Can fleas live without an animal host?

Question

I have a flea problem in my apartment. I got rid of my cat because I could not afford to treat her, as well as my home. I just used the flea foggers they tell you to use. I cleaned my place like crazy after it was safe to go back in the apartment. I vaccummed the whole place after sprinkling the flea powder every where. The day after I cleaned the apartment I have seen one jump on me and I killed it. I know I will probably still have a few fleas in the house because not all of them will die. I am just wondering since I do not have a cat any more and I did all of the above to rid my house of fleas....If it is at all possible for them to reproduce and cause another flea infestation with just human blood. I nkow they bit humans, they do not live on us. This would be a great relief to find this out.

Answer 1

You're right, fleas will bite us but don't normally live on us. You mission now is to get rid of the fleas, flea eggs and larvae that remain in your apartment.

Fleas can hatch in just a few seconds it they sense heat or vibration. You don't have a cat anymore so your own body or even a vacuum cleaner can cause them to hatch.

"Vacuum floors, rugs, carpets, upholstered furniture, and crevices around baseboards and cabinets daily or every other day to remove flea eggs, larvae, adults, and food sources. Vacuuming is very effective in picking up adults and stimulating preemerged adults to leave their cocoons, but it is not as good at removing flea pupae because they are attached to carpet fibers and can withstand the pull of the vacuum. Flea eggs can survive and develop inside vacuum bags and adults may be able to escape to the outside, so immediately destroy bags by burning or by sealing them in a plastic trash bag and placing them in a covered trash container."
http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/counties/cecalaveras/fleas.htm

One inexpensive way to speed up the process and give you some relief is to purchase some boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax from you grocery store or Wal-Mart. It's found in the laundry detergent aisle and costs about $3-$4 a box. Sprinkle it on the carpet, on furniture(under cushions too) and in crevices around your house. Work it in with a broom. Leave it on for 3 days. Vacuum it up. Treat all rooms at the same time. It breaks the flea life cycle. Some remains in your carpet and continues killing any remaining fleas eggs for at least 6 months.
http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/20_Mule_Team_Borax_CASE_p/d1002a.htm

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I had an infestation in my house before I owned any pets. They might have been brought in on my friend's dog when he was visiting, but they persisted in my house after any dog was present and lived all in the carpet. They would also bite me at night.

Unfortunately, They will probably not just die off now that there is no cat available to them. They reproduce very rapidly and don't need much blood to reproduce.

I had to use the flea foggers twice before I finally cleared the whole house of the infestation, so I would try fogging again, especially if you are currently only seeing a few.

Also, make sure you vaccuum every bit of floor and furniture after you fog-- the foggers don't kill the eggs, just the adults. So, after you kill the adults, you have to vaccuum on and underneath every bit of furniture, and then change the bags in your vacccuum and throw the old bags out-- not inside the house. If you don't, the eggs will hatch inside the vaccuum cleaner.

Good luck, it can take a while but if you are persistent then you can do it!

Answer 3

How Long Do Fleas Live

Answer 4

Who told you to use 'foggers'? Use something from a vets, don't even both with pet store crapola. Recommend Indorex, Staykil, Acclaim or Skoosh. You'll need to vacuum the next day and then repeat this process in a week to get the eggs that have now hatched out - unless you use Skoosh, as this also kills eggs and pupae as well as the adult fleas.

Chalice

Answer 5

You've still got thousands of eggs around and they'll continue to hatch for quite some time. Get some live traps. Basically they're a heat source and a glue pad. Fleas are attracted to the heat and get stuck in the glue. Eventually you'll get them all. It'll take time though.

http://www.fleascontrol.com/flea-trap.htm

Answer 6

the eggs and fleas can live especially in those hard to reach places like your carpet so you need to shampoo your carpet and wash all of her blankets and bedding and cloth toys, wash all your bed comforters and throw rugs as well. they can be a b.i.t.c.h. to get rid of cause they hide everywhere! after you do the shampooing of your carpet fog again, this should get the job done and you shouldn't have any more flee problems.

Answer 7

I can t even imagine getting rid of my pet because I have fleas in my house! Wow