Fleas are small parasitic insects that only inhabit warm-blooded animals. They have a small head with sawing and sucking mouth parts, and two tiny eyes. Both the male and female rely on blood for their nutrition, but can survive for several months without it.
The body of adult fleas is laterally compressed, enabling them to move quickly and easily through dense hair or fur, and each of the six legs has a pair of claws at the tip to enable them to remain attached to the host regardless of scratching. The hind legs are well developed to facilitate jumping onto a passing host.
There are over 70 species of fleas in Australia. They prefer warm and humid climates, so they typically become a serious pest in the summer months.
Fleas are usually found on cats and dogs and prefer locations where dust and debris accumulate-especially among soft furnishings, under loose cushions, carpets, dusty floors, sandy sub floors and even grassy areas.
When a flea infestation occurs in a domestic residence, the bites are usually observed on the ankles and lower parts of the legs as small red spots, which is due to the injection of flea saliva at the time of biting to prevent the blood coagulating and can cause severe irritation.
In a vacant house a flea can remain dormant for more than 18 months. Hatching of the flea from the pupa is triggered by movement nearby predominantly during warm, moist weather conditions.
Even after a pest treatment fleas will continue to hatch because pesticides cannot penetrate the flea pupae case. The newly emerged fleas and the existing adults will die after contacting the residual treatment.
It is very important to have your pets treated at the same time as your pest treatment. For every flea on your pet there may be hundreds waiting to emerge.10 fleas can potentially reproduce 250000 in only 30 days.
Spreading lime on the ground will NOT kill fleas. It will make the treatment less effective.
What you can do
Prior to treatment we require all floor areas to be vacuumed (especially under furniture and carpet edges) and/or mopped and as much as possible be lifted from the floor area-the more floor area we can treat the better the outcome of the treatment. Also any furnishings in close contact or used by the pet should be vacuumed. Additionally treat the vacuum bag and contents with insecticide and discard. Mow the lawns as short as possible.
Pet bedding should be washed in hot water, ironed or replaced and pets given a flea wash within 24 hours of the flea treatment. Animals with fleas should also be treated for tapeworm.
Fleas prefer warm humid environments and breed mainly in the warmer months. Cleanliness is important in flea control. Floors should be regularly and thoroughly washed, swept and carpets vacuumed or steam cleaned. Steam cleaning carpets can reduce numbers to controllable levels but can also trigger remaining eggs to hatch because of the heat and humidity produced, so follow up with a vacuuming program for several days
Restrict access of your dog/cat to internal and sub floor areas particularly during summer months.
What we will do:
Conduct a thorough inspection of the premises both internally and externally.
A Flea Control program will include:
Internally-treat flea harbourages including carpets, particularly the areas where pets rest or sleep with a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide spray containing an insect growth regulator. You get immediate knockdown of live adults as well as stopping future generations reaching sexual maturity-therefore breaking the breeding cycle.
Externally-treat all external areas such as subfloors, gardens, lawns, verandahs, window frames, eaves, patios, garages, pet areas etc with a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide spray containing an insect growth regulator.
A follow up treatment may be required depending on the level of flea infestation.
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