Flea Treatment

Why Fleas Treatments are important:

There are thousands of different fleas throughout the world, with the most common fleas being Cat fleas, Dog fleas and Human fleas. Although these fleas can move around and be found on a range of hosts and are not just specific to their names.Fleas are said to have been the main force behind the spread of the “Black Death” plague in the 14th Century causing over 200 million deaths worldwide. Their ability to transfer from one host to another allows for the potential transfer of pathogens which can be viral, parasitic or bacterial.Fleas are not to be confused with the sand fly which commonly bites at sunrise and sunset. A flea is darker in colour and can be seen a lot easier than a sand fly.

Appearance:

Fleas are light brown to mahogany in colour, wingless, approximately oval shaped, have two tiny eye on their faces and laterally compressed enabling them to more swiftly and easily through dense hair and fur. They have six legs with a pair of claws at each tip that they utilise to remain attached to their hosts regardless of scratching, their hind legs are developed to facilitate jumping that they utilise to jump to and from hosts.Fleas measure between two and eight millimetres in length, a small head, which is equipped with mouthparts that are utilised to saw and suck and the adults are covered with bristles which assist the parasite to cling onto their host. Two short antennae protrude from the fleas head and are used to detect vibrations, heat, carbon dioxide, changes in air currents, changes in shadows and most importantly detect a host.

Habits/Lifestyle:

Fleas can be found on cats, carpets, furniture, dogs, dusty floors, floor board cracks, grass areas and sandy subfloors. The increase of carpets, central heating and household pets as well as warm, humid prolonged periods of weather make for ideal conditions for fleas to flourish. Which is why Queensland is the ultimate flea breeding ground.Fleas are commonly known to take refuge on cats and dogs but are not specific to these hosts as they can be also be found to bite various other hosts including humans. Fleas will feed off any warm blooded animals and both the female and male fleas survive on flood as they receive their necessary nutrients to survive off their hosts, although they can survive several months without blood.Fleas gorge themselves on the blood which can sometimes lead them to increasing their body weight by up to 30%. Female adults can lay hundreds of eggs during her lifetime and they lay their eggs after a blood meal in which they utilise to nourish their young, females can lay up to 50 eggs a day. Eggs can hatch within 36 hours and are oval, white to cream in colour and measure 0.5 millimetres in length. When the larvae emerge from their eggs they have no eyes and are lightly covered in hair. Within one to three weeks, the larvae will grow and undergo four moults prior to pupating in a silken cocoon which they spin. The adults will then emerge from their cocoons within a one to two week period, but can stay dormant for up to several months if food and certain conditions aren’t readily available. Adult fleas can live up to three months when optimum conditions apply which is commonly seen in Queensland.

Rental Property Flea Treatments:

If you are vacating a rental property and require a flea treatment to satisfy your bond requirement with your rental agreement, than we are here to help you get through the process as cheaply as possible and Guaranteed! If your rental agreement states flea fumigation they are requesting for a flea treatment to be carried out, but they are using an American term to describe the same end result.

Alot of petsare well managed with vet treatments but sadly this is not to say that the property you are leaving does not have any dormant wintering fleas waiting for the change of environment when you move out, and someone else moves inn. We do often hear from tenants that their dog doesn’t go inside or the cat never goes outside, and this may well be true in your case, but the fleas arent so polite to stop at the door jam and turn around, this is why alot of rental agreements stipulate inside and outside must be treated by a professional pest management company.

Natural Treatments and Management for fleas:

Controlled humidity, temperature, and vacuuming can eliminate fleas from a property. Changing one of these environmental condition could drastically lower and eliminate an infestation. For those who don’t like fleas, it is good to know that regular vacuuming of your property in all areas was proven in a laboratory study to  catch 96% of adult fleas.

When breeding conditions are not optimal, less than 5% of flea eggs complete its lifecycle. Humidity is critical to flea survival, hence why fleas breed so well in Queensland. eggs need relative humidity of at least 70–75% to hatch, and larvae need at least 50% humidity to survive. In humid areas, about 20% of the eggs survive to adulthood. Dehumidifiers with air conditioning and vacuuming all may interrupt the flea lifecycle. Flea survival is required at the optimal temperature of 21° to 32°C the increase or decrease will affect the fleas survival. studies have proven that it is also possible to drown a flea, but extremely hard and would take around 24 hours of submersion to succeed. Fleas also don’t handle consistent high temperatures so well so putting cloths and blankets and other possible affected dryer approved items through a dryer will also kill them off.  

Supermarket Flea Bomb products:

If you are looking to buy a DIY pesticide flea bomb kit from your local supermarket be aware that one can is only designed for one room, and a standard room in the building/maintenance industry is only 3 meters wide and 4 meters long. So if one can is approximately  $9 each it will most likely cost you in excess of $100 to sufficiently treat your most of you infested home. Its clear to see that it is cheaper to use the professionals than ‘Do It Yourself’ in order to break the cycle of fleas.

Professional Pesticide Treatments for Fleas:

Depending on the severity of the flea problem, we as trained pest management technicians aim to solve the issue whilst minimising the chemical impact on your home and garden, this is our responsibility as industry professionals. The mastery of our art is to return dwellings back to a safe and healthy environment minimising the pest issue, like any professional ‘we like to get it right the first time’  Sometimes when dealing with insects in new environments we sometimes get taught something new when we return to touch up an area. The chemical applied are safe for all people and pets when precautions are taken into place by our technitions. We will ask you to avoid entering the treated areas untill the chemical applied is has dried, and we more often than not will ask you to leave the property for a short time to ensure optimal safety for all occupants. 

Victory in Vacuuming for Fleas:

Our commercial grade high powered steam cleaning equipment has an amazing amount of suction when only operated in the vacuum mode. We have found that by pre vacuuming a client’s carpeted areas prior to the flea treatment with our powerful machine, greatly impacts the infested cycle. So if you do have a flea issue feel free to inquire with our phone staff in getting you carpeted areas pre dry vacuumed to help breaking the cycle.

How Fast Can Fleas Hatch?

Fleas lust for blood. After 24 hours of life from obtaining the first blood meal that flea can lay 50 eggs per day. With the right humid temperatures seen on the Sunshine coast and north brisbane Queensland, a flea can and will hatch within 36 hours ready to repeat the multiplying process again. Given the right conditions a property can turn from nothing to infested within 6 weeks, your small flea problem can grow from 1 to 1 million in such a short period of time. Also given the right conditions a flea can lay dormant during the pupa stage for up to six months, then hatch with all their friends that survived the wintering phase. This is partially why all exiting tenants with pets are required to get their vacating rental properties flea treated, so as we technicians are responsible in the event of a dormant outbreak.

The Mighty Silken Pupa:

The silken cocoon is what can protect the pupa (unhatched flea) from the first chemical treatment of your house and yard. This is because Silken (Silk) is one of the most strongest natural fibers known to man. If the cocoon is buried deep enough in your carpets and other dense fibres around the house/garden, this can sometimes be enough to protect them during the initial flea treatment. Silk can lose up to 20% of its strength when wet, but treating for fleas safely shouldn’t require a deep chemical saturation of your carpets in hope for penetration of the silken cocoon. If the active in our products are applied properly by the technician, the flea will hatch and then die when in contact with the dried applied chemical. This is why after an initial treatment we like to allow up to 10 days before the possible need of re application. In some situations we may come back sooner to bring relief to occupants, but if a occupant only comes across one or two fleas are popping up and staying alive, waiting it out for a few days is often a part of breaking the cycle.