My first question is that if there are no fleas in a trap and it has been 3 weeks does that mean that room has no fleas? No. FLEA TRAPS are a great tool to help monitor and even reduce local populations. But their range is limited. If you don’t catch any fleas for 4 days, move the trap 10-15 away from where it’s been and repeat the process. Only after you’ve moved them throughout the entire house for 8 weeks with no fleas having been caught can you safely know they’re done. But the key here is that during these 8 weeks, you will have been moving the traps as described above and not just letting them stay in one position.

Second question is … could we take the fleas on our clothes and have someone elses home infested or our car? Yes. Since 25-40% of our customers are people who don’t have pets, it’s clear that fleas will jump onto a person, take a blood meal and then lay eggs where this person resides. So it only stands to reason that if you had a flea hitching a ride on you during a trip to the other part of your home or even during a visit to someone elses home, you could carry a pregnant flea. But remember, the reverse is true. In other words, anyone that enters your home or your car could do the same whether they own a pet or not.

Third and final question is that we are planning on steam cleaning the carpet and have gotten mixed opinions on whether to do it or not, will it help? Steam cleaning will definitely help the fleas but not the “flea problem”. In other words, fleas need moisture. And when you steam clean your carpet, you’ll be both destroying all the chemical you’ve applied as well as added moisture to where they live. The end result is that they’ll be able to develop faster and thrive. So yes, steam cleaning will help the fleas. But my guess is you were asking if it would help stop the flea problem and the answer to that question is no.

…and if we do treat the carpet/area rugs can we put powders (fleasbuster) down afterwards? How dry does the carpet have to be? It needs to be completely dry. On average, it will take 1-2 weeks for the carpet to dry enough before any ONCE A YEAR FLEA GRANULES can be applied.

Also, if we do steam clean the carpet does that mean fleas will hatch sooner and we can come home to a swarm of fleas afterwork? There is no way to tell whether there will be a surge or not. Surging populations are dependent on when the pupae are ready to hatch so if there are lots of fleas ready to hatch following a steam cleaning then yes, you’ll see more.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

Once a Year Flea Treatment:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/first-defense-20-ounce-jar

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Welcome to the world of pet ownership! I’m not sure if this is your first pet or not but for starters, I suggest you read through our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE which will explain this pest in great detail. As you’ll learn, there is a great chance of a problem developing in your home if you leave it untreated. For this reason, I suggest you do the following.

First, set out some ONCE A YEAR FLEA GRANULES. You’ll basically be treating your carpets and furniture so that any areas where flea larvae might prosper will have a layer of protection in place. Regarding the vacuuming you say you’re doing; keep it up. Especially on tiled or other hard surfaced floors. This will help remove any flea eggs and larvae which are near to impossible to remove from the carpet (which is why you should treat it).

Second, set out some FLEA TRAPS. These will not only help by collecting fleas; they’ll help by alerting you to any activity you may have otherwise missed.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Once a Year Treatment:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/first-defense-20-ounce-jar

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

If you read our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn that in fact fleas do not migrate or leave their host. Instead they’d much rather want to live out their life where they can stay protected, keep warm and have plenty to eat. That would be on a dog, cat or some other animal. Even in the cases where people are being bit the fleas involved do not want to stay on the target person; there is rarely enough to keep them satisfied beyond the food people supply so they’ll usually bite and jump away.

As for the “black droppings” you claim to have found; this is normal to see on any infested pet and if the pet isn’t treated, flea eggs and pupae would be falling off it as it moved about throughout the day. In fact, it’s all the flea eggs and pupae that fall off it which poses the potential for problems to arise.

Which leads me to your home. If your house is properly treated with some ONCE A YEAR FLEA GRANULES and you have some FLEA TRAPS installed, there is little chance of a problem developing even if flea infested dogs where present. So if you’d like her and her pets to come visit, get the home treated as our article explains and there will be no reason for concern.

