get free exterminator quotes
How to Get Rid of Fleas: Complete Flea Removal Guide

How to Get Rid of Fleas: Complete Flea Removal Guide

Fleas are harmful pests for you and your pets. This is how you can rid of them:

Fleas are wingless blood-feeding parasites surviving on birds and animals and can affect humans too. They come in contact with your pets, especially with dogs and cats as they have furry skins. Fleas may stay at your house or your outdoors and they can easily approach you and your pets. But you must be wondering, where these fleas come from? How do they approach your pets?

Bed Bug Bites

The Guidelines in this Page:

  • The Life Cycle of a Flea
  • Popular Home Remedies for Fleas
  • Get Rid of Fleas from your Pets
  • Parasite for a Parasite: Nematodes
  • Finally

When you find fleas in your house, what are the steps to get rid of them? All your questions will be answered in this guide. If you wish to know about the different kinds of fleas, click here where we have thoroughly put pictures and descriptions of about 19 kinds of them.

The Life Cycle of a Flea

In order to terminate these blood extracting parasites, first, you will have to know about their life cycle. Below is the picture where it is demonstrated.

The Bite to produce eggs:

The life cycle of a flea has 4 stages, egg, larva, pupa, imago or adult. The transformation may take 2 to 3 weeks or even months. Neither the male nor the female species are capable of reproducing even after they are fully matured. They need a source of protein to be capable enough to reproduce.

That is why adult fleas look for a host (your cats and dogs) to bite and suck blood from them, which is a rich source of protein. After having the first blood meal female fleas start reproducing. Once they lay eggs on the furry skins of your pets, they may remain their or fall out and camp somewhere in your home. Remember certain species of fleas may lay a thousand eggs at a time, that too within 1 to 12 days.

The hidden eggs and the reason behind them:

Pets, though how expressive they maybe cannot make you understand that they are having a skin itch. They shake their pelt, scratches their skin to get rid of the irritation of the laid eggs on their skins. The more they shake or scratch, the more eggs drop inside your house to your carpet and couches. That is how fleas are found inside the home.

The larvae:

The dropped eggs inside your house stay inactive for a few days. A dark and cozy corner of your house allows larvae to break the eggs and come out. Flea larvae after emerging from eggs live on readily available organic materials like dead insects, bodily wastes like dungs or excreta and rotten vegetables.

Pre-digested foods from the mother flea also help them for some time. They are approximately 3 to 5.2 mm in length. This stage lasts for 3 weeks. They wrap themselves in netting commonly known as a cocoon. After that, the larvae skin sheds and they arrive at the pupae phase.

The Pupae:

Larvae transform to Flea pupae during their final stage. The larvae having no legs, no eyes convert into a highly developed insect who can detect warm-blooded animals on which they can nest on. They jump high and fast enough to reach the animals to feed avidly from their blood.

It takes 7 to 19 days for cocooned pupae to reach adulthood naturally. Close to being adults, fleas inside the cocoon become sensitive to thermal changes in the environment and they tend to break out from them. An almost-adult flea inside a cocoon can break and come out of it if it can sense thermal energy near it, which may be your dog or cat.

The Adult, the host and the jump:

Adults jump highly on hosts on whom they acquire nutrition by sucking blood and lay eggs on their bodies. They rush for their first blood meal as they cannot survive without a host. As an emergency, they jump on any animal they find near them, which could be humans too. Fleas can stay inside the furry skin of your pet for a lifetime.

Skip the research and talk to the exterminator to kill Fleas

Click here and access our exterminator search tool- instantly get free quotes from the authentic house of exterminators in your local area.

Get FREE QuotesProcess Takes About 30 Seconds

Popular Home Remedies for Fleas

Have you found fleas inside your house? Get rid of them immediately! If the infestation is not that serious, you can try some home remedies. Some DIY stuff could be effective and non-expensive too. Scattering harmful chemicals in and around your house can be hazardous too.

To get rid of the adult ones or the eggs, here are your handy homemade solutions:

Rosemary Solution:

Rosemary is a natural flea repellent. Its strong scent and antiseptic flavour keeps fleas away from it. Rosemary bath for dogs is a regular flea treatment.

Here are the steps how to use it:
  • Put 5 twigs of rosemary leaves on 1 litre of boiling water.
  • Let the mixture boil for 5 minutes.
  • Cool the mixture as it comes to room temperature.
  • Filtrate the mixed liquid, save the liquid and discard the residual leaves.
  • Put the sifted liquid in a tight sealed bottle and put it in a refrigerator.
  • After giving your dog a bath pour the liquid over the furry skin and allow it to dry naturally, without rinsing.
  • Remember, it is only for dogs and not for cats!

