Flea bites are small, irritating, and can drive you crazy! It’s bad enough when you have flea bites on you and your pet, but when there are bites on your baby things seem to get a little bit more personal. If left untreated these bites can cause children and babies unnecessary discomfort and pain. Below I’m going to teach you how you can keep these bites from itching, how to recognize infections, identify flea bites, and prevent further flea infestations.

What do flea bites look like?

Flea bites are small, red, swollen bites that cause extreme skin irritation. If you look closely at the flea bite you will see a small red dot at its center. This is where a flea bit your skin to draw blood. Fleas need a host to provide blood meals without blood meals the fleas will die.

These bites typically happen around our ankles. This is an easy place for fleas to get to and they are able to burrow into our socks where it’s warm and moist. If most of your bites are on your ankles it very well may be flea bites. On your babies the bites will most likely occur on legs or arms if those areas aren’t clothed.

If your bites don’t look at all like this then you may be experiencing a different kind of infestation such as bed bugs. If you want to read more on bed bug bites check out my article on the difference between flea bites and bed bug bites here.

>>Find out more about flea bites now<<

Preventing Infestations

Prevention is the best method to keep fleas off you and your family. If you can keep fleas from getting in your house then you wont have to treat bites or an infestation.

• Flea Drops – This is the best flea prevention product out there. It can be pricy but you won’t be disappointed. Flea drops are applied to your pets back. When fleas come in contact with the area or bite your pet it will kill them. The applications can last anywhere from 5 weeks to 2 months depending on the brand. I prefer Frontline Plus if you would like to read more about flea drops you can find out more here.

• Flea Traps – Traps are great passive flea killers. Fleas are attracted to warmth. Flea traps have a small light that hangs above a sticky substance designed to trap fleas. When the fleas head for the light they quickly become trapped in the sticky substance. You can place these traps all over your house or just in the areas where you pet spends a lot of time. Check out my guide to flea traps article. It will teach you how to properly use flea traps and how to make your own flea trap!

• Flea steamers – You can prevent a flea infestation with a steamer. Fleas can’t survive in the temperature, and moisture produced by a flea steamer. If you have carpeting in your house I suggest buying a steamer that meets all the requirements to kill fleas. You can buy one of those steamers here or you can read more about flea steamers here.

• Flea Shampoo – This is the final item on my list. Flea shampoo is exactly what it says it is. Its a shampoo that is designed to kill fleas. Its not something you have to use daily because the effects last for long periods of time. Depending on the brand you get is how long it will last. You can buy flea shampoos with natural ingredients to prevent damage to your pets skin. When using flea shampoo I typically use Adams Plus Flea and Tick Control Shampoo with Precor.

>>Buy the best flea prevention product now!<<

How to stop itching on your baby

• You can use soothing creams such as calamine lotion or Aloe Vera to help relieve some of the pain from itching. Both work just as well as the other.
• The same anti-itch cream used on mosquito or ant bites works on flea bites as well.
• You can also use a cotton ball soaked in baking soda to treat itching as well. This helps reduce pain and inflammation. It’s not one of the most effective methods but if you’re short on money this is a quick itch fix.
• Bug repellant can keep more fleas from jumping on your baby and adding more bites. Make sure to read the directions on the bottle to make sure that the repellant is safe to use on infants.
• You can use ice to numb the pain if it becomes too severe but most of the time babies don’t enjoy something ice cold on their skin so I suggest using this method as a last resort.
• You can apply essential oils such as tea tree oil or baby lotion to the bites to prevent infection.

Flea Bite Infections

Flea bite infections can be dangerous if not tended to. If you believe you have a flea bite infection you should seek medical attention quickly. Some of the flea bite symptoms include:

• Redness
• Swollen glands
• Pain in bite area
• Possible skin leakage
• Bites becomes larger due to swelling

If you would like more information on fleas or flea bites feel free to ask any questions using our contact page.

If you’re on this site then you’ve probably had fleas in your house or have them now. A great way to prevent fleas is by figuring out how they get into your house to cause this infestation. There are a few different reason how they can sneak into your house without you knowing until its too late.

The main way fleas  get into your house is pet’s. Yes, as cute as your pets are whether they’re a cat or dog, they can be a walking flea machine. Fleas love to burrow into your pet’s fur for warmth and a nice blood meal. After they’ve fed off your pet they’ll lay eggs in their fur that will eventually fall off  due to the absence of a sticky substance to hold the eggs in place. These eggs will fall into your carpet and the flea life cycle will begin leading to a large infestation.

Though this is incredibly rare, try to watch for stray animals. Strays that have been outside for long periods of time are bound to have fleas. I’m not talking about just cats and dogs but pest like birds, mice or rats can have fleas tracking them into your house if your door or window is left open.

