When you’re away, the fleas WON’T play!

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.