Look at this video and you will get to know the method:

Herbal Mixture Spray:

Herbal mixtures are easy to make. Try using natural remedies like vinegar, lemon juice, and witch hazel leaf, bark or twigs to make a biological herbal spray. These ingredients are highly acidic and work as a powerful pesticide for fleas.

Follow these steps to know how to prepare them:
  • If you don’t have lemon juice, vinegar or hazel in your home, buy them from any grocery store.
  • Put 1/3rd of each one of them equally in a container and stir.
  • Take a spray bottle and fill it with the mixed liquid.
  • Spray the solution in different areas of your home, preferably on carpets, clothes to be washed, storerooms, and couches.
Spread baking soda or salt on suspected areas and then vacuum:

It becomes really difficult to reach the inner layers of carpets or deep corners of couches at your home to look for fleas. The easiest way to remove them is to suck them out from places where you can’t reach. A vacuum cleaner is a handy device in doing so. First, spread baking soda and salt on the suspected areas and keep it untouched for one night.

Use a brush, so that the mixture is spread uniformly. These 2 substances tend to dehydrate fleas, either inside eggs or at the cocoon stage. The fleas die and the vacuum cleaner on the next day sucks the dead insects out from their hiding places. Repeat the process if necessary.

Washing Liquids:

Fleas are very light weighted insects. A normal adult flea weighs about 0.45mg to1.08 mg depending on whether it has had its blood meal or not. A male flea even weighs less than a female flea. Their body weight is incapable to break the surface tension of water.

That is, if fleas fall in the water, it is not possible for them to jump on to hosts and they die eventually. A useful homemade flea trap is possible by just using a bowl or a saucer, washing liquids, water and a lit candle.

This is how:
  • Take a bowl or a saucer.
  • Fill it with water.
  • Mix few drops of washing liquid to the water.
  • Place a lit candle in the bowl or saucer.

The heat generated from the lit candle provides thermal energy, which the larvae sense and they break out from the cocoon. They fly towards the thermal energy source and incidentally fall into the watery solution. They get trapped in water and the washing liquid kills their exoskeletons. Place a few of these traps in your house and you get rid of them in no time.

Here is a useful video guide:

Get Rid of Fleas from your Pets

Fleas target furry animals as their hosts and the innocent pets at your house are their easy targets. Below are some methods by which you can get rid of them from your pets:

Flea Killing medicines:

When you get to know that your pet is affected by fleas, the first thing you should do is to go to a vet. He or she might suggest some drops or serums. The commonest medicines are K9 Advantix 2 or Frontline Plus. These 2 products are not the only products available in the market but their goodwill tends the vets to recommend them. But how do they work?

  • Once a month you should comb your pet’s long furry hair into 2 parts so that there is a distinct parting division. This should be applicable from head to the back of your pet so that skin on the spinal cord is exposed.
  • The serum comes in small tubes which you can apply along the exposed skin of your pet. The liquid spreads along the whole body of the animal.
  • If applied regularly, the serum kills the fleas and keeps them away for more than 30 days.
  • It should be applied on a monthly basis and meanwhile your parting division on the skin of your pet may change accordingly.
Flea Collars:

Flea collars are more effective than serums or drops and are easy to apply too. Just put a collar on your pet and the job is done, especially when you are going outside your home. Effective flea collars kill fleas by releasing a safe insecticide (for the pet) as they come to contact. It works indoors too if your pet is already affected. It works for several months.

Here is a video from where you can get an idea how a flea collar works:

Pills that kill Fleas:

If your pet is really suffering from severe flea infestation, another method of killing fleas is to apply pills. It works as a quick relief for your pets. The pills are needed to be ingested by your pet, rather than applied externally. The remedy transmits to fleas when they bite into the skin of your pet. Different kind of pills contains different treatments to kill fleas.

For example: Lufenuron kill the larvae, Spinosad and Nitenpyram kill the adult fleas. If applied directly, these pills do not react on the fleas. If they are mixed with any other insecticides, they work otherwise. The basic reason to recommend these pills is to give your pet a quick temporary relief.

Flea Shampoos:

Obviously you give a bath to your pets. Some pets love it some run away from the water. These furry cute animals need a regular shampooing as it keeps them clean and tidy. Flea shampoos have the same feature as regular pet shampoo, only an odorless repellent (for your pet) is added as an active ingredient.

