Fleas are very good at hiding and making it to where we cant get rid of them. We work so hard to get rid of a flea infestation and as soon as we think its gone, it comes right back. This article is designed to help you find and eliminate these fleas.

There are too many different flea treatments to cover for just one article. That’s why I’ve put all the information I have in different articles. Check out the different articles on this website to find out as much as you need to know about flea treatment. Check out this article on treating fleas with a steamer.

>>Buy a Flea Steamer Here<<

Where do fleas enjoy hiding?

Fleas love warm, dark, moist conditions. Because of this I would be wary of socks when you have fleas in your home.

I’ve had fleas in my home plenty of time and every time I take off my sock I would find at least one flea that was hiding in them.

This is because of what I said before. They love warm, moist, and dark places. Socks fit that criteria perfectly.

Humidity is crucial for flea survival. Eggs have to live in areas with humidity levels of between 70-75%. Flea larva though have to be in humidity levels of 50% . In these relative humidity levels 20% of fleas will make it to adult hood where they will just lay more eggs and make your infestation bigger.

 Carpet and Cracks

Eggs, Larva, and pupae hide in your carpets and cracks between tiles on your floor. Fleas eggs lack a sticky substance needed to keep them latched onto the host they’re laid on.

This means they’re falling off a host and into your carpet, or couch, maybe even your bed.

Larva eat the feces of adult fleas and other small decrements on the ground. This means that they are going to be on the ground in carpet or in between tiles same as fleas eggs so that they can find a large supply of food.

Flea pupae in their cocooned state hide in carpet along with eggs and larva. The pupae are immune to most pesticides while in their cocooned state which is why it is important to continuously clean your house to make sure you get rid of them as soon as they leave their cocoons.

How to kill fleas in your carpet

Taking out the fleas in your carpet is relatively easy. All you need is a vacuum and Diatomaceous Earth.

1. Cover your floor in Diatomaceous Earth

2. Let it sit for between 1 and two hours. I recommend putting it out when you run to the grocery store so you don’t have to fight with getting the powder everywhere.

3. Vacuum the Diatomaceous Earth up.

4. Repeat process until the fleas are no longer in your carpet.

I’ve tried steam cleaning my carpet before too and that seems to do a great job of removing fleas. If you have a steamer I suggest steaming after you vacuum up the Diatomaceous Earth.

Don’t steam clean while the Diatomaceous Earth is still on your carpet because it will then hinder useless seeing as the fleas cant breathe it in to kill them.

Click here to find the best flea killer!

Killing eggs and larva in wood floors

Adult fleas tend to avoid tile, and wood floors because its so cold and they would rather be somewhere that’s warm. Flea eggs and larva though are wedged between the cracks in the tile of your floor.

You can remove these fleas by mopping or using a flea steamer. Flea Steamers are one of the best methods for treating fleas in carpeting and wood floors.

>>Click here to buy a Flea Steamer now<<

There are plenty of other ways to get rid of fleas throughout your house though without having to pay for something as expensive a steamer. Feel free to look around this website and find all different kinds of treatment methods.

 

Getting rid of fleas can be incredibly difficult. No matter how many times you think you get rid of a flea infestation it just keeps coming back.This is because of flea eggs. These eggs are immune to most pesticides and chemicals used to kill adult fleas.

Flea eggs are a factor that most people over look when trying to get rid of fleas. This is because they aren’t as noticeable as the adult fleas that can easily be seen on you and your pet.

The average adult flea lays between 30-50 eggs in a single day. Most of these eggs will die off and wont make it to adulthood but a few will still remain and could repopulate and create a new infestation.

What do flea eggs look like?

Flea eggs can be less than 0.5 mm in size so spotting them can prove to be difficult. These tiny eggs are white or semi-transparent. When looking at them they look like small grains of sand or miniature grains of rice.

Flea eggs are laid on a host after the adult flea has had a blood meal. These eggs lack the sticky coating needed to keep them on their host. Most eggs usually end up falling onto the ground or on couches.

Flea eggs are not black, brown, or red. If you find small pellets in the fur of your pet that is called flea dirt. To sum up flea dirt it just flea poop. Whatever is left of the consumed blood.

How to detect flea eggs

Though flea eggs tend to fall on the floor or anywhere else in your house such as your bed or couch its still easy to find eggs. All you need is a flea comb. Take the flea comb and brush it through your pets fur. Make sure to get behind their ears because fleas tend to stay behind their ears.

Once you’ve combed through their fur take a look at the flea comb and look for fleas or eggs. Remember the eggs will look like little grains of sand. If you manage to comb flea eggs or adult fleas out dip the comb in a bowl of soapy water to kill the fleas.

How to remove flea eggs

Cleaning is the best way to remove eggs. Wash your sheets, clothes, pets, you’re going to want  to vacuum like crazy to make sure any eggs that fall onto the ground are taken care of quick.

Steamers are an amazing way to get rid of larva and adult fleas. Fleas thrive in temperatures between 66 and 84 degrees Fahrenheit.

They also thrive between humidity levels of 70 and 90 percent. A steamer will easily put fleas out of these temperature and humidity levels killing them.

