Flea treatment is performed if signs of parasites appear indoors: itching, red dots on the legs. Fleas can jump high, so it is recommended to treat the object at a level of 1-1.5 m from the floor. Insects hide in crevices; they are not constantly on the pet’s body. To destroy pests, complex treatment is required: both the premises and the animals.
It is necessary to treat your apartment for fleas if you have a pet.
How fleas get into an apartment
To get rid of parasites forever, it is necessary to eliminate not only the consequences, but also the cause.
Methods for fleas to enter living spaces:
- on fur: a pet becomes infected on the street, more often from other animals, but fleas can also get onto the body of a dog or cat from the ground;
- on the soles of shoes from the street, parasite eggs are transferred in this way;
- together with birds, for example, if the nest is close to a window or balcony;
- from neighboring apartments in the process of disinfestation;
- from basements, in non-residential premises there is a high level of humidity, such a habitat is suitable for parasites.
Preparing the premises for disinfection
Before getting rid of pests, you need to prepare the room for treatment. This is not necessary, but after these measures the treatment will be more effective:
- Carry out wet cleaning. You can add vinegar to the water.
- Remove food after carefully packing it. It is advisable to use sealed bags, especially if the room will be treated with aerosols.
- If there is an aquarium in the room, its lid must be tightly closed. The compressor turns off, otherwise the fish will also die.
- Pets should be removed from the apartment, including lizards, spiders and other living creatures. Cats and dogs are pre-bathed with anti-flea shampoo. After the bath, attach a special collar to them.
Since it is advisable not to enter the premises for about a day after treatment, it is important to find a place to stay while disinfestation is carried out.
Treating your apartment for fleas
Products for treating apartments against fleas.
The disinfestation procedure should be done quickly, trying to simultaneously clean the animals of parasites and carry out a general cleaning of the premises. This will destroy some of the insects.
If there are no pets in the house, but there are signs of fleas, it is necessary to carry out deratization: at the same time, the basement is cleared of small rodents, which can also be carriers of fleas.
This measure allows you to eliminate the main reason for the penetration of parasites into the apartment.
Preparing the premises
The rooms are inspected: you need to look for insect eggs. If infested heavily, they may be scattered in visible places. The offspring of fleas look like sand. You need to remove all eggs found with a broom and dustpan. However, most of them will remain hidden in hard-to-reach places, where parasites live. Considering that most drugs do not affect eggs, the object is re-sanitized after 10-14 days.
You need to inspect the premises; the larvae are found in dark, damp places: behind the sink, under flower pots, under boxes with vegetables or a trash can.
Adults can settle in different places:
- behind the baseboard;
- between the carpet pile;
- In the bed;
- inside soft toys;
- in crevices;
- under the sink;
- behind furniture and inside cabinets;
- on the sleeping places of pets.
Other recommendations for preparing the room for treatment:
- Furniture is moved away from the walls, because vertical surfaces also need to be sprayed with insecticide.
- You need to remove the aquarium from the premises, if there is one, and remove the animals.
- There should be no hygiene items, food, or personal items in the room. They will be sprayed with a toxic substance.
- Animal bedding and soft toys should be thrown away in case of severe contamination or washed at high temperature in an automatic machine (+90°C).
- General cleaning is carried out: if possible, you need to clean all hard-to-reach places.
- Bed linen is also exposed to boiling water. Blankets and pillows can be taken outside and left in direct sunlight.
- Furniture is cleared of things.
It is not recommended to use a vacuum cleaner in the fight against blood-sucking insects. Eggs and larvae will not die from this, but may remain in the cracks of the mechanism, and from there they will again enter the room.
Stages of disinfestation
To get rid of fleas in your apartment once and for all, you need to properly carry out disinfestation.
If you plan to carry out pest control of the apartment yourself, you need to follow the instructions:
- Prepare gloves and a respirator. It is necessary to carry out the treatment in closed clothes and wear a hat.
- Windows and doors are pre-closed. This measure allows you to increase the concentration of insecticides in the air, due to which the death of parasites occurs faster.
- The poisonous substance is applied using different methods: with a brush or spray. The latter is the most effective, because first the insecticide enters the air and then ends up on the treated surface. The poison should be applied to the floor, walls up to a level of 1-1.5 m, the back walls of furniture, baseboards, internal surfaces of interior items, hidden areas, for example, the space under and on top of the window sill, and the area under the sink.
- After a few hours (days), the room is ventilated. Surfaces need to be cleaned gradually: first those that are used more often, and after 3-4 weeks you can do a general cleaning to remove insecticide residues from the walls and furniture.