As for your sisters home; it is quite possible for pets living there to harbor the flea problem and not the home itself. And as our article explains, it’s normal for fleas to ignore certain people yet be attracted to others so maybe they like you and not her. One way to find out for sure is to go to her home and see if you get fleas on you. If you do, there is no doubt a problem. But does that mean there is a problem? Well, maybe for you but what about your sister? I would say no if they’re not interested in biting her. And guess what? This situation exists and is quite common.

In fact I have a brother who doesn’t care at all that his home gets fleas because they’re not interested in biting him or his wife. For some reason the fleas ignore him but no one wants to go inside his house because it can be so bad. My other brother is immune to mosquito bites so when we sit outside his house, he doesn’t get bit while me and others get eaten alive! In this case he clearly has mosquitoes active but in his mind, it’s our problem and not his. Don’t be surprised if something like this is happening with your sister and her house as this scenario is quite common and exists all over.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Once A Year Flea Granules:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/first-defense-20-ounce-jar

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

It will. But if you review our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn that in fact clothing is rarely if ever a place where one would have flea eggs laid. As our article explains, fleas want to live on their host. In most cases this will be a pet. But when local populations get large, there will usually be a problem in the home or surrounding yard as well. These local infestations will usually lead to people getting bit when walking around the premises. But will the fleas stay on these people and lay eggs? No.

In summary, there is no reason to “waste” hot water all for the sake of trying to rid clothing from fleas. Normal wash cycles will do the job. But if you have a local flea infestation, you’ll need to start an integrated flea control program as our article explains if you want them gone.

Flea Control: http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Flea Trap (great tool to set out to see if you have local activity on the ground): http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

At this point there is a distinct possibility that a flea problem could develop in your car. If you read our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn that it only takes one flea to infest a home and a car is no different. And once they get on any red blooded host, they’re first task is to bite so if there is just one female flea in the car that’s fed, it could be the start of something bad. And based on what was on your husband, there is a good chance some flea eggs could actually be there already. Does this mean they’ll survive and cause an infestation? That’s anyone’s guess.

So if you want to be completely sure nothing will develop, the simplest thing you could do would be to apply PRECOR 2000 to the upholstery and carpeting in the car. First do a thorough vacuuming and then lightly treat these areas. The Precor 2000 will kill both adult fleas and their eggs and remove any chance of them getting established. Since it will only take a little to do the treatment, use the rest of the can inside your town home if that will make you feel better but it’s probably not going to be needed.

That being said, you many want to install at least one FLEA TRAP in the home. These do a great job of monitoring local environments and if you did develop a problem, it would collect the fleas which in turn would let you know you need to do a more thorough treatment inside.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Precor 2000:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/aerosol/precor-2000

Flea Trap:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

This is an easy one. If you read through our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn once the pet left, the developing fleas will have no place to go but focus in on people. Until all the pupae in your apartment are gone, expect more of the same.

You’ll also learn in our article there is no way to kill flea pupae and the only way to get rid of them is to vacuum and/or wait for all of them to hatch. The good news is hardwood floors are easy to vacuum and clean which will effectively remove all the flea eggs, larvae and pupae. This will help tremendously. But I also suggest you set out 2-4 FLEA TRAPS to help speed the process by getting any pupae left behind to hatch sooner rather than later.

Lastly, there is usually no need to treat when one only have hardwood floors so I see no need to change that approach now. Adding to the list of reasons not to treat is the fact that you’re pregnant so as I see it, a good vacuuming and some Flea Traps will be your best solution.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

If you review our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn that pretty much any animal in the yard can host fleas. And if any animal with fleas is moving through the yard, no doubt some flea eggs will be falling into the turf. From there the flea cycle will have begun and at that point, people and pets will become targets.

Now that your dog is hosting fleas, no doubt the inside of the home will be next to start hosting fleas and the flea cycle. At this time I suggest you take a proactive approach by treating the home, yard and pet. Flea season is just underway and as our article explains, getting treatments done sooner rather then later is the best approach.

