Sharon asked 6 years ago
Hi I came across your site and hoping you can help me with some questions. Me, my son and husband have been renting the same apartment in a 2 family house for the past 6 years and our landlords live upstairs. We don’t have any animals and never have and the first two years my landlord didn’t either. Than they ended up getting a dog and 3 cats all within a year and every single year since the whole house gets fleas! Last year we had them for 6 months and sprayed at least 4 times. Sometimes they admit they have them sometimes they don’t but I don’t understand how we are getting them down here and every year! And since we don’t have animals in our apartment we’re the ones getting attacked. My landlords admitted their dog had some fleas this year but got it treated and an exterminator came out twice within two weeks and treated the whole house and both apartments. Weirdly enough after the second spray we were more infested in our apt than we were before the second spray and my landlords are claiming they don’t have any upstairs ? Now so I don’t understand how we do. We are doing everything we can, vacuuming, washing all our clothes and bagging up whatever doesn’t fit in our dressers so no clothes are left out and cleaning everything, but it seems to be getting worse? My question is why would it get worse right after a second spray ? Is it possible the fleas they had ran into our apartment during the second spray and is there any way we are getting them from somewhere else? And is there anything else we can do to prevent them from coming into our apartment even if their animals keep getting them?
Adam Retzer Staff answered 6 years ago
Sharon,
I am sorry to hear about the flea issues. Your situation sounds a bit strange. I am not sure how the fleas are getting into your apartment. An infested animal must have access to your apartment. It’s hard to tell what is going on without being there.
Adult fleas only make up 1-5% of flea populations. The adults stay on their host once they find one. They mate and lay eggs on the animal, but the eggs aren’t sticky and soon fall off. Infestations result from flea eggs falling from the infested animal and into the environment. The immature stages (95-99% of the infestation) then develop in the environment until they mature and look for a host, continuing the cycle.
As a side note, if your landlord’s dog had fleas, so did all of their other pets. There is rarely an isolated incident, because fleas will be constantly emerging from the environment and looking for a host. If they aren’t treating all of their pets, the infestation will continue. It still doesn’t explain how fleas are getting into your apartment though.
I think it would be a good idea to hire a pest control professional to take a look in person. Ask them to identify the species of flea (hopefully the are competent enough to do this) and the potential host. Sometimes having mice and rats can result in rodent fleas. Sometimes bird fleas can get in homes if a nest is near a window or door. Raccoons and opossums can sometimes enter in homes through crawlspaces and other small openings and bring in cat fleas. Human fleas are the only species that can survive and reproduce on human blood. They aren’t very common, but this is also a possibility.
Infestations can seem to worsen after initial treatments. This is usually an illusion. 95-99% of flea populations consist of eggs, larvae, and pupae. They live hidden in the environment, usually deep within carpets. So even when there are a large number of fleas developing in the home, they aren’t noticed until they become adults. The existing immature fleas reside in protected micro-habitats, so vacuuming and sprays can’t reach many of them, and they will survive control efforts. Eventually they will emerge as adults and the infestation seems to worsen. However, with the floor sprayed, a new generation shouldn’t be able to survive.
Insect growth regulators (IGR) are good for long-term prevention. Many premise sprays contain an IGR, but personally I would just apply a IGR concentrate without any other chemicals. Martin’s IGR is a good choice. IGRs mimic natural insect hormones that regulate development. Exposed eggs and larvae will be unable to reach maturity. The nice thing about IGRs is that they are considered safer than traditional insecticides, and they will remain active indoors for 7 months so you don’t need to be constantly reapplying them. Any flea eggs that happen to fall onto the IGR-treated surfaces won’t be able to survive.
Sorry for the late reply, and I hope this helps!
Warm regards,
Adam
