Warm, summer days often bring a surge
of flea infestations to many of our customers. Often people who didn’t even
realise that they had fleas are greeted by hundreds of fleas as they return
from their holiday.
We also have lots of customers who book
in a treatment as they are leaving for holiday. It may seem like a good plan to
get a flea treatment as you’re about to go on holiday and you’ll surely come
home to a lovely, flea-free home...
But, as you walk in the door, what are
you greeted by?
Yup, you guessed it, FLEAS! And lots of
them, no less.
But why is
this the case? And how can we prevent it?
Unfortunately, the holiday plan doesn’t
often work as well as everyone would like. When you go on holiday, so do the
fleas. When our houses have no activity in them, those pesky little fleas go
dormant and on your return they are starving!
Adult fleas feast on
warm blood and if they do not have a host they can go into a dormant
state which can last up to two years. Normally, flea eggs hatch in one to
twelve days and the larva eats debris from animal hairs or vegetable matter. It
generally takes about 3 weeks for the larvae to reach adulthood.
When no one is around,
however, the adults in their pupal stage will just stay and wait until a host
is present. If there is no movement in the house, they’ll go dormant, and won’t
be hopping on the carpet and coming into contact with our treatment.
You open the front
door after your amazing time away, and the fleas detect you by picking up
vibrations. This triggers them to come out of dormancy and look for food. This
is why, when you get home from your relaxing summer holiday, you get swarmed by
fleas even though you may have had a treatment done.
Even a milder flea
infestation, that you may not have even noticed, will appear severe as they
jump on your legs looking for lunch!
So what can you do to prevent this from happening?
- If you didn’t realise that you had
fleas, and they are all of a sudden everywhere once returning home, call
us to book in a treatment, on 0800 54 64 54.
- If the property is empty or you’re
planning a trip away, its important that someone goes around each day and
has a good stomp in every room so that the fleas don’t go into the dormant
state. The more active they are, the faster they will come into contact
with the treatment.
- Rather get your house treated when you
return from holiday or just a day before. This means that there is no
chance of the fleas entering the dormant state and we’ll be able to
eradicate them at a much quicker rate.
If you’ve got a flea
problem, call us on 0800 54 64 54 and we can discuss a solution with you.