It’s vital that you keep your pet clean and well groomed. Use a flea comb frequently and try to bathe your pet as often as you can. I highly recommend using a flea shampoo but if you cant get a flea shampoo at the moment a simple bath will suffice.

Vacuuming your house is really important too. I wouldn’t say vacuum it everyday unless your positive you have an infestation other wise just use your best judgment and at least vacuum once a week. Vacuuming will remove all the eggs and flea larva thats buried in your carpet.

Another possible way fleas can get in your house is by a previous owner of the house. Fleas can stay in a cocooned state for months and wont come out until the feel the vibrations of someone walking near them. They will then hatch from their cocoons looking for a blood meal. The previous owner may have had pet’s and thats how the fleas got into the house. When renting or buying try to check and see if the previous owner had pet’s.

The final way fleas can get into your home is your children if you have any. Kids love to play outside, we all know this from experience. When they are outside they’ll play in the woods, grass, or dirt. There will be fleas there so when your kids come in for a grilled cheese for lunch all the fleas they pick up will come with them and right into your home.

For more information on fleas click here. If you want to learn how to Treat a flea infestation click here.

There are so many different parasites in the world that love to prey on animals and humans alike. It’s easy to get some of these parasites mixed up. Some of the most common household parasites are bed bugs, fleas, and ticks. Fleas and ticks can quickl on your pets. The two have the same purpose. They eat to live and live to breed. Ticks and fleas both feed on the blood of other animals and humans.

Though the two have a very similar purpose, there is a significant difference between them. Below I’m going to explain the difference between the two and how you can get rid of each of them.

Ticks

Type of Parasite: Arachnid

Size: Can be as small as a poppy seed when first feeding

Lifespan: A few weeks to 3 years

Time on Host: Spends most of life off host waiting for one to walk by

Climate: Can survive near freezing temperatures

Possible Diseases: Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Ticks are not actually insects but are considered to be an arachnid as they have eight legs, like a spider. It’s bigger than a flea measuring ¼ to 1/8 inches. Unlike fleas, they don’t mind moving between animals as they can’t spend too much time on the same host. In fact, they depend on various hosts of different species for nutrition.

Ticks can be found on snakes, lizards and humans and have a lifespan anywhere from three weeks to three years. They climb on the ends of leaves, shrubs and plants and wait for a host to pass by wherein they attach themselves onto the host.

They then travel over the body to find an appropriate place to feed like the body’s shaded areas like ears, hair and inside of arms. They feed by inserting their pincers into the host and excreting an anticoagulant which prevents blood clogging. They cannot jump or fly and only crawl to reach anywhere they want.

Unlike fleas, they fall off the host to lay thousands of eggs at one time after which they die. They are happiest in cold temperatures and thus are happy in winter climates. They are dangerous as they don’t spend their lives attached to one host and thus spread germs and diseases from one host to another. The spread around various diseases like Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

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Tick removal

Removing a tick involves removing all its body parts and preventing it from releasing saliva or regurgitating its stomach contents onto your bite wound. It’s best to use a tick removal tool which helps grip the tick’s head without squashing its body.

You can also use pointed tweezers to grasp the tick close to its skin without squeezing its body and then pull the tick out without twisting. Even a cotton thread or dental floss can be used if there’s no tools around. Tie the thread in a single loop around the tick’s mouthparts near its skin, and pull upwards and outwards without twisting.

Start by cleansing the tweezers or tool with antiseptic. Then cleanse the bite site and tool with an antiseptic after tick removal. Thoroughly wash your hands after removing the tick.

Make sure you don’t squeeze the tick’s body as it gets separated from the body to leave the head embedded in your skin. Also do not use your fingernails to remove a tick as infections can enter any skin breaks, like near the fingernail.

Never crush the tick’s body as the tick may vomit all the infected contents in its stomach onto the bite wound. It is also no use trying to burn the tick or applying things like nail polish or petroleum jelly as they only cause discomfort to the tick. This leads to regurgitation or saliva release.

The tick can be disposed by first crushing it and then putting it down the toilet or by folding it onto a strip of sticky tape and placing in the waste. However be careful as engorged ticks may contain infected blood which can splatter when crushed.

Check out the video below to watch the proper tick removal method!

Fleas

Fleas are wingless insects which live and feed on human, cat, dog and other animals’ blood. They are flat and dark-colored with tube-like mouth parts to feed on the host’s blood. Measuring 1/6 to 1/8 inches in length, these fleas are difficult to spot. They however can leap to great heights and lengths as their legs are well adapted for jumping.