Disinsection of the premises if there is a child in the house
If you need to protect family members from exposure to harmful substances, use different methods:
- Freezing. When the air temperature drops below -20°C, the parasites die. This measure can be taken in winter. At the same time, windows are opened for a long period. However, in a residential area there is a risk of damage to communications, because in the cold the pipes will freeze and burst after defrosting.
- Exposure to high temperatures: +50°C and above. It is recommended to use a steam generator. Hot steam allows you to destroy parasites instantly. Under these conditions, fleas will die within minutes. This method is safe for children. However, there may be restrictions on the use of a steam generator, since not all materials withstand high temperatures equally well.
- Professional pest control. Its advantage is high speed of work execution and efficiency. Exterminators use drugs that can even kill flea eggs. However, re-processing is not always necessary. This will reduce the risk of poisoning a child, since he will have less contact with toxic substances.
More options on how to get rid of fleas in an apartment.
When the work is completed and the room is cleaned, it is recommended to further protect it from fleas. To achieve this, general cleaning is carried out weekly, and it is important to pay attention even to remote areas.
Animals are wearing special collars before going outside.
It is necessary to improve the quality of care for pillows and blankets: they are regularly ventilated in the fresh air. Potential flea entry points are treated with crayons containing insecticides. This is a window, a ventilation hole, pipe joints in ceilings, etc.
How is the processing carried out?
Treating an apartment for fleas is an event, the price of which depends on the area of the room, the chosen method and insecticidal preparation, and individual characteristics. You can find out the cost of the procedure from a consultant at SES “Des Group”.
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The strategy for dealing with bed fleas on your own is very different from how a professional room is treated. Experienced specialists develop an action plan depending on the size of the population, the time of the first appearance of ectoparasites in the apartment, and the characteristics of their life cycle.
Particular attention is paid to the treatment of hidden places - folds, crevices in the floor, cracks, space under the baseboard. To destroy bed fleas, a modern, proven insecticide with a prolonged action is used. The toxic substance has a detrimental effect on the body of pests for two months. A fog generator is used to spray the insecticide. The smallest particles of the toxic component settle on all surfaces of the room, penetrate into all cracks and hard-to-reach places.
The basis of flea remedies
The level of effectiveness of the drug depends on the type of substances that are included in the composition.
Possible options:
- pyrethroids;
- organophosphorus compounds.
These options are most often used in everyday life. The first group includes permethrin, deltamethrin, cypermethrin, tetramethrin, etc. Organophosphorus compounds are: malathion, diazinon, chlorpyrifos. Insecticides have a negative effect on the nervous system of parasites. As a result, insects lose the ability to reproduce, move, and eat food. They quickly die from lack of food and the influence of toxic substances.
Why are fleas dangerous?
Once inside an apartment, little enemies can make the life of its inhabitants hectic and even unbearable. Painful bites of bloodsuckers cause a lot of problems, especially if there are children in the family.
In addition to the discomfort from bites, there is a danger of infection with dangerous diseases, which can be carried by fleas. This is typhus, plague, rabies; by contact with blood, fleas can infect humans.
The saliva of pests is a powerful allergen and can cause serious allergic reactions that require taking antihistamines and medical intervention. And ordinary itching and irritation cause a lot of unpleasant sensations.
Bite marks and scratches found on the body make it possible to recognize the presence of parasites in the apartment. As soon as this fact is confirmed, it is better to promptly seek help from exterminators and you are guaranteed professional extermination of fleas in your apartment.
Choice of drug
It is necessary to consider products in different forms of release, and you can choose the most suitable option. It is not always permissible to use drugs with volatile components. For example, if there are children in the house, they often give preference to concentrated solutions, using the method of treating surfaces with a brush.
Aerosols
The advantage of this option is its complex effect: parasites are influenced by external and internal negative factors. When sprayed, the insecticide in the form of a fine suspended mixture enters the body through the respiratory tract.
A significant proportion of the toxic substance settles on the outer integument of insects. In addition, poison particles fall on the chitinous shell when moving along treated surfaces. As a result, the fleas will die faster.
Common products in this group:
- Raid.
- Dichlorvos.
- Karbofos.
- Clean house.
- Raptor.
You can use ready-made preparations in aerosol form. However, the poisonous substance is easy to prepare yourself. To do this, purchase a concentrated liquid. It is prepared (diluted if necessary) and poured into a container with a spray bottle.
This provides an effect similar to the effect of an aerosol. However, the suspension at the outlet of the spray bottle turns out to be larger and settles faster on the surface. The disadvantage of the aerosol is its low effectiveness when the intensity of infection has increased.
