Kerry asked 5 years ago
Long story short I found the first six fleas in my carpet on the 26th of January. A few days later I had the house sprayed by a pest control company. I vacuumed every day and washed all bedding every two days in hot wash then put them all through the dryer on the hottest setting. Guy sprayed again two weeks later and I continued to vacuum daily and wash everything. Turns out the guy only used an adulticide. I called another company two weeks later. He did an inspection and only had one suspected flea so i had him steam clean all mattresses and the loungeroom carpet and couch. He sprayed all flooring, all mattresses, and the yard with an adulticide and and IGR (Starycide). I got five new bites in a fortnight. He came out two weeks later and sprayed the adulticide and IGR again. This morning I woke up with three new bites (from my bed.) They’re definitely flea bites as I’m allergic to them and they’re definitely not bed bugs as the second pest guy checked for them. I mentally cannot take any more of these little buggers. Am I missing any steps? Will they all die and go away soon or will I need abother spray and new mattresses? I don’t have any flea carrying pets (I have two Betta fish.)
They’re setting off my anxiety and with every new bite I have a panic attack and break down. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Adam Retzer Staff answered 5 years ago
Kerry,
It’s strange that you have fleas without pets. The most common species can’t survive or reproduce without an animal host. Human blood isn’t sufficient. The only domestic flea species that can survive on human blood is the human flea (P. irritans). It may be a good idea to get a flea trap and identify the species for sure. See our page on how to identify human fleas.
If they aren’t human fleas, then there is probably an animal host somewhere in your home. The fleas won’t go away until the host is gone. It may be mice or rats carrying rodent fleas. It may be a raccoon or opossum that somehow got into the home carrying cat fleas. I’ve also heard of bird fleas getting into homes, if birds are nesting near an open window or door.
If they are human fleas, the steps you’ve taken should be sufficient. It will just take a bit of patience. Usually it takes 2-3 months for infestations to resolve. So, you should be getting close. All of the immature stages in the environment need to mature, emerge, and die.
The mattress isn’t a concern for fleas as it is with bedbugs. Fleas don’t infest mattresses. Fleas typically develop in carpeting or other areas on or near the floor. If fleas are developing on a bed, then they will be on the surface. Laundering the bedding will kill any potential fleas.
I hope this helps.
Adam
Kerry
replied 5 years ago Thank you for replying Adam. The best I’ve done is 16 days without a bite and today I went 14 days without a bite (got a new one on day 15). I’ve thrown rat baits out and checked for nests but so far see no signs of any pests. I haven’t seen any fleas since the very first lot in January. I’ll give it another two weeks then call pest control again if I keep getting bitten. I wash all bedding every week and vacuum all carpets, the couch and mattresses every week. I’ll let you know how I go. Thank you again for replying. (Pest control guy thinks they were cat fleas.)
