When Should You Start Worrying About Flea Infestation?
Nobody wants pests in their home, but there’s something particularly annoying about having a flea infestation. The unfortunate truth is, that tons of Edwardsville, IL, homeowners have to deal with fleas due to their pets. Even if you don’t have pets, you could have fleas in your home. While a pest control service can help you get rid of fleas, it’s not always necessary. If you’ve got a flea infestation and are considering calling a professional, here’s what you should know.
Fleas: The Basics
To understand the cause and effects of flea infestation in your home, you need to know the basics about fleas. Surprisingly, these little bugs are a lot more complicated than you might expect.
Fleas are most commonly associated with pets, which means treating your pet’s flea problem is an excellent first step to getting rid of the fleas in your home. However, homeowners without pets may still have a flea problem for various reasons. In some cases, a previous homeowner may have had pets that tracked fleas inside.
Every flea begins its life as an egg before evolving into a larva, pupa, and eventually an adult. This means that a big part of dealing with fleas is making sure you don’t have a flea egg infestation. Fleas love to lay their eggs in your carpet, on furniture, and in other tight spots. When these eggs hatch, you get more fleas that eventually grow to lay their own eggs. A flea can lay up to 50 eggs per day, which means a small flea problem can get worse quickly if you aren’t keeping an eye on things.
For the most part, a flea bite isn’t a major problem. While it is an annoyance, it isn’t likely to cause you any major health issues. These bites do, however, pose a risk to your pets if you have a bad flea infestation in your home. Fleas can also transfer a number of diseases to humans, the worst (and rarest) of which are typhus and plague.
Signs Of Flea Infestation
Almost everybody will deal with fleas at some point in their life, and most people won’t call a pest control professional to get rid of them. The truth of the matter is, that there are a lot of effective tactics for getting fleas out of your home. Some do not require hiring a professional. So how do you know when your flea problem is bad enough to call a pest control expert?
The easiest way to tell that you’ve got a major flea problem is by running through all the commonly suggested methods of getting rid of the fleas in your home. This starts with making sure your pets are treated with flea medicine, so they aren’t tracking them inside. On top of that, you need to make sure you clean any surfaces in your home, which may have fleas or eggs on them, including upholstery, carpeting, and other fabric surfaces. Many people have good results when sprinkling diatomaceous earth on their carpet, letting it sit, and vacuuming it up. You can also buy flea control products and look up other common methods online.
If you’ve tried a reasonable number of methods and you’re still not seeing any results, chances are you have a flea problem that requires professional intervention.
Flea Prevention
As far as flea prevention goes, you can find tons of different tips online that supposedly help you keep fleas out of your home from the very start. The fact of the matter is, that vacuuming regularly and treating your pets with flea medicine are the only surefire ways to make sure you don’t have a flea infestation.
The biggest thing you can do to prevent flea problems is to vacuum your home regularly. Fleas like to hide in carpets and other fabrics where they also lay their eggs, so vacuuming these spots out ensures you don’t have any major problems brewing. Since many flea problems start with fleas dragged in on a pet, using a vet-recommended flea medicine is also a great way to prevent infestations.
Severe Flea Problems
If you do have a major flea problem in your Edwardsville, IL, home, you should call a pest control service as soon as possible. Because of how many eggs they’re capable of laying, fleas tend to get worse quickly if you don’t do anything about them. Calling a professional helps stop your flea problem quickly and prevent skin problems and potential diseases that can come from flea bites. There are special products designed to get rid of major flea infestations, and pest control professionals know how to use them safely and effectively. This is why it’s best to call the experts when in doubt.
Having a flea infestation in your home can be a real pain, but there are ways to get rid of them. If you’re having trouble getting rid of fleas or the problem is only getting worse, you need the help of professionals. The simplest, safest, and most effective way to solve your flea problem is to call Brady Pest & Termite Management at (618) 343-1790.