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

If you read through our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn the three areas where fleas like to reproduce are on pets, in the house and in the yard. The most common is on the pet but it sounds like you’re handling your dog just fine. But what about the inside of the home? This is the second most likely place where they’re inclined to develop. And as our article explains, pets are where fleas want to be so since you’re seeing just 1-2 on your dog at a time, I’m pretty sure it’s the home that’s causing the problem.

Now if the pet had hundreds of fleas in her fur, you’d no doubt be seeing some too. But just 1-2? That’s a sure sign flea eggs must have landed in the home some time in the past year and now you’ve got some pupae laying around waiting for a meal (pet).

The least I’d recommend is to get some FLEA TRAPS and then install them around the house. At least 2; 4 would be ideal. This will enable you to monitor the problem. But even if it turned out you don’t have many if any fleas in the home, I’d still say to go ahead and get the carpet treated with the ONCE A YEAR GRANULES that work so well at controlling most anything that wants to live in the carpet.

Lastly, the outside could be involved. But in most cases (95%+), it’s either the pet or the home that’s the cause. Once you get these areas treated if you still see fleas you can consider treating the outside with one of the products we have listed but for now, I’d focus in on the home.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

Once A Year Granules:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/first-defense-2-lb

Fleas can’t live on a person as long as they shower and wash their hair daily. This simple act alone will remove all the debris, flea eggs and pupae as well as kill larvae and adult fleas. If for some reason she isn’t yet on this schedule, make sure you get her to do so for now on. This will insure the fleas aren’t reproducing on her.

And once you know they’re not reproducing on her, it will mean there must be a “flea generator” somewhere in the home. If it was the pet, the fleas would stay on it so there is no surprise the pet is flea free and your daughter is having the problem. But the fact that the pet isn’t accumulating fleas is a clue as to what is probably happening. In other words: your daughter is seemingly going somewhere the dog isn’t and this other location is where the fleas are sitting in their pupae stage waiting to come out. This means the key for you will be to identify this location and get it treated.

To help identify this location, I suggest you set out some FLEA TRAPS around the home. These will attract hatched fleas as well as get flea pupae to hatch. Leave them out in one location for 2-4 days and if you’re close to the flea generator, the trap will catch some. If you don’t trap fleas any after 4 days, move the traps at least 20 feet to another location in home. Rotate them out over and over so that all areas  of the home are eventually covered and at one point you’ll locate an area which is releasing fleas. Once this area is found, you’ll need to treat using either the PERMETHRIN and NYLAR spray or the ONCE A YEAR FLEA POWDER listed in our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE.

My guess is there is some piece of furniture like a couch, chair, bed or sofa which your daughter is using but the dog does not climb upon. It could also be a specific room in the home. Regardless, as our article explains, the pupae can live on anything for 6-12 months waiting for a target to arrive and when it does, they’ll hatch and jump on the target. In this case the target sounds like it’s your daughter. And only until all the pupae have hatched will the problem be gone so unfortunately, it sounds like you have some work to do in order to get rid of them.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/electric/flea-trap

Permethrin 10:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/permethrin-10

Nylar:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/igr/igr-nylar

Once a Year Flea Granules:  http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/first-defense-2-lb

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control#once-a-year-treatment

My wife and I are from Canada and are vacationing in Orange County. We have a challenge we are hoping you can help us solve.

We recently stayed for 2 weeks at a friend’s home – where we found out the hard way – the home had a dog flea problem. It seems fleas will usually munch on pets – but if no pets are around – tourists will do just fine. In this case the pets had been out of the home since January 1 and so had the homeowners so when we arrived on January 16 they said ‘BooYah’ and began munching on our feet, then ankles then legs. At least that is what we think happened.