They have a lifespan of about 100 days so once they find a body, they remain there till they die. They then lay about 20 to 40 eggs a day for several weeks and these eggs end up everywhere as your dog sheds hair. So all it takes is one flea to start an epidemic in a house. And they can carry bartonellosis and tapeworm when they land on their host.

Fleas prefer heat to cold and is why they prefer spending time indoors. Fleas leave a series of bites resulting in a slightly raised and swollen itching spot with a central puncture point similar to a mosquito bite.

Size: 1.5 to 3.2 millimeters

Lifespan: 2-3 months

Time on Host: Fleas will stay on their host until they get a blood meal.

Climate: 46.4 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit

Possible Diseases: cat-scratch fever, typhus, bubonic plague, bartonellosis, tapeworm

Flea Removal

There are so many different ways to remove fleas from your home and to keep them off your pets. Below I’m going to list a few of my favorite methods. If you would like to know more about treating flea infestations your can read more here or check out some of the links below!

Flea Drops – Fleas drops are the best way to keep fleas off your cats and dogs. Flea drops use an application that lasts anywhere from 3 weeks to 7 weeks depending on the brand you buy. The flea drops begin working within 24 hours of the first application. If any fleas come in contact with the area the application was placed they will die. The fleas will also die if they bite into your pets fur. You can buy flea drops here.

Steam Cleaning- The temperature of steamers and the amount of water put out combined is enough to easily kill fleas. You need to make sure that the temperature of the steamer is hot enough to kill the fleas though. Read my article on steam cleaning fleas here!

Flea Traps – You can place these anywhere in your home and they will passively kill fleas while you sleep. The traps use a warm light and a sticky substance designed to trap any fleas that land in it. Fleas are attracted to warmth so when you turn the light on they instinctively move towards it causing them to get stuck. If you don’t want to buy a flea trap you can make your own trap. If you want to know how to make your own trap you can find out how to here.

Diatomaceous Earth–This is a fine white powder made from the fossils of microscopic aquatic organisms called diatoms. When inhaled by fleas it absorbs oils causing there bodies to dry out killing them. I highly recommend using Diatomaceous earth. When it has sat in your carpet for a long period of time you can simply vacuum it up! You can buy Diatomaceous Earth here!

Flea Shampoo – This is exactly what it sounds like. Flea shampoo is a shampoo designed to kill any fleas hiding in your pets fur. Its easy to use and last for a few weeks. You can buy flea shampoo here or check out my flea shampoo article here.

A common question I’m asked is if its possible to have flea eggs under your skin and if so how do I get rid of these eggs.

Luckily for us flea eggs under our skin isn’t too common though it does happen. The fleas that burrow into your skin are called Chigoe fleas or better known as Jiggers. Jiggers are commonly found in tropical and sandy areas.

Jiggers typically embed themselves into the soles of your feet when walking around a beach. They are so small though you really can’t feel them enter your skin.

Once in your skin though they can grow up to 2,000 times their original size. This makes your skin itchy or irritated. They are able to bury themselves so deep into your skin that you have to cut them out using a scalpel. Finally when they are inside your body the Jiggers will feed and breed inside of you. The jiggers can also cause Tungiasis.

Jiggers are not to be confused with Chiggers. Chiggers are a small red arachnid found all over the world. These pests do bite you and feed on your blood but they are completely different than Jiggers. If you think you have Chigger bites or want to know more check out this website here.

>>Read more about Chiggers Here<<

What is Tungiasis

Tungiasis is where female Chigoe Fleas burrow into the skin of their host. They usually target feet and ankles like most fleas. When the Chigoe Fleas bury themselves into your skin it causes severe infection.

Tungiasis is commonly described as having a white patch with a black dot in the center. The black dog is known as a lesson and the fleas use it to breath. The black dot can range anywhere from 4 to 10 millimeters.

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How to Treat and Remove Jiggers

You need to go see a doctor. You can’t go to a store and rub a lotion on your skin that removes the fleas. You need to go a doctor so your feet can be washed and cleaned. Once your feet are washed a professional needs to remove the sand fleas from your skin.

Proper Jigger removal is important. Jiggers become irritating after the female chigoe flea swells under your skin. This can lead to ulcers. Removing these fleas as quickly as possible or it can lead to severe infection if the flea dies under your skin.

If you do have an infection, you can get some temporary relief with this product

How do I know if I have Jiggers?

The first sign of having jiggers is a small black dot at the center of a red, irritated bump on your skin. This is the bite and where the jigger buried itself. In the later stage of having Jiggers it will be easy to identify Chigoe fleas because they are incredibly unique.

But to get relief, this is the fastest way to do it