Fleas? Help!

[usuallylurking]

My sister, my boys and I went to my new rental today to move in a few things - air mattress, clothes, etc. we were going to "camp" there while waiting for all of our household goods to show up later this week. While walking through I was showing my sister the master when I felt a bug on my shin. Nope. A handful of small, jumpy fleas covered my shoes, ankles and shins. They were on her, too. We brushed ourselves off, brushed off the boys, went outside and really combed everyone over before getting in the car and leaving.

I called the landlord and she said for me to go to Walmart and buy two flea bombs to set off in the carpeted rooms (the master and the office). And to close the doors to those rooms when I bomb them. Then she will have "the carpet guy" come back on Monday to reclean the carpets. She will reimburse me the cost of the flea bombs.

Is this thorough enough? I've never even seen a flea much less had to treat for them so I'm admittedly clueless here. Does the yard need to be sprayed? Won't the whole house need to be recleaned/wiped down post-bombing?

I have 3 dogs and 2 kids (one of whom crawls everywhere at the moment) and a baby on the way so I'd like to take the time to do it the right way right now rather than worry about having to retreat after I move in furniture and have my kids and dogs there full time.

[simplyinpenguin]

Flea bombers are ok. You want to make sure you seal your cabinets shut (with duct tape), in case you brought any dishes or anything that might come into contact with your mouth. Washing the sheets afterward helps. Spraying the yard will only help minimally as more fleas will come. Ingesting garlic will help, as fleas hate the taste of garlic.

The bombs usually last 2-3 hours in which one should come back and open the window to air it out for another 45 minutes. Do you have fabric furniture in any other room but the carpeted rooms? Those will get infested too. Best to bomb the whole house, let the carpet guy clean the carpets and you just mop up what isn't carpeted.

[usuallylurking]

Jun 22, 2013 15:01:17 GMT -5 @theycalledherkate said:

Personally I would insist the unit is professionally treated by Terminex or another company. There is no way I would set off any kind of flea bomb in my house, especially with kids and pets (even if they are not there). I would not budge on this. It is her problem to take care of, not yours. You are not a pest control specialist.

Ok, this is kind of how I feel but I didn't know if I was being unreasonable!

[usuallylurking]

Jun 22, 2013 14:58:08 GMT -5 simplyinpenguin said:

Flea bombers are ok. You want to make sure you seal your cabinets shut (with duct tape), in case you brought any dishes or anything that might come into contact with your mouth. Washing the sheets afterward helps. Spraying the yard will only help minimally as more fleas will come. Ingesting garlic will help, as fleas hate the taste of garlic.

The bombs usually last 2-3 hours in which one should come back and open the window to air it out for another 45 minutes. Do you have fabric furniture in any other room but the carpeted rooms? Those will get infested too. Best to bomb the whole house, let the carpet guy clean the carpets and you just mop up what isn't carpeted.

Thankfully I have moved nothing in other than a washer and dryer into the garage at this point! That is the best part about this entire situation. Well, that and thankfully I didn't take the dogs with me this morning.

[simplyinpenguin]

Jun 22, 2013 15:21:05 GMT -5 usuallylurking said:

Jun 22, 2013 14:58:08 GMT -5 simplyinpenguin said:

Flea bombers are ok. You want to make sure you seal your cabinets shut (with duct tape), in case you brought any dishes or anything that might come into contact with your mouth. Washing the sheets afterward helps. Spraying the yard will only help minimally as more fleas will come. Ingesting garlic will help, as fleas hate the taste of garlic.

The bombs usually last 2-3 hours in which one should come back and open the window to air it out for another 45 minutes. Do you have fabric furniture in any other room but the carpeted rooms? Those will get infested too. Best to bomb the whole house, let the carpet guy clean the carpets and you just mop up what isn't carpeted.

Thankfully I have moved nothing in other than a washer and dryer into the garage at this point! That is the best part about this entire situation. Well, that and thankfully I didn't take the dogs with me this morning.

Oh thank goodness you didn't. They would've attached themselves and never let go. That's good that there's no fabric furniture in there.

And I missed the part about it being a rental (I own but I have a property manager), so the other poster is correct. This isn't your problem to take care of. Technically, the rental isn't "vacated".

[usuallylurking]

Jun 22, 2013 15:23:20 GMT -5 simplyinpenguin said:

Jun 22, 2013 15:21:05 GMT -5 usuallylurking said:

Thankfully I have moved nothing in other than a washer and dryer into the garage at this point! That is the best part about this entire situation. Well, that and thankfully I didn't take the dogs with me this morning.

Oh thank goodness you didn't. They would've attached themselves and never let go. That's good that there's no fabric furniture in there.

And I missed the part about it being a rental (I own but I have a property manager), so the other poster is correct. This isn't your problem to take care of. Technically, the rental isn't "vacated".

Haha, ew! Ok I was hoping to get a landlord's opinion on this, as I know there are a few on this board as well as over on MM. That's how I felt - that I wanted someone else to take care of it, preferably a professional, but wanted to make sure I wasn't expecting more than I should.

[usuallylurking]

Jun 22, 2013 15:34:57 GMT -5 FormerlyRR said:

And a one time treatment won't work. There are also eggs in there. The life cycle of fleas is about 3 weeks, so there will need to be multiple treatments to really solve the problem.

Ugh, this is what I was afraid of, and what I had read re: eggs. If somebody like Orkin or Terminex or whatever company does the treatment will that get rid of them in one shot? Is it only "home treatment" that will require multiple bouts of bombing?

[usuallylurking]

Jun 22, 2013 15:46:51 GMT -5 FormerlyRR said:

Nope. Professionals can't change the life cycle. There are fairly kid safe treatments you can use for the future to control them, google the topic for specifics. I had fleas at my last house, and it was a few months to fully eradicate them. Sorry, it really sucks.
Vacuuming helps a lot, spray some flea spay on a Kleenex and vacuum that up first to kill them in the bag. And then change the bag!

Thanks! I just got off the phone with Orkin. It really doesn't seem that expensive, all things considered. I'm going to write my landlord an email and then follow up with a phone call. Orkin can come do the initial treatment Monday at 7 am for $195 and return 30 days later for $99. I just feel better having a professional handle it for a variety of reasons. I'll also be treating my dogs before they go over.

[midnightmare81]

I agree with getting a professional. We had fleas at one point and tried EVERYTHING. I am/was allergic to them and they were eating me alive. Gross I know, but it was awful. I think they were going after me because the pets were all treated. I had over 150 bites before we finally gave in and got a pro. I wish we had done it sooner. One treatment was all it took. They even had a 1 yr "warranty". If they appear again within a year of treatment, they will come back out and treat again for free. I have NO idea how they can guarantee that, but they did. I was worried that whatever they used to keep them away would be dangerous for the pets, but we had no issues.

I agree that it is the LL's job to take care of this, and to do so professionally. I would keep the fact that they seem to quick to "cheap out" on getting a major issue taken care of, and to expect you to do the work involved. You don't even technically live there yet and they are already asking you to solve their issues and keep it as cheap as possible. That would raise a red flag for me.

[tamarindy]

Sorry you have to deal with this. The PP is right about the life cycle. I had fleas in my house years ago from my cat (who only went onto the enclosed patio - Florida for ya). I had terminex come in, vacuumed (make sure you dump bags immediately), gave my cat a Capstar, then put him on Advantage (Frontline was what he was on when he got fleas). While trying to get rid of them I also tried this little trick... Put a shallow bowl of water with some dish soap in it and place it on carpet with a lamp over it at night. The fleas jump into it and die. Amazing.

Terminex came twice and I was rid of them within a couple weeks fully. The key is to make sure your pets have the best protection on, because if the fleas can't live on them, they will eventually die off.

Good luck!

[usuallylurking]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to request that she have it professionally treated. I'm also going to call the vet and see what they recommend for the best prevention for the dogs, and will only bring the dogs after the initial treatment has been done. I'm afraid with them being treated, like PP, that the fleas will go after the kids and I if the treatment isn't aggressive enough/done professionally.

[midnightmare81]

Jun 22, 2013 17:02:14 GMT -5 tamarindy said:

Sorry you have to deal with this. The PP is right about the life cycle. I had fleas in my house years ago from my cat (who only went onto the enclosed patio - Florida for ya). I had terminex come in, vacuumed (make sure you dump bags immediately), gave my cat a Capstar, then put him on Advantage (Frontline was what he was on when he got fleas). While trying to get rid of them I also tried this little trick... Put a shallow bowl of water with some dish soap in it and place it on carpet with a lamp over it at night. The fleas jump into it and die. Amazing.

Terminex came twice and I was rid of them within a couple weeks fully. The key is to make sure your pets have the best protection on, because if the fleas can't live on them, they will eventually die off.

Good luck!

Not true. As I mentioned, they CAN live off humans. They just wouldn't pick us as their source given the option. Sorta like we could live of bugs if we HAD to, but would much prefer not to. I used to think the same thing, clearly I learned the hard way...