Concentrates for dilution
Such preparations contain potent insecticides. Some of them even destroy flea eggs (for example, Tetrix). The disadvantage of this group of products is the high level of danger to humans. However, the parasites die in a matter of minutes.
Flea remedy - Forssyth.
However, re-processing is not always necessary. It is not carried out if a drug was used that destroys offspring and adults. In addition, concentrates must be properly diluted; the level of effectiveness also depends on this.
Examples of drugs in this group:
- Executioner;
- Get;
- Forsyth;
- Delta Zone.
Using dusts
This method is less effective, since the likelihood of the parasite coming into contact with the toxic substance is low. It is necessary to treat a large area, which is difficult, because the premises are residential and some of the powder will spread throughout the apartment. In addition, dusts cannot be used to treat vertical surfaces. The advantages include easy use, low cost, and lack of pronounced odor. Examples of powders: Karbofos, Clean House.
Herbal and earthen types of fleas
The infestation of houses and apartments in Kerch by earthen pests occurs during the warm period (early spring) and lasts until frost. Usually private houses and apartments located on the first floors are affected. An increased percentage of humidity and heat promote the spread of insects, which can contribute to their rapid settlement. Preventive measures use special treatment agents in the form of sprayers and floor cleaners. When using any product, it is recommended to observe personal protection measures.
Folk remedies for treatment
Folk remedies for fleas.
To shorten the period of disinsection, while increasing the effectiveness of the methods used, you can consider the option of using folk remedies.
Available recipes:
- Bitterness contained in herbs: tansy, wormwood. A concentrated infusion is prepared; it is recommended to keep it in a dark room for 12 hours, then the herb will release more nutrients to the liquid. The resulting product is used to treat all surfaces where fleas may live.
- Pine sawdust repels parasites, but does not destroy them, so this method is used simultaneously with others.
- Caucasian chamomile. The plant contains a natural insecticide - a group of pyrethrins. It is enough to spread it around the room, the smell will repel parasites. This method is used to prevent infection of an object.
- Dry mixture of soda and salt. It is scattered around the room instead of dust. After 12 hours, the mixture can be swept out, then the procedure is repeated.
- Garlic and brewer's yeast. Prepare the garlic cloves and chop them. Then the components are mixed and the room is treated. The disadvantage of the product is the presence of a smell in the room, which then takes a long time to dissipate.
- Ammonia and vinegar. The components are mixed and all surfaces are treated. This will create a strong odor in the room.
Turn on the vacuum cleaner
If you don't use a vacuum cleaner often, the fleas that appear on you will force you to change this habit.
Regular vacuuming of carpets and upholstered furniture reduces the number of fleas and their eggs, as well as cracks in wooden floors, curtains and upholstered furniture. He also catches them under furniture.
Be sure to vacuum all areas where your pets sleep and eat. Throw away vacuum cleaner bags immediately to prevent fleas from getting back into your home or apartment.
Vacuum frequently in the areas of your home or apartment where you and your pets spend the most time, such as the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms. Otherwise, do this once a week.
If a regular vacuum cleaner isn't enough, try sprinkling salt or baking soda on your carpet or furniture first. Salt and baking soda can harm fleas by cutting them and drying them out. Some people use them together. Leave it for 24 hours or up to a week before vacuuming.
If you have a serious flea infestation, steam clean your carpets. The heat will kill the insects, but not all the eggs. They may survive this attack and hatch later, and you may have to steam clean everything again.
In very severe cases, you may want to consider calling an exterminator. Just make sure whatever you do to get rid of fleas is safe for you and your pets.
What to do if everyone starts itching
Fleas are small insects (2-6 mm in length); it is difficult to see them when infesting a room due to their high speed of movement.
The main symptom is itching in the lower extremities; fleas cannot jump higher. The bites itch, causing scratching to appear. If you are prone to allergies, red spots and bumps appear. In most cases, bites leave dots.
To make sure that parasites are present in the house, you need to detect activity at a level of 1 m above the floor, in the habitats of pets, near carpets. Here you can see fast moving dark dots. They are better visible against a light background. Fleas do not live on animals; they jump on them to get a portion of blood. In case of severe infection, different individuals are constantly on the pet. For this reason, it may appear that fleas are living on his body.
Insects prefer special conditions: dark, damp places, hidden, remote areas of premises. Fleas multiply, leaving eggs everywhere - up to 10 pieces. per day from each individual. The offspring are not fixed on anything, as in the case of lice (on the hair), this facilitates their spread.