Shampoos do have insecticidal or herbal repellent which works both ways, not attracting further infestation on your pet’s skin and as well dropping off dead fleas from their bodies. New infestation might be a debatable issue regarding using flea shampoos.

Check this video to give a perfect flea-free bath to your pet:

Parasite for a Parasite: Nematodes

Even a parasite can have a parasite to host on. Nematodes are microscopic multicellular worms who feed on fungi, bacteria and other nematodes living inside earth. Why are we talking about them in this article? Are they relevant? Yes, they are. These worms dig through soils and kill adult fleas, larvae, pupae and survive on their bodies.

These worms are environment-friendly and are effective at outdoors to resolve flea infestation. Once they get finished with the fleas they die and their bodies’ mix with the soil. But they actually do not solve your immediate flea problem.

Finally

You may have a pet or not, flea infestation can be a common phenomenon to your house. You may find fleas jumping in your house, despite the fact that there is no one to jump on to. But since prevention is always better than cure.

Here are some advices:
  • Find out the source from where the fleas are approaching towards your pet or house. It could be anywhere in or immediate outside your home.
  • Regularly vacuum all suspected areas of your house.
  • Immediately start flea treatments.
  • Try all the remedies on your pet, be it flea collars, flea shampoos, pills or serums.
  • Carry on the processes till you get a flea free home.

Skip the research and talk to the exterminator to kill Fleas

Click here and access our exterminator search tool- instantly get free quotes from the authentic house of exterminators in your local area.

Get FREE QuotesProcess Takes About 30 Seconds

Other Fleas Guides

5 Signs That Tells You That Your Cat Has Fleas

Not only for your feline friend, flea infestation, is troublesome for you too. Fleas make all our lives miserable. Though being miniature in size they create havoc distress to the cat’s daily life. Cat fleas keep on jumping on to your cat more and more as days pass by creating […]

Read More

All You Need To Know About Fleas!

A lot of insect-borne diseases are caused by flying pests. Are fleas one of them? Pets hang out a lot at the outdoors, at parks, gardens, yards where you’ll find a lot of flying insects. Flying insects are found indoors too at our home. Whenever you see your pet is […]

Read More
How Long Do Flea Bites Last? A Simple Guide

How Long Do Flea Bites Last? A Simple Guide

Flea Bites: How long do they last on humans? Flea bites are painful. Though being insignificant in size and wingless, they are irritating when they bite you. Their bites leave a scratch mark on your skin and an itchy sensation that lasts even for a longer time. They bite as […]

Read More

What Are The Symptoms Of Dog Fleas?

After a cold, trembling and snow infested winter when the sun shines through the leaves of the trees and the warm weather indulges you to go camping to the beach… fleas attack your canine friend! Dogs do not appreciate the hot and humid climate as humans do and fleas lay […]

Read More

Fleas on Humans? Let’s Face and Kill Them!

For your pets, fleas are a nuisance but fleas bite humans too. If you have a flea infestation in your yard or at your home and if you don’t take it seriously, fleas can jump on you too. You may not notice them as they prefer hiding in shades but […]

Read More

How do Fleas Look? See Them Closely!

You must have never noticed a flea closely. The different pictures and videos we posted in this section will help you to have an idea about how flea eggs, larvae, and adult fleas look like. From a closer look, you might solve your flea infestation problem rapidly. If you have […]

Read More
Getting Rid Of Fleas On Your Carpet (A Simple Method)

Getting Rid Of Fleas On Your Carpet (A Simple Method)

Flea Infected Carpets? Get rid of the pests immediately! If you find fleas on your carpets, a lot of questions will come to your mind, especially when you have pets in your house. How to get rid of these nasty pests? Vacuum cleaning is definitely a method and so is […]

Read More

Natural Flea Control For Your Pet: The Nematodes

Now when you see your pet scratching and grooming too much, you are sure that it has a flea infection. Once you make yourself sure that it has a flea infection, you will automatically panic as you know how fleas reproduce and re-infest on your pet’s skin more and more. […]

Read More

Sand Fleas? What Are They? How To Get Rid Of Them?

Going to a beach during the weekend is a common phenomenon for all of us where we runoff from our typical city life and enjoy roaming around on bare feet. Your small vacation can be ruined by bites of sand fleas on the same feet including other exposed areas of […]

Read More

Looking for a Professional Pest Control Company?

Tell Us Your Requirements Here!

Sign up