Flea Control

Fleas are a serious problem for households across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

South east Queensland has the perfect climate for fleas to thrive.

Every day we get calls from homeowners experiencing their first flea infestation.

If you have pets the problem can be exasperated with animals carrying fleas all over the property inside and out.

 

 

 

 

 

People usually try to contain the problem with flea “bombs” or home remedies found on the Internet. But these don’t really work so the problem gets worse and after 2 to 3 weeks the homeowner is forced to bring in a pest control company. What may have started out as a minor infestation is now a major problem. There is no easy solution.

Scope of the Problem

Fleas are small parasitic insects. They have a 4-phase lifecycle: egg, larvae, pupae and adult. A single flea can take 2 weeks to over a year to complete their lifecycle. Variables like the particular species, availability of food, temperature and humidity determine the time it takes.

Typically a population of fleas consist of just 5% adults, the balance eggs (50%), larvae (35%) and pupae (10%). The adult fleas living in your home make up just 5% of your problem. This is why flea bombs don’t work for very long.

Female fleas lay about 50 eggs a day once they’ve had a “blood meal” from a cat, dog, mouse, human, etc. The eggs will fall off the host onto any surface the host comes into contact with. This could be beds, furniture, carpets, cat or dog beds, floors, lawns, etc. A few fleas in the house means you have a latent flea population everywhere else on your property.

It takes eggs 2 days to 2 weeks to hatch and they can be anywhere inside or out. Larvae can take anywhere from a week to a few months to fully develop into pupae, which mature into adult fleas inside a cocoon made by the larvae.

Fully formed adult fleas will escape their cocoon within 4 to 14 days. They can also lie dormant for up to 18 months. Fleas like to spend the winter months in their larvae and/or pupae phase. They survive best when the weather is warm and humid, like in spring and summer. This is why flea infestations are so common during early spring!

 Facts About Fleas:

• For every flea you see on your cat or dog, there are 100s more waiting to emerge.
•  In perfect conditions 5 female fleas will multiply to more than 125,000 fleas within 30 days. This is why it is imperative you act immediately to eradicate the fleas once you detect any sign of them.
•  Fleas like to live in an environment that is 20°C to 30°C with humidity at 70%. These are the optimum conditions, which means Brisbane provides the perfect environment for fleas to flourish.
• Adult fleas flourish when the temperature is between 18°C and 29°C and when the humidity is from 70% to 90%. If the temperature falls below 4°C flea eggs won’t hatch. If the temperature stays below 2°C for 5 days or below 8°C for 10 days flea eggs will die.
• Australia has more than 70 different species of fleas. All of them are very stubborn and able to survive quite well. Adult fleas can compress their body to move through fur and due to strong hind legs they can jump from host to host with ease.
• When a home becomes infested with fleas, the residents usually get bitten on the ankles and feet. You will see tiny red spots on your skin, which can be very irritating.
• Sprinkling lime around will not kill the fleas, but simply compromise the effectiveness of any proper flea treatment.
•  Even if you do not own pets fleas can still invade your home. They can be on stray cats or dogs coming onto your property, or on mice or possums. If you do have a dog do not take your dog to public dog parks as these places are full of fleas.

 

Flea Treatments

Because the vast majority of the flea’s life is not spent on a host it is crucial to treat the entire environment surrounding the host. It’s also important that all phases of the lifecycle be treated.

Many of the flea bombs you buy at stores treat adult fleas, but the other 95% of the flea population existing in your home and on your property remains untreated.

The only way to keep the immature phases of flea development from reaching maturity is by using insect growth regulators(IGR), which is what licensed pest control companies use.

Flea populations have become more resistant to over-the-counter insecticides, so it is increasingly difficult to successfully eradicate fleas if you’re trying this on your own.

What works is an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to deal with the problem holistically. To totally eradicate fleas from the home and property use chemical treatments along with non-chemical methods in conjunction with a professional pest control company.

Our Professional Flea Control Methods

Depending on the size of your flea infestation, how long you’ve had the problem and the location of the fleas (interior and/or exterior and/or subfloor) you may need more than one flea treatment to totally eliminate the problem.

The Initial Treatment of Fleas

Identify the areas that are infested and treat with adulticides, which kill adult fleas. Use an IGR to continue killing immature fleas in order to wipe out future generations.

You might still notice immature fleas as they emerge but once they reach a treated surface, they will get a dose and die.

