Treating a Flea Infestation

Has your pet been scratching incessantly lately? If it's not caused by ticks or dry skin, it could be fleas! Even if you have found that your pet does have fleas and have treated them, the problem may persist because the fleas still have a proximal advantage to your home. And remember, fleas can live on your blood, too, not just your pets. This can mean your "minor" flea issue could be much worse than you realize! So, this week, A B Pest Control is sharing with you some information about what is entailed in treating flea infestations.

Where are these Fleas Coming From?
Flea infestations often come from pets bringing them in from outdoors. The pests attach to your pet when its outside, and then infests its fur and the places it sleeps indoors. Other animals such as rodents, raccoons, or feral cats venturing into your yard may be the culprits bringing these pesky pests into your yard. So, the most effective ways to keep fleas from getting inside the home is to eliminate outdoor flea habitats and outdoor hosts. While you can't always prevent these animals from entering your turf, you can be proactive by treating your lawn and pets with flea control products. However, in order to effectively treat for fleas, you'll first need to understand their life-cycle. Let's take a look.

Understanding the Flea's Life-Cycle
There are four stages in the life cycle of a flea: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Depending on the environmental temperature and humidity levels, the total life cycle will take anywhere from a couple weeks to several months, or even years.

1. A single adult female can lay about 40 eggs every day. Eggs take anywhere from two days to two weeks to develop, hatching when environmental conditions are just right for them. Larvae then emerges as the next life stage. 
2. If conditions are favorable, the larvae will spin cocoons in about 5-20 days of hatching from their eggs. This leads to the next life stage, called the cocoon or pupae stage. 
3. This cocoon stage is the last developmental stage before the adult flea emerges. The cocoon protects the pupae for several days or weeks before the adult flea emerges. If environmental conditions are not right for emergence, the cocoon can protect the developing flea for months, and in some cases, years. 
4. The adult flea will not emerge until the presence of a potential host is made obvious - by vibrations, rising levels of carbon dioxide, and body heat. This can be caused by your pet walking by and brushing against the cocoon, or even from you moving around your home.

Unfortunately, this life-cycle means that getting rid of fleas can require more than one treatment to effectively eliminate the problem once an infestation has occurred.

Flea Control Services
Flea prevention for both the home and yard can be difficult, and eliminating them once an infestation occurs is even harder. Without a proactive approach, any homeowner is vulnerable to an infestation. But don't worry, you don't have to face this battle on your own. If you do experience a flea infestation, call on the Lake of the Ozarks pest control company to send those fleas packing. We can help you be victorious in eliminating and preventing those pesky pests in the future!

LAKE OF THE OZARKS
PEST CONTROL COMPANY

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www.abpest.net

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