We went in to an ‘Urgent Care’ office today as the itching was driving us crazy & the Dr. there said it looked to him like Scabies rather than fleas as the red itchy spots had started on our feet and rapidly (over a week) progressed up our legs and for my wife around her waist. He prescribed a Permetherin cream (5%) that we have covered ourselves in from tip of head hair to tip of toes and instructed us on enclosing all non-needed clothing in garbage bags for 5 days, to spray our car and the one non-sealed luggage container with Lysol and to wash and heat dry (and likely shrinking in the process) our clothes. We did all that this evening however we were looking on the Internet at photos of Scabies and they do not look like the red bite marks we have. Now this will be all fine and good if we did have scabies as the scabie mites are supposed to die after not eating for 5 days.

So we thought – what if it was dog fleas and what if the fleas had deposited eggs inside our luggage (which sat on the hosts carpeted floor for the 2 weeks we were there).

We are looking for ways to treat the possibility that it was fleas – and if so how to destroy the eggs that …might… have gotten into our luggage. One thought we had was to open the garbage bags and spray the heck out of the contents with Lysol then re-close the bag. But that is just us guessing at what to do.

We see all kinds of Internet sites talking about treating the pet (which we don’t have) and carpets (which are back at the host’s home) but nothing has been found on what to do with potentially infested luggage.

Any help or suggestions are appreciated & you can contact us by return email or by phone.

If you read through our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn that what happened when you arrived at this home is in fact quite common with fleas. As our article explains, the flea pupae can live for up to a year waiting for someone or some pet to become available. And when someone or some pet does arrive, these pupae will hatch and attack. But have you seen fleas? When active they’re quite easy to see. And if you aren’t seeing any, scabies could be involved as could BEDBUGS.

As for the luggage; treat it with PRECOR 2000. This light aerosol will kill both Flea Eggs and Adult Fleas. I also recommend setting up FLEA TRAPS to help monitor the problem at both the vacation home and your home back in Canada. They’ll do a great job of alerting you to anything that might be present. Since they will catch a wide range of biting insects, they could help identify something else that might be feeding on you and your wife so that corrective measures can be taken.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Bedbug Article:  http://www.bugspray.com/article/bedbugs.html

Precor 2000:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page246.html

Flea Traps: http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page22.html

If you take some time to review our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll see we make no mention of “bombs” as a viable way to treat any flea problem. That’s because they don’t work. All they’ll do is kill exposed fleas and as our article explains, adult fleas only live a few days and die so killing them won’t help the problem. The reason you have a problem is because there are lots of eggs and pupae throughout the home which need to be controlled if want them gone. And as our article explains, you’ll need to treat with some of our sprays or ONCE A YEAR FLEA POWDER if your trying to get rid of them as these are the only good products to use for existing problems. Personally I prefer the Powder because it’s easy to use, works so well on carpets and you only have to apply it once a year. Combined with some FLEA TRAPS set up in the home and you’ll have all you need to break the flea cycle within a few weeks.

Now if you have reason to believe there are in fact fleas inside the walls, you could treat them with PYGANIC DUST. This could be injected using a HAND DUSTER but following the treatment, you should seal the wall voids up to prevent any pet from having access. In fact, the only way fleas could be in the walls would be if you had a dog or cat going up inside them. As our article explains, flea eggs will fall off pets and other animals as they move around the home. So in most cases, the eggs will land on carpeting and furniture where the fleas will further develop. But they won’t move into wall voids and there is no way they could get there unless the pet was going there so there is a good chance no fleas are there now and no such treatment is needed.

So in summary, make sure the home and pet are treated as explained in our article. If you follow these guidelines using the products we have listed in our article, you’ll break the flea cycle no matter how bad it is.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Artilce:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Once A Year Flea Powder:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page23.html

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page22.html

Pyganic Dust:  http://www.bugspray.com/item/pyganic_dust.html

Hand Duster:  http://www.gotosprayer.com/dusters/hand-dusters/crusader-hand-duster

If you read our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn the cycle of the flea and that it’s entirely possible to get a flea infestation without being a pet owner. Basically all you need is one flea and your house or yard can become infested. There are many animals that carry fleas besides the common pets which are mostly to blame for any local infestation. Additionally, the current weather pattern most of our country is experiencing only serves to heighten the chances that such an infestation can occur.

