruit Many insecticides contain these oils as they can also kill fleas on contact. But do not use them indoors, as the excessive concentration of these oils in the air can trigger headaches, and some of the oils, such as tea tree oil are dangerous for cats.
How To Get Rid Of Fleas On Your Pet
It is absolutely essential to treat your pets as well as your yard and home. You can use Diatomaceous Earth food-grade only to kill fleas that have caused an infestation in your pet. You should take some precautions though and only ever apply a small amount on your pet. When applying the powder, you should ensure that the powder is kept away from your pets nose, mouth, and eyes.
Once you have applied the powder, you need to bathe your pet within 12 hours of the application so plan when you apply the powder. Your pet wont thank you in the short term but the best way to bathe your pet is to ensure that the water comes high up the animal so that the fleas are submerged in the water and lose their grip on your pet and drown.
You can use a mild shampoo when bathing your pet and ensure that the fleas are washed away down the plug. Block the plug after bathing, as fleas are resistant and can jump back out of the drain. You can use a flea comb while bathing your pet to disturb any fleas that have managed to cling on.
Other natural treatments that you can use include brewers or nutritional yeast, which fleas hate the taste of. If you have rosemary growing in your garden then why not make a natural flea repellent by taking two cups of fresh rosemary infused with two pints of boiled water. Leave the infusion for 30 minutes and then add one gallon of warm water and proceed by pouring the solution over your pet. Leave your pet to dry naturally.
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Are You Ready To Treat Fleas
Now that youve learned all about how to treat fleas in your yard, you dont have to bite your fingernails with worry. The last thing youd want is for them or other pests to invade your home. Simply put, prevention is critical.
We can maintain your lawn so that you dont have to fear the possibility of fleas, ticks, ants, and other pests taking over and wreaking havoc. Our trained professionals also specialize in weed control, fertilization, drought care, and more.
Feel free to contact us. Were happy to answer any questions you may have about our services.
Does Treating Your Yard For Fleas Work
Yard flea treatments may be effective, but they could also pose risks to animals and beneficial insects. The ingredient with the fewest side effects is spinosad, which is approved for use in organic farming. It is still very toxic to bees when wet, but once dry, its not toxic.
How do I get rid of fleas in my yard without harming pets?
Put two ounces of dish soap in an Ortho hose sprayer bottle and fill the rest up with water.Spray the entire yard once or twice per week to kill adult fleas, explains Blake. Repeat as needed or weekly for prevention during flea season.
How long will fleas live in a house without pets?
Fleas prefer to wait and jump onto a passing animal. Once aboard, they remain until they are dislodged or groomed from the animal. Without a host, adult fleas live only a few days to 2 weeks. On short-haired cats and dogs fleas survive an average of 8 days they live longer on long-haired animals.
How long does it take to get rid of fleas?
Get Fleas Out of Your Home You also need to determine how to get rid of fleas in your home. This requires patience. It can take as long as three-to-four months to get rid of an infestation, as it takes this long for all of the fleas in your home to go through their life stages.
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How To Get Fleas Out Of Carpet
Fleas prefer to live in carpets, where they can hide in the fur and where there are always someones delicious feet. If you take a magnifying glass, youll be able to see some adult species on brighter carpets and some scattered eggs and flea larvae on the darker ones. However, we do not recommend that you waste precious time and stare at the carpet with a magnifying glass, and instead we advise you to immediately begin eliminating the fleas. These insects multiply rapidly, so every day is at stake.
Clean the carpet with a vacuum cleaner. This is the first and most important step which will help to assess the problem and sometimes even eliminate most of the fleas eggs and larvae. After cleaning, dispose of the contents of the container in a thick plastic bag and throw it directly into the garbage outside.
Use natural or chemical flea carpet powder. You should then apply special flea control products. Various flea sprays and flea powders, both industrial and homemade liquid ones, are most suitable for exterminating the fleas in the carpet. Such products are: