Adam asked 6 years ago
Hi Flea Sciance,
We’ve been battling a flea infestation for 6 eeeks now. The dog is fully treated now and we have had the councils pest control spraying every week. We have flea traps set up in each room to monitor numbers. The number of fleas have been streadily reducing and after the recent house treatment numbers are minimal, from 30-40 a day to 2-3.
My quesion is, can we speed up the pupa stage so that any remaining fleas will turn into adult and will be killed off by house treatment by turning up the house heating? Willl this force any remaining pupa out of that state? I know hoovering may speed it up but we are told not to hoover when the pest control spray has been put down.
thanks
Adam Retzer Staff answered 6 years ago
Adam,
I’ve read accounts of increased adult emergence occurring when spring arrives and warms up garages, as well as outdoors when immature stages survive mild winters.
However, homes are already a near ideal temperature for fleas. I can only speculate, but if turning up the heat has any affect at all on pre-emerged adults, it will be minimal.
Pest control specialists often recommend not vacuuming. But there have been studies done on this showing that vacuuming doesn’t have a significant impact on the activity of insecticides (see the last section on this page for sources). Still, it may be a good idea to follow the pest professional’s instructions, especially if they are offering guarantees.
You can also try slowly walking around the hot-spot areas (your dog probably does this already). This should have a similar affect of vacuuming, causing pre-emerged adults to emerge.
Warm regards,
Adam