Still, I’m not quite sure you have fleas. Here’s why. First, seeing flea eggs is just about impossible. To the trained eye they’re quite hard to id; to the average home owner impossible. Second, fleas are very easy to id to the naked eye and not difficult to tell apart from specks of dirt. Lastly, if you did indeed have fleas but no pet that resides in the house, all you would need to do is walk around with bare legs or feet with white socks on. If in fact there were fleas in the home, anyone there would find them landing on their socks or legs. Fleas need food and if there is no host animal in the home on which they can feed, any fleas present will readily attack the people in the home.

At this point if you feel you are unsure or would like to take a proactive approach and do something, I suggest setting out some FLEA TRAPS to start. These do a great job of collecting a wide range of “people seeking pests” and if anything in the home is looking for a blood meal, the traps will surely catch some. This could lead to information that you could then use to solve the problem with the proper treatment the first time around. If after monitoring the problem for some time you still believe there is something living in the carpet or on the floors and would like to spray something, the FLEA TERMINATOR GRANULES would be ideally suited for any carpeting in the home. It’s odorless and very safe yet highly effective lasting upwards of a year. For hardwoods or tiled floors, the PRECOR 2000 would be a good way to treat. It’s a dry aerosol that can be misted over the area. It’s just about odorless, easy to apply and treatments will last many months.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page22.html

Flea Terminator:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page23.html

Precor 2000:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page246.html

Fleas on cement present a unique problem in that the cement is not a good surface to spray liquid products. The cement will readily absorb most of the spray so there won’t be much left behind as explained in our Flea Control article. And keeping the pet removed from the area will only allow the problem to continue as explained in our article as well.

To get rid of the fleas, you’ll need to do a few things. First, you need to clean out the garage with a vacuum as well as possible. Since there shouldn’t be anything “holding” onto flea pupae and adults (since the flooring is cement) vacuuming should help to remove a lot of the fleas that are developing there right now. This will have a big positive impact. But vacuuming alone won’t solve the problem.

Next you need to place out some Drione Dust on the floor. This desiccant dust will dehydrate the flea eggs and other stages and effectively break the cycle.

Lastly, place out some Flea Traps to help collect any that might be able to avoid the treated areas. Following the treatment, someone needs to go into the garage and walk about in there daily, at least once a day, to get the pupae to hatch out. After 1-2 weeks, you shouldn’t be seeing any more fleas and at that point you can vacuum again to remove the dust and go back to using the garage like you have been. In the future, apply the Drione every 6 months and should be able to prevent getting another flea infestation out there.

Treating before you actually have a problem would be VERY smart. In fact, if you treat with something now to kill flea eggs in theory you should never get a flea infestation. We have many customers who do this and there is no doubt this is a great way to beat the flea problem before it has a chance to even happen.

As you can see in our Flea Control article, there are a few products that can be used on flea eggs. If you prefer to spray, get the Nylar concentrate and apply a couple of gallons throughout the home using a good Pump Sprayer. This will probably only need to be done once a year, in the spring, and should last the season. At most, two treatments a year would be required. The other option would be the once-a-year-flea-granules. This product is odorless, very safe to use and very effective. Applied to furniture and carpeting, it would undoubtedly stop all the flea eggs from ever developing and in effect stop a flea infestation.

We have been selling ONCE A YEAR TREATMENTS for over ten years and we have found it to work very well. This is probably because the flea granules get down to the bottom or nap of the carpeting where flea eggs and larvae seem to gravitate. The eggs and larvae die off by contact since the flea granules work as a drying agent and essentially dehydrates them before they can grow up to biting adults. By keeping the flea cycle in check, fleas are never able to get established in the carpeting which really makes flea control easy. As our on line Flea Control article explains, breaking the flea cycle is paramount when treating and it just seems like the once a year treatment does this the best.