Depending on the level of infestation, it can take anywhere from a few hours to an entire day to clean your home. And you'll need to keep up this routine for at least two weeks or up to a month—and possibly keep using insecticides for a year to prevent fleas' return.
Getting rid of fleas is a difficult process due to the long lifecycle of a flea. Moderate to severe infestations will take months to control and require a four-step process for complete elimination: Sanitation.
While some could last 2 – 3 weeks, they could also live for up to 12 months on the host it finds, so it is unlikely they will go away on their own.
What to do for heavy flea infestations. For heavy flea infestations, it's best to destroy and discard all pet bedding. For mild or light infestations, washing the bedding thoroughly in hot, soapy water is necessary for killing fleas and destroying their eggs and larvae.
Steam cleaning your carpets, furniture and pet beds is a brilliant idea if you have a flea infestation. Thanks to the combination of high heat and soap, the fleas will be gone in no time.
Common brands of Nitenpyram include Capstar® and Bestguard® which can be purchased through a veterinarian, online, and over the counter. The active ingredient, Nitenpyram, is an insecticide that starts killing fleas within 30 minutes and lasts for up to 48 hours.
As few as 20 fleas might mean your pet is infested, while the most could be between 200 to 300. Ignoring a few fleas can quickly lead to an infestation on your dog and in your home,2 because two adult fleas could lead to hundreds of eggs and pupae. Fleas start feeding on blood within minutes of landing on your pet.
Using a residual insecticide flea spray concentrate controls the adult flea and combining it with an insect growth regulators (IGR) such as Martin's IGR Insect Growth Regulator or Tekko Pro IGR. The IGRs prevent the larvae from developing into the cocoon stage, stopping the cycle.
Fleas Don't Die Easily in the Winter
Fleas are more likely to die if temperatures hit freezing and stay there for a while. But even then, that's not always enough. You can't depend on fleas dying in the winter, even if they're outdoors. The flea's life cycle helps it survive.
Flea season can last anywhere from 6-9 months to all year round in some states. Fleas love warm temperatures, so your season can start early in spring and last until September, October, or November.
Flea bombs are not an effective method of flea control. The pesticides released do not penetrate the carpets or other fibers where the flea eggs and larvae are likely to be hiding. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln recommends an Integrated Pest Management approach, instead of the use of insect bombs.
95% are in the environment as flea eggs, larvae and pupae.
Seeing fleas after treatment isn't really about how long it takes for flea treatment to work or for fleas to die. It's about the number of life stages in the pet's environment that develop into new fleas and jump on a pet.
It doesn't take much fleas before it becomes a serious infestation problem. In just a couple of months, fleas can lay about 500 eggs. Between one and twelve days, many of these hatchlings are hidden. They are tiny larvae that fide in tiny floor cracks, carpets and furniture.
Although adult fleas may only last about a week on your couch, they can lay thousands of eggs, turning your comfy TV watching spot into a bug-infested zone. On the upside, you can eliminate the insects by trying natural home remedies or calling a local pest control company.
Predator: Ladybugs. The nematode is the number one choice in a battle with yard fleas, because it has been designed to target this particular pest. Nonetheless, you need all the help you can get. Ladybugs are a recognized exterminator of fleas, and not only.
Flea Eggs Hiding in Carpet
To check for eggs, put on gloves and run your fingers through the carpet. Eggs tend to very small and white. Because they are so small, you may need a magnifying glass. Finding eggs throughout your house means you have a fairly serious flea infestation.
Fleas are blood-sucking parasites, and if they continue feasting on cats or dogs for any length of time, the pet may develop anemia. This condition can cause lethargy at the very least and may even cause death in puppies, kittens or older pets.
It is a daily common myth that fleas will eventually just go away on their own, but this is far from correct. If you've got a flea infestation, you can't afford to wait for the problem to resolve itself – it won't.
Most successful flea treatment programs require at least 2-3 treatments at 14-day intervals using both an insecticide for the adult fleas and an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR) to prevent immature stages of fleas from developing into breeding adults.
Fleas are attracted to light, movement, heat, and CO2 because these elements help them find suitable hosts to feed on.
Fleas can live on hardwood floors. They develop in cracks and crevices, which create a suitable micro-habitat for larvae. Tile floors are a poor habitat. Linoleum is even worse for supporting fleas, due to the lack of cracks.