After 7-10 days, larvae emerge from the shell. Gradually they turn into insects called nymphs. After 10-30 days they pupate, after which adults emerge that are capable of biting a living creature. For comparison, at the initial stage of development, the larvae feed on waste.
When adult fleas grow, bite marks immediately appear on people’s bodies, and at the same time, itching.
If such signs occur, you need to create an algorithm for further actions:
- destroy fleas on an animal;
- at the same time they clean the room, it is enough to clean the walls and floor, clean the carpets;
- carry out disinfestation of the facility;
- after 14 days, it is necessary to re-treat the infected premises with insecticides, because at the end of this period, larvae emerge from the eggs.
Proper disinfestation
Treating the premises against fleas
At the time of the procedure, there should be no other people or pets in the apartment. The product is not dangerous to humans if the instructions are strictly followed. Violation of the requirements leads to poisoning and an allergic reaction to the skin.
- Close windows and doors.
- The bottle or spray bottle is kept at a distance of 20 cm from the surface to be treated.
- It is imperative that you carefully treat the back side of the furniture, baseboards, window sills, and walls up to 2 m high. When finished, treat the floor, pouring the product into the cracks, if any.
- Leave the room closed for 2 hours. After the specified time has passed, ventilate well and wash in places where your hands will touch. Leave the product on the rest of the surface for further action.
Products for treating pets
Available options:
- drops;
- pills;
- shampoos;
- collars.
The first option is considered the most effective even with severe infection. In this case, the toxic substance remains on the skin and fur of the animal, which will destroy insects and prevent other parasites from entering the body of the cat or dog in the future. The tablets act from the inside - they create unsuitable conditions for fleas to live in, affect the composition of the blood, which prevents insects from continuing to bite the pet.
Shampoos are a preventative measure. Such drugs repel, they do not destroy pests. This is important to consider when in contact with other animals on the street. Collars are also a preventative measure. They exist in different types. For small animals, options containing natural ingredients are used. Adult pets are given collars impregnated with insecticides.
Facilities:
- Leopard;
- Advantix;
- Kiltix;
- Frontline et al.
To cure an animal, it is better to use drops or tablets. At the same time, shampoos or collars (only one of these options) are used for prevention.
Bed and linen fleas
This type of pest lives in closets with clothes and bedding. They make nests in folds, pockets and folds of clothing, and sometimes come out to feed. If, after sleep, bites (red itchy dots) appear on the skin, and small black creatures or dots are found on the bed linen, then this indicates the appearance of flea families. If these signs are detected, it is necessary to begin flea control and prevention measures: washing in hot water; treating furniture and cabinets with soap and vinegar; cleaning the room with a vacuum cleaner; ironing things with an iron; treating premises with insect repellent aerosols.
How long does it take for fleas to die after treatment?
Flea drops for dogs and cats.
It all depends on the stage of development of the parasite, the type of insecticide and its concentration. In addition, compliance with processing rules also plays a role.
If they are violated, insecticides lose their properties. If the treatment was carried out according to the instructions, the peak death of parasites occurs on days 5-7.
It takes time for the insecticide to penetrate the chitinous covers and affect the entire body: organs and systems. The room is completely cleaned within 1 month.
Calling a special organization
Despite the abundance of modern means designed to destroy parasites, in large concentrations of insects these control methods may be ineffective. How to get rid of a bed flea if self-use of insecticides does not bring the expected result?
To completely disinfect your home and eliminate parasites, it is recommended to contact specialists. Calling representatives of special services will allow you to get rid of all types of blood-sucking insects that are localized even in the most secluded corners of the apartment.
It is important to remember that after the treatment you should ventilate the apartment well, carry out a thorough cleaning, and also take measures to prevent the appearance of insects.
Prevention
Preventive measures against the appearance of fleas in the apartment are simple, but require regularity and attention.
It is necessary to carefully inspect all surfaces and cover any cracks if any have formed in window, doorways or floors. It is advisable not to allow children to bring other people's animals.
When walking with pets, put a flea collar on them and exclude contact with street stray animals. All accessories from the corner where the dog sleeps are periodically shaken out, ventilated, and washed.
When carrying out general cleaning, it is useful to use one of the herbal infusions that have flea-repellent properties.
Treatment with other types of insecticides
The solutions are diluted with water according to the instructions, then sprayed or rubbed into surfaces. The most popular drugs:
Important! Use as much substance as indicated in the instructions. It is impossible to increase the amount due to the risk of poisoning the inhabitants of the apartment; it is not recommended to decrease it so that the product does not lose its effectiveness.
Powder products and microencapsulated insecticides are scattered in places where parasites live. 3-4 days after disinfection, wet cleaning is carried out.
