nina asked 6 years ago
Hi! Thank you for this website.
We moved into our home in March and renovated with a floating floor in every square inch. We have zero carpet anywhere…we don’t event have bath mats. Our dog was and has remained treated for fleas and ticks. We actually have never found any evidence of a flea being on her throughout this ordeal.
2 weeks after we moved in, the nightmare began. Fleas everywhere!!! Every room…there was no escape. We have now had a total of 5 professional flea treatments each treatment had an adulticide and IGR for indoor and outdoor. Until the last one (with precore 2000) we never saw any reduction in the fleas. We have been vacuuming thoroughly everyday since this started, and emptying out the canister each time.
The last professional treatment (the one with precore) we didn’t see a flea for around 7 days and then boom! All back again. This weekend we decided to spray with precore ourselves and fog the attic. It has been mildly effective but i am still being bit.
Is it possible that we have a different species that is surviving and breeding on our blood? I’ve called every exterminator asking if anyone provides a service to determine the species and i practically get laughed at.
I’m severely allergic to these bites. Just 3 on my foot cause me to break out in head to toe hives. My toddler son reacts to them too and we are both suffering so much.
we have done everything right but are so freaked out that we still have no relief after over 8 weeks now.
Any advice on next steps or if confirming the speackes is necessary would be very beneficial.
We were so happy to move into the neighborhood of our dreams but this house has turned into a nightmare
Adam Retzer Staff answered 6 years ago
Nina,
Sorry to hear about your flea frustrations. It’s strange that you’ve never seen fleas on your dog during the time, but not too strange considering she was properly treated.
I don’t know too much about floating floors. Are the boards suspended, so that there is a gap to the ground? If so, that could create a near ideal flea environment if eggs and flea feces somehow got through cracks or crevices. It may also make spraying difficult if the fleas are living in that gap.
It sounds like fleas were in the home before you moved in. In homes, fleas take 17-26 days to mature from eggs to adult. If fleas appeared 14 days after you moved in, it means the eggs were there before. And cocooned adults can’t enter a quiescent state for up to 5 months. They will stay in this sleep-like state until they detect a host on the cocoons (heat and pressure). So there may have been quiescent pre-emerged adults waiting for a host when you moved in, then walking on the floors triggered them to emerge.
It’s common to see adult fleas even after treatment. This is because 95-99% of infestations are eggs, larvae, and pupae. They live deep in the environment where sprays can’t penetrate well, so many won’t be affected. However, good sprays will contain an insect growth regulator (IGR), either pyriproxyfen (Nylar) or methoprene (Precor). The IGR will last for 7 months indoors, preventing exposed eggs and larvae from reaching adulthood. New eggs falling onto the surfaces won’t survive. So, while immature stages present at the time of spraying may not be affected and will eventually emerge as adults, they should be the last generation.
That’s irritating that the pest control specialists won’t identify species. Here is an answer I’ve written with photo references that can help you identify if they are human fleas (P. irritans). Still, the control measures you’ve taken should be sufficient, regardless of species.
It sounds like you have taken all the correct steps. It may just require a bit more patience. Placing flea traps in the home in hot-spots can be useful for assessing flea populations. That way you will know if the control efforts are working. Their numbers should be diminishing at this point.
Sorry to hear about your allergic reactions. Wearing long socks and pants, and tucking the pant legs into the socks, can help prevent bites. It may also be a good idea to use an insect repellent until the infestation ends. Most traditional insect repellents (DEET, picaridin, IR3535) should work against fleas. Also, spraying clothing repellent on the sock and pants can help keep the fleas away.
Warm regards,
Adam