Follow Up Treatments

Your Initial Treatment may work if you combine it with other non-chemical protocols recommended, using an Integrated Pest Management approach. However if your infestation is resistant to the adulticide you used or fleas begin to pop up in other areas of your property that were not treated, you will need to follow up with additional treatments.

Use an alternative adulticide along with an insect growth regulator (IGR) to treat these areas.

Things we recommend you do as part of your treatment

Chemical Treatments

1. Your pet should be regularly treated with flea control products from your vet or supermarket to kill any existing infestation of fleas and prevent attacks in the future.
2. If your pet has fleas you should treat them for tapeworm as well.
3. To avoid flea resistance don’t stick with the same brand, alternate them.
4. Be careful with your cats, as they can’t metabolise pyrethroids or certain other ingredients. So check with your vet for the products that are safe and effective for cats.

 

Non-Chemical Treatments

• Thoroughly vacuum the floors, carpets and upholstered furniture, pet beds etc. in your home regularly with a power head on your vacuum cleaner. A University of California study revealed that vacuuming could catch around 96% of the adult fleas on those surfaces.
• To prevent fleas from infesting your vacuum cleaner, spray the bag with insecticide before and after discarding the bag.
• Wash all rugs, fabrics, bedding and linens that could be infested in extremely hot water.
• Keep your pets away from public dog parks where other infested pets may be, as well as sub-floor areas beneath the house throughout the summer.

 

What you must do before we treat your house with chemicals internally

• Gather up all toys, magazines, pet food bowls and all small objects off the floors.
• Thoroughly vacuum all floors and then mop them as well.
• Take everything out from under beds so we can freely spray under.
• No major furniture pieces should be moved.
• Any fish tanks should be covered and filters turned off.
• All humans and pets need to be gone while we do our treatment and cannot re enter until the spray is completely dry.
• The premises should be thoroughly ventilated after the flea treatment.
• Be careful with cats because if they walk on wet spray they will lick their paws and get sick.

Once the chemical spray is totally dry it is safe for you, your kids, babies and pets to return. You should plan on waiting 4 hours for the spray to dry and the premises to thoroughly ventilate for it to be safe for anyone to enter.

 

What you must do before we treat externally with chemicals

1. Gather up all the children’s toys including trikes, bikes, balls etc., plus the hose and any other garden equipment.
2. Don’t move any of the outdoor furniture.
3. Cut the grass so that it is as short as possible. Throw out the clippings in a sealed plastic bag, as the clippings will be infested with fleas.
4. Water the lawn thoroughly before the flea treatment.
5. All humans and pets must leave while the exterior is being treated. Do not come back into the area until everything sprayed is totally dry.
6. Be very careful with your cats because if they walk on anything with wet spray on it they can lick their paws and get sick.

 

Once the spray is totally dry it is safe for your family including babies and pets to return. You must plan on being gone for 4 hours so the exterior can totally dry and properly ventilate before you come back.

 

Our Warranty

We offer a 3-month warranty on our Flea Control Treatments, once we’ve completely treated the initial problem.

 Not every infestation of fleas necessitates a follow up treatment so we do not require every client to have this done. Very often the Initial Treatment is all that’s needed when the client combines it with non-chemical treatments using an Integrated Pest Management approach.

Every infestation is different so we are happy to advise accordingly. If you do opt for Follow Up Treatments, they should be done 1 to 2 weeks after having the Initial Treatment.

Prices & Quotes

It takes patience and the careful use of the appropriate insecticides, adulticides and growth regulators to successfully treat an established infestation of fleas.

We charge a minimum of $249 for all Initial Treatments. A charge of $149 applies for each Follow Up Treatment.

We are happy to provide an informal estimate via phone or email, however we cannot give you a final quote until we have inspected your property and assessed the extent of the flea infestation.

 

Do It Yourself Flea Control Methods

Flea populations have become more resistant to over-the-counter insecticides, so it is increasingly difficult to successfully eradicate fleas if you’re trying this on your own.

We understand that hiring a pest control company can be expensive, but the problem must still be fixed! If you are going to try and solve the problem yourself, avoid Hardware Store flea control products as most will not work.

You may have better luck finding what you need at  farm and produce supply stores. Look for Surefire Insectigone, which should work if you follow the instructions on the label. It can also be found online. You’re going to need to buy a 5-litre sprayer so if you don’t already have one, get one at Bunnings Warehouse. Click here for details.