Many people are inclined to believe that fleas in an apartment can only appear with pets. And this is only if the pets walk alone and accidentally cross paths with street cats or dogs. If the owners walk with their pets and control their movement, then they will not be afraid of flea attacks. And what a surprise it is when these dangerous parasites are discovered in their home. The question involuntarily arises: where do fleas in an apartment come from and how to get rid of fleas in an apartment?
A flea bites a man
There can be a huge number of reasons why these parasitic animals appear in your home. They should be taken into account if you don’t want this misfortune to come to you.
But if fleas have nevertheless entered your apartment, then you need to take drastic measures, because they are not only annoying, but also quite dangerous . Fleas can transmit various diseases. Of course, you can try using folk remedies, but to ensure the destruction of parasites, you should turn to professionals .
Features of flea control
Fleas are wingless blood-sucking insects that can reach sizes up to 5 mm. Their body is flattened on the sides and has numerous spines and bristles. It is thanks to them that they have the ability to cling to clothing, including animal fur.
Fleas can even live on poultry, such as parrots. They are often found in the interwing space. In addition, fleas are able to live in burrows and nest substrates. With the help of three pairs of legs they can make significant jumps, which gives them the ability to move very quickly.
- It is incredibly difficult to crush a flea; it has a special flattened structure and a small head.
- With the help of long and strong legs, she is able to perform jumps up to 50 cm long.
- An adult insect is very tenacious; it can easily live without food for several weeks..
- The flea is distinguished by its high fertility, which ensures their rapid spread. One female can lay over a thousand eggs. After emerging from the cocoon, the female can be fertilized almost immediately. At the same time, just one meeting with a male is enough for her to subsequently lay eggs throughout her life. But for laying she needs fresh blood, as a result of which she will look for a victim.
Why are they dangerous?
Bites are characterized by manifestations of allergies.
Feeding on the blood of humans and small animals, fleas leave painful wounds on the body that are easily distinguished from the bites of other insects.
Petechiae appear on the skin - small hemorrhages. These red spots with a dark spot in the middle are painful and very itchy.
Flea bites cause an allergic reaction, especially in children and people with sensitive skin.
Victims may experience pulicosis or sarcopsillosis. These parasitic diseases cause swelling, pain, itching, and in severe cases, damage to the nervous system.
But the main danger from bed flea bites is the transmission of infectious diseases through the blood:
- hepatitis types B and C;
- bubonic plague;
- tularemia;
- typhus;
- encephalitis;
- tuberculosis.
Fleas can reproduce quickly, rapidly increasing their population indoors, so it is necessary to immediately respond to their appearance in order to prevent the consequences of the activity.
Get rid of fleas in your apartment yourself
It is important to understand that getting rid of fleas on your own will require a lot of effort. This is especially true in cases. When owners have pets.
You should take care of your pets first. To do this, you will need to purchase special medications to rid your pet of fleas. In this case, after treatment, you should put an anti-flea collar on your pet, and also give it to someone you know while the premises are being disinfested.
After this, a thorough cleaning should be carried out. You should wash the floors with soapy water and wipe off the dust with a damp cloth.
Tips for choosing a disinfection service
The most reliable method of getting rid of bed fleas is the help of a professional disinfection service.
Specialists will quickly deal with parasites. This will save time and eliminate the need for contact with insecticides.
When choosing a disinfection service, you should pay attention to:
- The drugs used by the organization must be safe for humans and animals.
- The time for the procedure is chosen by the customer, not the company.
- The service clients are explained in detail the disinfection process, the chemicals used, and safety measures.
- Conscientious organizations work without prepayment.
- If the cleaning is unsuccessful, the customer does not pay for this event.
Services whose employees care about their reputation provide quality services, after which they receive only positive reviews.
Apartment processing
To quickly get rid of fleas in an apartment, the treatment of the apartment must be thorough:
- you need to wash all the things you have. This applies to personal clothing, slippers, curtains, curtains, towels, blankets, and so on;
- you need to knock out pillows, mattresses and blankets on the street. It is advisable to “warm up” them in direct sunlight.
- You should use a powerful vacuum cleaner for upholstered furniture, paths and carpets. Pay attention to cracks and crevices in the floor, behind baseboards and in other hidden places;
- all surfaces of baseboards and furniture must be wiped with a disinfectant;
- you need to buy a specialized product - an insecticide.
However, we recommend that you consult with professionals.
There are many counterfeits or drugs on the market today that are simply not registered in our country. This means that there is a very high probability that they will be powerless in the fight against fleas or they will contain toxic substances that can harm the health of people and their pets. Some substances have a long-lasting effect and can accumulate in the body, leading to disastrous results, such as infertility.
After treatment with an insecticidal preparation, you should leave the apartment for several hours . After this, thoroughly ventilate all rooms by opening the windows. At the same time, you shouldn’t clean the apartment for a couple of days. During this time, it is advisable to move to another place.
If the remedy is effective, the adults will die. However, the struggle does not end there. It should be understood that in a week or two the problem will reappear. A new generation will appear and grow up and will also lay eggs. Therefore, it will be necessary to carry out several repeated treatments to avoid a new invasion. You need to act quickly and efficiently, this is the only way to prevent fleas from appearing again.
