flea bombs and garters

[acovert]

Within the last week a major flea problem has popped up in our house. The culprit seems to be my cat, though we're not sure how because, with the exception of two or three escapades, he is an indoor cat. When I adopted him, he didn't have fleas.

My mom runs a daycare service so she has to get rid of the fleas in the house. She's already seen one crawling on my youngest brother and I have found several on my bed and crawling on me within the last couple of days. My boyfriend, who now lives in a spare room here, is covered in flea and spider bites and can't stop scratching.

I'm not worried about Cuddles getting fleas, since he doesn't have fur. Will it be a problem if some of them manage to get into his tank? Will they hurt him?

What I am really worried about is the flea bombs that my mom is going to use to clear out the house. Obviously, Cuddles won't be in the house when we bomb it. None of the non-aquatic pets will be, and neither will we. All of my pets are going to be moved to my friend's house that day. I was hoping that I could put Cuddles in a smaller container for the day to move him, because moving the tank with him in it is much more difficult. My worry is that the bombs will leave a residue on his tank that could hurt him later on. I will probably move the tank outside for the day if I move him into a smaller container for transportation, just to be safe. But, out of curiosity, does anyone have anything to say about this? Should I be worried about this harming Cuddles? Even if his tank is outside during the bombing, could he get sick from it later on? We know the fish will be fine, and so will the cats and the dog, if they aren't in the house. We've just never had a snake - or hermit crabs and snails - when we've had to do this in the past.

Thanks for any input. The scheduled date for the bombing is late Sunday morning so I have plenty of time to convince my mom to change her plans/find an alternative way to rid the house of the fleas, or take extra precautions for Cuddles.

[ProXimuS]

My suggestion would be to try diatomaceous earth. It's an all natural powder, that you can put in your yard, carpet, pets, etc, that should be non toxic to snakes. The small pieces get into the exoskeleton of the bugs, and dries them out and kills them.


If you are going to use a flea bomb I would suggest moving all animals and all enclosures out.

[infernalis]

If you are going to use a flea bomb I would suggest moving all animals and all enclosures out.

absolutely...

[d_virginiana]

Definitely move all enclosures out. If there's anywhere they could stay for a few days that would probably be the best... If you can smell it, that's a good indicator that it's still in the air.

btw, if you have aquatic pets, you can get a plastic tupperware bin and use that to hold them if you can't remove the tanks (depending on the size aquarium it'd be good to drain and remove it as well). I have fish, so I know what a pain that can be, and how risky it is to stress them by moving them around like that but it'd be better than leaving them in. Even if you can't remove the tanks, get the critters and filters out. If dust/gas gets in the water it will end up in the filters and get spewed out days or weeks later. I saran wrap the top of my tank when our apartment complex send in the bi-yearly mandatory exterminator even though it's just liquid sprayed in a completely different part of the apartment.
The tupperware thing does work well for fish; I've had to use it for emergency quarantines before.

[acovert]

If diatomaceous earth is more expensive than flea bombs then its not an option. My family just doesn't have the money. But' it sounds like an easier alternative. It would be easier for my mom. Where could I find stuff like that?

Since mom will most likely go through with the bombing, I'll make sure any containers I use for cuddles are outside. I'll saran-wrap the fish tanks and move the filters and air pumps for the day. That should keep them safe enough. We've bombed with fish, dogs, and cats before and never had a problem. .

Thanks for the advice. I would love to try the diatomaceous earth. It sounds so much safer. I'll try to do some reasearch but if anyone has more info on that, feel free to share.

[ProXimuS]

Diatomaceous Earth (DE) - Bob Webster's Gardening?

This link has some good info on the stuff. I don't have personal first hand experience with it, but we have used it in our kennel at work, and my roommate had to use it when her last roommate brought fleas in with their dog Haven't heard any complaints. Definitely worked here. Two very important things I read were to wear a mask when using it in powder form, and the kind for pool filters will not work for pest control. As for where to buy it...You could maybe look at Petsmart or Petco, but I kinda doubt they would. You may look at smaller pet stores that go more in the natural direction. Or if you have the time to wait, you can definitely get it online.

Diatomaceous Earth - Soil Mender Products

That's the brand we use.

[d_virginiana]

I think diatomaceous earth is pretty cheap... Like probably in the 20-30 dollar range if you need a big container of it. You can usually get it at Lowes or Home Depot, places like that.

[Mommy2many]

Fleas bombs + everyone out for at least half a day.
Flea shampoos, drops and collars on cats is what we have done. Our cats are indorror cats and we have fleas probably from one of my daughter's friends.
Not fun, let me tell you.

[Ctah_Lu]

I never had flea problems with my cat since he "arrived" to my house, hope the fleas gone soon.