FLEAS HAVE A FOUR STAGE LIFE CYCLE: Egg, Larval, Pupal and Adult.
They can progress from egg to adult in as little as two weeks in optimum conditions. However, they can slow the cycle by several months if conditions are not suitable for breeding.
Egg Stage
Each female can lay between 4 and 8 eggs after each feeding.
Although laid on the host, the eggs can easily fall off and are scattered around. Highest concentrations will be found where your pet sleeps and grooms.
Larval Stage
Once hatched the eggs take on a small, hairy, worm-like appearance. They range from 1.5 mm to five mm in length, are blind, and feed on dead skin and the dried blood excreted by adult fleas.
This is probably their most vulnerable stage. They will not survive direct sunlight or major changes in humidity and temperature.
Sand and gravel are ideal habitats for larva which is why they are often mislabelled Sand Fleas.
Flea Larvae will live for up to 200 days if conditions are suitable. They have an ability to coil around carpet fibres and hairs to avoid being sucked up, and will travel up to 30 cm per minute.
Pupal Stage
Like a caterpillar, flea larvae will spin a cocoon to undergo the metamorphosis into their final stage of life. These cocoons are covered in dust, sand, and debris making them well camouflaged.
This is in this stage that most fleas will spend the winter, ready to explode into action as the weather warms up.
Adult Stage
Adult fleas are brilliantly engineered for survival in their environment. Although only 1 - 4 mm in length they can jump up to 200 mm high and 4100 mm in distance.
Their flat bodies allow them to move swiftly between hairs, and they have hooked spiny legs that make them difficult to dislodge. If conditions are not right the flea may remain in the pupal chamber for several months.
Once the right atmospheric conditions exist and the flea senses the vibrations of a near by host, they will emerge with a vengeance. This is why an empty house over a summer break is a ticking bomb waiting for the family to return.
Although an adult flea can survive without snacking for several months, they must feed within a week of emerging from the pupae stage.
Only the female half of the flea population bite, and they cannot lay eggs without first snacking on blood.
FLEA BITES:
Unlike ants and spiders the flea bite leaves only a single puncture wound. Also different to mosquitoes, bees, wasps and bedbugs the flea bite only produces a small swelling. It develops within 30 minutes and is a hard, red, itchy spot.
The itchiness is produced by an anti clotting secretion that the flea injects and the reaction of your body's immune system. Because different people react differently it may take up to 24 hours for the swelling to occur.
Treat the irritation from flea bites with Carbolated Vaseline, menthol, camphor, ice cubes or calamine lotion.
More serious problems associated with flea bites include a secondary infection from continued scratching. It is also possible for the fleas to impart plague, typhus, and tularaemia diseases (although uncommon). Accidentally swallowing the flea could result in tapeworms which the flea may host. This is a real danger for pets who pick up the tapeworm by consuming fleas while grooming.
FLEA CONTROL:
Good pet care should always include good grooming habits and regular baths. This will help you to spot the early signs of fleas before you have an infestation. Fleas are much easier to treat before they reach epidemic levels.
Flea treatment should include the following practices:
The alternative to natural flea control is toxic chemicals. These fall into two types. Those externally applied to your home or pet, and those ingested by your pet.
The result is that you either end up with a house coated in toxins that kills the fleas (and you know it is doing everyone else in the house a lot of good), or you end up pumping your pet full of toxin so that when the fleas bite it they die...
Which is exactly why I recommend you try the healthy alternative before reaching for the chemicals.
http://www.NamaraPets.com
They can progress from egg to adult in as little as two weeks in optimum conditions. However, they can slow the cycle by several months if conditions are not suitable for breeding.
Egg Stage
Each female can lay between 4 and 8 eggs after each feeding.
Although laid on the host, the eggs can easily fall off and are scattered around. Highest concentrations will be found where your pet sleeps and grooms.
Larval Stage
Once hatched the eggs take on a small, hairy, worm-like appearance. They range from 1.5 mm to five mm in length, are blind, and feed on dead skin and the dried blood excreted by adult fleas.