Many people, trying to get rid of fleas on their own, rarely achieve the desired result. The reasons for this are different: incorrect choice of drug, lack of repeated treatments, incomplete treatment, and so on. Therefore, the best option is to contact companies to carry out appropriate processing .
What causes fleas in the house
When you buy a new home, you may also acquire a serious problem in the form of fleas. The house may be infested with insects, and the previous owners did not bother to remove them before selling. If pets lived in the house before purchasing, it is quite possible that several animals from their fur remained in an empty room. They are able to go without food for 1-2 months. When new hosts arrive, favorable conditions appear for the reproduction of these insects. You yourself can bring on your clothes accidentally clinging individuals there and provoke their rapid reproduction in your own home, provided that these pests are comfortable.
Thus, fleas can get into your home in any way, and if there is such a problem, it is urgent to find a way to destroy them. First of all, you should inspect your home (apartment) for the presence of uninvited guests. In addition, it is advisable not to create favorable conditions for their life.
Particular attention should be paid to the toilet and water pipes. If there is leakage, it should be repaired as quickly as possible. The bathroom should be well ventilated. The apartment should not have dirty, dusty or cluttered corners. In the basement of a house, it is advisable to inspect old pipes, and if there are parasites or conditions suitable for them, it is advisable to use insecticidal agents. Only a responsible attitude towards your home and taking precautions will protect your home from the appearance of blood-sucking inhabitants.
Professional flea treatment for apartments
You should also approach specialists for professional treatment wisely. Only highly qualified employees can be guaranteed to rid your apartment of annoying and tenacious insects in a short time. At the same time, the cost of the services provided will be incomparable with the troubles you will have to go through trying to get rid of apartment fleas on your own.
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The advantages of professional processing are expressed in the following facts:
- specialists select the most effective insecticide , which will affect both adult insects and larvae and clutches. This way you can get rid of fleas in your apartment almost instantly;
- used for processing will be safe for residents and pets, which cannot be said about numerous store-bought drugs;
- For premises, only those preparations are used that will not affect the appearance of walls, furniture and other surfaces.
- Spraying of products is carried out using special equipment, which allows the chemicals to penetrate into the smallest cracks and secluded places where fleas can hide.
- Experienced exterminators know all the main places where parasites like to settle. They pay special attention to them, which allows them to destroy insects with maximum efficiency and eliminate the likelihood of their reappearance.
- Professional extermination of this type of insect will only take a few hours, while removing fleas yourself can take up to several weeks. In the latter case, there will be no guarantee that fleas will not appear within a couple of weeks.
- Professional treatment allows you to completely get rid of fleas in your apartment. In this case, a guarantee is given for the work to be completed within a certain time . This means that if fleas appear again after some time, re-treatment will be carried out free of charge.
- A visit to the site to carry out work on disinsection and flea disinfection in the apartment is possible immediately on the day of your request.
Where do fleas come from in a house in the city?
In summer, the city is filled with all kinds of parasites. Even if they do not catch our eye, they are present everywhere. Small harmful insects inhabit the basements of multi-storey buildings and warehouses of shops and various enterprises. Heating pipelines are a very comfortable habitat for fleas. In addition to the listed objects, everyone’s favorite flower beds and front gardens harbor many parasites. Garages and boiler rooms also provide attractive conditions for various varieties of fleas.
In some places, bloodsuckers can live all the time, while in others they appear accidentally and for a short time, having fallen from the fur of animals. Heating networks are an ideal place for year-round habitat and active breeding of fleas.
Having analyzed all these dangers that are hidden by urban conditions, it becomes not at all surprising what causes fleas in the apartment. The home of each of us is surrounded by breeding grounds for fleas and other small parasites, which are just waiting for the right moment and the slightest opportunity to get inside.
Insects are constant companions of mongrels, stray cats, rats and other warm-blooded animals, and this can cause the appearance of parasites in the entrances. Their main carriers are mainly rats and mice. Even if we don’t meet them in the hallways or in the courtyards, this does not mean that they are not nearby. The presence of rodents is not noticeable, but their number is much greater than that of dogs or cats in the city.
Bed and linens
The bed is the most convenient place for fleas to sit out after feeding. Most often, insects live in the folds of bedding and go out hunting at night, when a person is sleeping. An excellent habitat is created in mattresses, which should be taken into account when treating the bed to kill insects.
Flea bites are often confused with bedbug bites, which also choose a human bed as their habitat. Flea marks remain on linen, which are small brown spots in the shape of commas.
Basements of multi-storey buildings
The reproduction of these blood-sucking insects is facilitated by homeless animals living in basements during the cold season. Mice and rats, which can appear in the basements of houses, are also their carriers. The presence of fleas is especially felt by owners of apartments located on the first floors of residential buildings. Insects can enter the apartment through ventilation holes and cracks in the floors.
Insects from the basement, once in the apartment, settle in carpets, armchairs and sofas. Pets also become a haven for these blood-sucking parasites.
Important! To prevent the appearance of fleas in basements, it is necessary to eliminate dampness and clear the room of debris. In case of infestation and reproduction of insects, the entire basement area should be thoroughly treated.