Flea Control & Treatment Services
Fleas may be tiny, but with the potential to infest your home quickly, they can become a nuisance and pose health concerns for you and your pets. While prevention is key to pest control, it can be difficult to combat fleas once they’re in your home. To rid your home of fleas, you can rely on the professional and safe flea control services of our pest control company. Contact Champion Termite & Pest Control today to schedule a free property inspection and receive a complimentary service quote.
We provide pest control services to Palatka, Green Cove Springs, Middleburg, Orange Park, St. Augustine, and Starke.
Types Of Fleas
There are over 20 types of fleas in Florida affecting cats, dogs, and humans. However, fleas typically look the same and are dealt with in similar manners. Fleas are very tiny with six legs, giving them the ability to jump easily from host to host. They can be yellow, red, or dark brown in coloring, making them easy to spot on pets with bright fur, but harder to spot on pets with dark fur. No matter the color of your pet’s fur, certain signs of fleas can be hard to miss!
Signs Of Fleas
Fleas may be small, but they can make themselves known in some pretty big ways. If you notice any of the following signs of a flea infestation, it’s important to be proactive about flea treatment.
- Pet itching.
- Balding spots on pets (usually around the neck for cats and hindquarters for dogs).
- Small bite marks on your skin, sometimes in a cluster, usually with a “halo” around a center bite mark. These bites are often on ankles but can appear anywhere on exposed skin.
- Traces of what looks like dirt on your pet’s skin or around their bed can actually be flea droppings.
- Fleas may be small, but they are great jumpers, so you might notice bouncing specks on or around your pet, carpet, furniture, or lawn.
Are Fleas Dangerous?
You may think much of fleas on your pets, but despite their small size, fleas can have some detrimental effects foryou and your pets. Because fleas require warm-blood to feed, they will bite whatever host is closest. The bites are itchy and can be annoying, but if you or your pet is allergic to flea saliva, flea bites can be very intense and uncomfortable. In addition, humans and pets may also develop secondary infections from itching the bites. For pets, large infestations may lead to hair loss and anemia. Fleas can also transmit tapeworms, bacteria, and diseases, such as murine typhus and even the bubonic plague, which is why you should contact our flea exterminators as soon as you notive a flea infestation.
How To Get Rid Of Fleas
The flea life cycle is between 18–21 days, but because they reproduce quickly, a flea infestation can go on and become worse indefinitely. Without treatment, fleas can quickly overtake your yard or home, infesting your lawn, carpet, couch, chairs, bed, and more. Even if you go away for a while, robbing fleas of their food source, larvae can stay dormant for months and reemerge when conditions are more favorable. To eradicate pests in your home, you need to have a multi-point plan of attack.
- Pet flea control. Using some type of veterinarian-approved medicine on your pet for flea and tick prevention can help your pet from tracking in fleas. You can also bathe your pet and comb through their hair with a flea comb. However, fleas can get into your home in other ways and need to be addressed holistically once they’re in your home.
- Vacuum. Using a powerful vacuum, clean your floors, upholstery, pet beds, and mattress to remove adult fleas, larvae, and eggs. Be sure to close cracks and tight spaces that may provide a safe haven for your itchy house guests.
- Steam clean. Once you’ve vacuumed, go over everything with a steam cleaner, paying special attention to areas where your pet usually sits or lays. The combination of heat and soap can help take care of any fleas and their brood leftover after vacuuming.
- Wash bedding. Use hot water and an adequate amount of detergent. If you can put your pet’s bed into the washer, clean it there. If not, be sure to spend extra time steam cleaning it.
- Chemical treatments. Chemically treating your home and yard is often the go-to method for fast flea removal, but these chemicals can be dangerous and toxic to more than just the fleas. Coming into contact with pest sprays can make you and your pet sick, plus most pest control sprays are either overkill or not strong enough for flea control.
Professional Flea Pest Control
When it comes to most pests, professional pest control services are often the best way to go. Not only can a flea exterminator address a current flea infestation, but can take measures to prevent one from developing again. The flea exterminators with Champion Termite & Pest Control know what signs to look for, where fleas hide, and how to eradicate them without putting you or your pet in danger. Whether it’s fleas, termites, bed bugs, or any other type of pest, we have the expertise to keep your home or business pest-free! Contact us today for a quote or to schedule an appointment.