This is probably their most vulnerable stage. They will not survive direct sunlight or major changes in humidity and temperature.
Sand and gravel are ideal habitats for larva which is why they are often mislabelled Sand Fleas.
Flea Larvae will live for up to 200 days if conditions are suitable. They have an ability to coil around carpet fibres and hairs to avoid being sucked up, and will travel up to 30 cm per minute.
Pupal Stage
Like a caterpillar, flea larvae will spin a cocoon to undergo the metamorphosis into their final stage of life. These cocoons are covered in dust, sand, and debris making them well camouflaged.
This is in this stage that most fleas will spend the winter, ready to explode into action as the weather warms up.
Adult Stage
Adult fleas are brilliantly engineered for survival in their environment. Although only 1 - 4 mm in length they can jump up to 200 mm high and 4100 mm in distance.
Their flat bodies allow them to move swiftly between hairs, and they have hooked spiny legs that make them difficult to dislodge. If conditions are not right the flea may remain in the pupal chamber for several months.
Once the right atmospheric conditions exist and the flea senses the vibrations of a near by host, they will emerge with a vengeance. This is why an empty house over a summer break is a ticking bomb waiting for the family to return.
Although an adult flea can survive without snacking for several months, they must feed within a week of emerging from the pupae stage.
Only the female half of the flea population bite, and they cannot lay eggs without first snacking on blood.
FLEA BITES:
Unlike ants and spiders the flea bite leaves only a single puncture wound. Also different to mosquitoes, bees, wasps and bedbugs the flea bite only produces a small swelling. It develops within 30 minutes and is a hard, red, itchy spot.
The itchiness is produced by an anti clotting secretion that the flea injects and the reaction of your body's immune system. Because different people react differently it may take up to 24 hours for the swelling to occur.
Treat the irritation from flea bites with Carbolated Vaseline, menthol, camphor, ice cubes or calamine lotion.
More serious problems associated with flea bites include a secondary infection from continued scratching. It is also possible for the fleas to impart plague, typhus, and tularaemia diseases (although uncommon). Accidentally swallowing the flea could result in tapeworms which the flea may host. This is a real danger for pets who pick up the tapeworm by consuming fleas while grooming.
FLEA CONTROL:
Good pet care should always include good grooming habits and regular baths. This will help you to spot the early signs of fleas before you have an infestation. Fleas are much easier to treat before they reach epidemic levels.
Flea treatment should include the following practices:
- Comb your pet daily: get a flea comb and give your pet regular combing sessions - making sure you have a soapy water bath handy to drown the fleas in.
- Vacuum your house daily: Make sure you pick up all objects on the floor and vacuum thoroughly. Pay special attention to areas your pet frequents - and if your pet allows give them a quick vacuum too.
Note Always securely dispose of vacuum cleaner bags after vacuuming - some moth balls in the bag will help kill fleas sucked up. - Regularly washing bedding: If regularly wash the pet bedding (and yours unless you want to become a surrogate host) and expose it to direct sunlight it should kill the fleas.
- Diatomaceous Earth: Or fossilized remains of diatoms is your secret weapon if these other methods do not work. This white powder sprinkled around will kill the fleas. It is a substance that is already in a lot of the food you eat and is perfectly safe if you buy the food grade version.
It kills adult fleas dead but is harmless to animals and humans. - A light trap: You can either make your own or buy one of these killers. A light set up over a dish of soapy water will attract fleas to their death during the night... they will also save you walking around in white socks to determine if there are any fleas present!
The alternative to natural flea control is toxic chemicals. These fall into two types. Those externally applied to your home or pet, and those ingested by your pet.
The result is that you either end up with a house coated in toxins that kills the fleas (and you know it is doing everyone else in the house a lot of good), or you end up pumping your pet full of toxin so that when the fleas bite it they die...
Which is exactly why I recommend you try the healthy alternative before reaching for the chemicals.
http://www.NamaraPets.com
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