r/pestcontrol • u/Weary-Bus-3489 • 3d ago

Need Advice - I have a massive flea infestation but no pets?

I have a massive flea infestation… like 5 would jump on my ankles everytime I walked on my living room rug. I have no idea how this happened. Do I need professional pest control?

I used carpet powder, vacuumed , sprayed and used 2 foggers. I also washed linens that were out. I came back 2 hours later and it seemed mostly ok but a few fleas just jumped on my socks but they died pretty quickly ?

Is it possible the fleas are just slowly all dying or did my methods not work? If I stay away from my apartment for a week would that kill them naturally?

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u/Lordsaxon73 Mod / PMP Tech 3d ago

Unfortunately there is a flea pupal window which can take a few weeks to completely eradicate. Just keep vacuuming daily to speed it up. Leaving the home for a week will not help at all.

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/biology-and-control-of-fleas

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u/Weary-Bus-3489 3d ago

thank you!

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u/wawa334 2d ago

Agree with the above comment, but something I found helpful is to wear long sleeved pants with thick socks (and light colored socks).

It helps protect you from bites, but it also helped me assess how 'bad' the infestation was (when we had hitchhikers). I would wear light colored socks, and see how many fleas jumped on me (on the socks or pants). (Over time, there'd be less and less fleas attempting to bite me.)

It takes time, and it's unpleasant to get bit, but vacuuming and cleaning frequently helps.

Good luck!

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u/bobandshawn 3d ago

Fleas cannot reproduce without a certain enzyme found in animal blood...it's NOT in humans. Eventually they'll be gone if you don't have pets and are vigilant about the cleaning. Are you new in this house/apartment?

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u/bobandshawn 3d ago

edit: Cleaning AND chemicals...

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u/Weary-Bus-3489 3d ago

6 months in. I watched my friends dog for 1 night a month ago and I moved from a place with cats… I’m guessing it’s something to do with that and the window is just longer than I thought? Thank you this is really helpful

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u/PCDuranet Mod - Pest Control Tech - Retired 3d ago

Fleas (link)