Can anyone please tell me a sure fire way to rid my home of fleas. They are really bad, purchased and released 6 foggers this past saturday with no luck. Dog has been removed from home, even brushed boric acid on carpets. Had to send children out today due to bites. Someone please help! Can’t afford an exterminator, but want to know something that works! Please help!
As you’ve found, flea bombs are pretty ineffective. You want a premises spray, probably something like esfenvalerate or one of the “methrins” (permethrin, deltamethrin, tetramethrin) and an IGR (insect growth regulator) like Nylar (pyriproxifen). Mix with water and apply to carpets, furniture, baseboards. Repeat just the IGR in 6 months. You’ll need a pump up garden sprayer to do the job efficiently. The pesticide will provide immediate knockdown of the current adult fleas (which are probably horrible now that the dog’s out of the house) and the IGR will prevent hatching fleas from reproducing, thus breaking the life cycle.
Also treat the dog with one of the prescription flea-cides like Program or Revolution. The over the counter ones rarely work well.
You’ll also need to vacuum like crazy (and dispose of the bags immediately) and wash bedding, throw rugs, etc.
Suggested reading: http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/animal_own…
and sites like doyourownpestcontrol.com.
Foggers are not the best way to go. They spray the chemical and it gets everywhere, or you have to cover everything up. Fleas are attracted to the light. Take a pie pan that will reflect the light, and fill it with water. When you go to bed at night, turn every other light in the house off, and set like a desk lamp over the pans. It will reflect the light to the water and the fleas will jump into the water and die. I know it sounds wierd, but it helps a lot! Good Luck!!!!
you did the right thing getting the kids out of the house ….make sure you wash everything …blankets, rugs, …
then get more foggers, one PER ROOM. The foggers are only made to cover a certain square footage, so if you have a very large room, you may need to use 2 ….
This has always worked for me !
Good luck !
Ray
The ONLY thing that worked for us was putting Advantage on both the dog and the cat. Check with your vet to ensure that is ok for your dog! Frontline did not work for us. With Advantage, they were gone within a day.
We tried the carpet stuff, vaccuming, etc. and nothing worked.
You can also bathe your dog in Ivory dish soap-the regular kind. Just watch the eyes and lather really well and rinse completely. That will get the fleas on the dog off.
You have to wash all of the clothes(that includes anything that if made of wool cotton and other clothing materials) in the house and you must vacuum everyday for about two weeks.