ann asked 7 years ago
We have no pets, and move into a rental house that has fleas. We did not know that it had fleas until we were already completely moved in. It seems like them pets Must have spent most of the time of the basement because they are the worse down there. The landlord treated once before we moved in, one’s right when we moved in when I complained, In about six or seven days ago again. It seems like they are worse now, although they did seem to get better. We were seeing less and now we’re seeing more not just in the basement but upstairs also. I even found a dead one on my children’s bedding. What do we do? How long is it going to take and how long are we going to see this many fleas? The landlord said that the stuff that he used would make future Generations that are born unable to reproduce. If we did move out will we take the police with us? We are just so tired of dealing with It
Adam Retzer Staff answered 7 years ago
Ann, I’m sorry to hear about your troubles. And I apologize for the late response.
95-99% of fleas are immature staging living in the environment. Sometimes infestations can appear worse after the first treatment. This is because eggs, larvae, and pupae live deep within protected micro-habitats that are somewhat protected from insecticides. They’ll continue to mature and eventually emerge, seemingly out of nowhere.
Also, if the home was uninhabited for a while, there may have been an accumulation of cocooned adults waiting to emerge. After pupating, adults can stay inside their cocoons for up to 5 months in a quiescent state. When they detect a host (heat and pressure) they rapidly wake up and emerge. Vacuuming and walking around can trigger these fleas to emerge.
Without pets your flea problem should resolve in time. Vacuuming frequently is one of the best ways to speed up the process. As mentioned, chemical control will not solve the problem immediately, because many immature stages are living in areas where sprays can’t penetrate. It will take a bit of patience to wait for these stages to mature, emerge, and then die.
The insect growth regulator that the landlord was talking about is very useful for stopping re-infestation. It lasts for 7 months indoors and will prevent any new eggs from being about develop.
The infestation should substantially diminish in the coming weeks. It usually takes around 8 weeks before fleas are no longer seen.
The chances are pretty slim that you’ll take the fleas with you if you move. They don’t have an animal host to live and reproduce on.
Hope this helps!
Adam