IGR or insect growth regulator is another great way to remove fleas and their eggs. Insect growth regulators don’t outright kill fleas and their eggs but instead inhibit their ability to grow. Since their ability to grow is damaged this means they aren’t able to reproduce preventing another flea infestation.

Step By Step Egg Removal

1. Clean Everything – Wash and Clean all sheets, towels, pet beds, and clothes.

2. Vacuum and Steam your carpet – Steaming your carpet will penetrate you carpet deeply and remove any fleas buried deep within carpeting.

3. Spray your carpet – Use IGR (Insect Growth Regulators) to kill the fleas you may have missed with your steamer or vacuum.

4. Clean your pet – Use flea shampoo on your cat or dog to make sure they don’t have anymore fleas on them.

5. Flea Pills or Flea Drops – Use flea pills or flea drops to prevent more fleas from hiding on your pet.

6. Flea Traps – Put out flea traps to avoid flea infestations in the future. Traps are great at capturing any fleas they might sneak into your house. They make a great preventative!

The simple answer is no fleas do not fly. I’m so glad they don’t fly to because if they did we would be covered in a whole lot more bites and have a much harder time getting fleas off our pets and out of our home.

Instead of flying fleas use their incredibly powerful hind legs to propel themselves from place to place or from host to host. This makes it much easier for them to feed off a host than if they were to just crawl around on the ground. Their hind legs can launch them between 4 and 5 feet into the air making it pretty easy to get around!

If fleas were human sized athletes participating in the long jump in the Olympics, certain fleas could break the current world record by approximately 970 feet.

To learn how to get ride of these high jumping fleas check out my Flea Treatment article, or look at the best flea killers!

Fleas are terrible to begin with because they come in such large numbers infesting your house and biting you, your family, and pets. They can make your day go from great to sour in such a short time. The worst thing about fleas besides their reproduction rate is their life cycle. They have a fairly complex 4 part life cycle each stage of their cycle requiring a different way to kill them. I’m going to list the different stages of the flea life cycle below, ill also give a brief description on how to kill them. If you want a more in depth way to kill fleas click here to learn about flea treatment.

Egg

Fleas can lay between 4-8 eggs after a meal and sometimes up to 50 eggs in a single day. The highest concentration of eggs being laid towards the end of the females life.

Fleas aren’t like most parasites where the eggs are sticky. Flea eggs arent sticky at all and when laid on a host will usually fall to the ground when the host moves around. This is why vacuuming is very important when trying to remove fleas. The eggs can get trapped in carpeting where its hard to get to.

Flea eggs are generally small and white. They kind of look like grains of sand. In order for the eggs to be laid the female has to consume a blood meal.  These eggs will hatch between 1 and 12 days of being laid.

Read more about flea eggs here!

Larvae

Flea larva are generally between 3 and 5.2 mm long. They are a semitransparent white color during this stage. The larval stage last from 4 to 18 days. Larva comes from the eggs in the previous stage, generally hatched after they fall off of the host. When they are away from the host they will seek out shaded area such as a crack in  the floor or under a bed buried in carpeting.

Dehydration is very fatal to flea larva. Flea Larva will not survive a relative humidity of less than 45-50% or greater than 90% Fahrenheit. In environments of suitable humidity fleas can prosper year round.

Flea larva are about 3-5 mm long. These flea larva don’t have eyes or legs so they wiggle around to get from place to place. They feed on feces left behind from adult fleas. They don’t just eat adult flea feces though, they also eat other small organic matter such as crumbs from food, dead insects or skin particles.

The larval stage lasts between 4 and 18 days. At the end of this stage fleas begin to spin a cocoon around them and enter the Pupal stage.

Pupal Stage

The pupal stage is pretty painful. When fleas are in the pupal stage they are protected by a silken cocoon making them immune to poisons and insecticides. This is the last stage before the flea becomes and adult.

Making it even more difficult to remove, the outside of the cocoon is covered in a sticky material. The fleas will cocoon themselves in a hidden area such as cracks so they wont be prodded out. Light vacuuming or sweeping wont be able to remove these fleas. You should probably use a steamer or strong vacuum to remove them.

This stage can last from a few days to weeks. The fleas wont emerge from the cocoon until a suitable host passes by. They will then spring out and try to latch on to the host attempting to get a blood meal. They have to have this blood meal within a week of emerging or else they will die.

Adult Flea

If you have an infestation I can guarantee this will be the stage you will see first. This is when the fleas are finally fully matured and ready to feed. They begin to bite you so they can get the blood needed to survive and reproduce.

An adult flea is approximately 2.5 mm long. They’re generally dark in color ranging from brown to a red-brown color. They have six legs used to jump long distances from host to host seeing as they don’t have wings.

When an adult flea bites you it will first inject you with a numbing agent at first you don’t notice that your being bit. Later though you will begin to itch. This is because the saliva traces that the fleas leave behind cause skin irritation.

In my opinion this is the easiest stage to take out fleas. They are much easier to see and are more vulnerable to insecticides, vacuuming, and steaming.

To learn more about how to treat these fleas click here, or if you just want some brief quick facts about fleas click here.