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-   -   Invisible fleas in car (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=149582)

  • Nov 7, 2007, 02:04 PM
    sarah343
    Invisible fleas in car
    Can anyone help? They followed me into my car from a flea-infested building. I can't get rid of them. They are impossible to see as they must jump or move too fast, but the pin-prick bites and small red puncture marks are identical to what I experienced while in the building (and they were confirmed in that building as fleas by a professional, who added they were extremely small fleas). I sometimes feel them biting me or crawling almost immediately when in my car; at other times it can be an hour before they start chomping me. A pest control company told me that most of the effective pesticides for fleas have been banned. I have no pets. I have tried spraying (with a premise spray from a vet), bombing, using a Permethrin powder, boraxing, steam cleaning, professional shampooing, etc. etc. This is an absolute nightmare, and each time I come home I feel I must take a shower and wash my clothes to avoid bringing them into my house. Does anyone know how I can repel them from biting me? Is there ANYTHING that can kill them in the car? Thanks so much for any suggestions.
  • Nov 7, 2007, 02:12 PM
    tickle
    Nothing could have lived through what you have done to get rid of them. Fleas are very hard to see and I know what it is like to be bitten by them. But the cycle of egg laying must be interrupted and you must already have done that part. It probably has become a mindset with you unless you have actually gone over your legs with a magnifying glass to find the bite marks.
  • Nov 7, 2007, 02:17 PM
    shygrneyzs
    If they followed you to your car then they followed you to your apartment, each room, wherever you have been.

    I got the following information from a PetSmart Instructor - "If you decide to try the carpet spray, I recommend either Zodiac or Adams. They seem to be the most effective. Make sure that all surfaces are thoroughly sprayed down."

    Cleaning your car may well not be enough of the remedy here. Call a Vet Clinic and ask what they would recommend. Also call another pest control place - the one that came here to the complex I lived in told me there was nothing that would kill box elder bugs. Well, he was wrong.
  • Nov 7, 2007, 09:19 PM
    KISS
    Flea Control - Get Rid of Fleas-Kill Fleas
  • Nov 7, 2007, 09:40 PM
    N0help4u
    I was reading that cedar chips will keep them away.
  • Nov 8, 2007, 03:21 AM
    tickle
    I wasn't thinking of them being transported to the home from the car mainly because I have never had a problem with them. When I want to get rid of them, if I find I have them, they are gone completely one way or another. My dog used to have a problem with sand fleas because the beach isn't far away and peak season for them down there is hot hot summer. I eventually learned to avoid that time for bathing the dog.

    Some people are bothered by them more then others, my dad used to get bitten just around the ankles, I never had a problem niether did my mom. So go figure. Maybe they didn't like our blood.

    I have been reading lately about infestations of bed bugs, now there is one bug that is really difficult to get rid of.
  • Nov 8, 2007, 04:45 AM
    labman
    Have any of the products you have used killed flea eggs? If not, try a spray that does. I wonder about that comment from the professional about them being very small fleas. Perhaps they aren't fleas at all. In that case, the flea egg killing products may not kill the eggs of whatever they are, allowing new crops to keep hatching out. For an unknown pest, you might try repeated doses of a more general product. Putting out the sticky paper meant to capture fleas would allow you capture some of them and perhaps identify them under a magnifying glass.

    Depending where you live, cold weather may wipe them out, but by that time, they may have invaded your apartment.
  • Nov 8, 2007, 09:35 AM
    lovelesspa
    Sounds like you've tried everything, vacum and then steam or shampoo the rugs in your car. I know vets have the only flea bombs that actually work, I'd try that in your can. If you sprinkle some herbs like pennyroyal or mint on your floor they deter fleas, it might be work a try, either sprinkle or make a small cloth bag of the herbs. And put on your floorboards.

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