We have no pets, and our home is suddenly full of fleas!!! What do we do??!!! We live in a villa and I think the fleas are coming from the garden and probably the stray cats and luaks thats come in and out of here. This is terrible! My ankles and feet are all bitten up, our home is an open air villa so it's not like we can control the problem if the fleas are coming from the garden, and I've got a newborn baby and I don't want to be covering the place with pesticides and toxic poison. Anyone been through this before, any recommendations? Please HELP!!!
Someone posted this to help others on finding a decent pest control in FB, don't know if it applies to flea, but worth to call and ask whether he can help you?
" Ameks - pest and rodent control - Australian trained - Ngurah Suastra 08123991503 - sprays exterior and interior, and actually drills down to apply the chemical solution.."
" Ameks - pest and rodent control - Australian trained - Ngurah Suastra 08123991503 - sprays exterior and interior, and actually drills down to apply the chemical solution.."
We have 2.5 cats, 2 dogs and one luak on our property and no fleas.
I would suggest that you make sure that you actually have fleas before you take any serious measures - best way I've heard of is to take a clean white bed sheet and put it on the floor of your house near the furniture. Leave room for 20 minutes and when you come back see if you can see any fleas on the sheet. If not then I suggest you have a mosquito problem.
Generally speaking fleas that go on above animals won't bite humans, can't stand our taste. Chicken fleas will bite a couple of times then move on but die off if no chickens around.
My better 1/4 swears by Citronella Oil for keeping off the bugs - give it a try.
Best of luck
Markit
I would suggest that you make sure that you actually have fleas before you take any serious measures - best way I've heard of is to take a clean white bed sheet and put it on the floor of your house near the furniture. Leave room for 20 minutes and when you come back see if you can see any fleas on the sheet. If not then I suggest you have a mosquito problem.
Generally speaking fleas that go on above animals won't bite humans, can't stand our taste. Chicken fleas will bite a couple of times then move on but die off if no chickens around.
My better 1/4 swears by Citronella Oil for keeping off the bugs - give it a try.
Best of luck
Markit
Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
They are definitely fleas, not mosquitos, not bead bugs! They are tiny, they don't fly, they jump, difficult to catch and difficult to kill with your fingers.
A stray cat had kittens in our roof (between the ceiling and roof) a few months ago and they have been living there up until last week, perhaps when they left, they left the fleas here. The only solution right now is to continue sweeping and moping them out of the house, and somehow treat the garden (the garden seems to be worse than the house.) I've also been wearing socks and shoes in the house to protect my feet (and starve them of my blood!). Luckily they haven't gotten into the bedroom or anywhere near my baby daughter.
Ferdie, we will contact the pest control guy you recommended, thank you.
They are definitely fleas, not mosquitos, not bead bugs! They are tiny, they don't fly, they jump, difficult to catch and difficult to kill with your fingers.
A stray cat had kittens in our roof (between the ceiling and roof) a few months ago and they have been living there up until last week, perhaps when they left, they left the fleas here. The only solution right now is to continue sweeping and moping them out of the house, and somehow treat the garden (the garden seems to be worse than the house.) I've also been wearing socks and shoes in the house to protect my feet (and starve them of my blood!). Luckily they haven't gotten into the bedroom or anywhere near my baby daughter.
Ferdie, we will contact the pest control guy you recommended, thank you.
The idea of drilling and shoving chemicals in the hole is for termite control and I doubt will do anything regarding a flea problem.
Try fogging...we have our garden fogged weekly and don't have any flea problem in the house. There are many small one-man companies that go around villas with a fogging machine...it is also used in hotel grounds. It is best to close all bedrooms and vacate the premises for an hour or two after fogging complete.
Also agree with markit's better (1/4 or 1/2).... burning Citronella in those Hawaiin style tiki torches placed strategically around the garden/pool keeps most bugs off when we are dining outside.
But where to buy in Bali...we cannot find and forced to bring big jugs back from ACE in Jakarta. The oil normally sold in Bali stinks and doesn't really work, burning Citronella gives a very pleasant odour...like lemon.
Try fogging...we have our garden fogged weekly and don't have any flea problem in the house. There are many small one-man companies that go around villas with a fogging machine...it is also used in hotel grounds. It is best to close all bedrooms and vacate the premises for an hour or two after fogging complete.
Also agree with markit's better (1/4 or 1/2).... burning Citronella in those Hawaiin style tiki torches placed strategically around the garden/pool keeps most bugs off when we are dining outside.
But where to buy in Bali...we cannot find and forced to bring big jugs back from ACE in Jakarta. The oil normally sold in Bali stinks and doesn't really work, burning Citronella gives a very pleasant odour...like lemon.
I will try the citronella, perhaps a few drops of the essential oil in the floor cleaner water, or even tea tree oil. Actually now that I'm thinking about essential oils, I could try and spray the entrance and the part of the garden that surrounds our house with diluted neem oil, that has helped in the past with getting rid of other pests in the garden (we grow a few vegetables and spend time in the garden, so I prefer to first try a non-toxic option). One thing that does help is having white tiles everywhere in our home, it makes it much easier to keep track of the flea situation and where they are collecting and possibly coming from. The constant cleaning and sweeping seems to be helping.
Fleas go through four life stages: eggs, larva, pupa and adult.
A lot of sprays kill adult fleas but don't have much (or any) effect on their early stages.
The conventional two-pronged attack on flea infestations usually involves an insecticde followed up with an insect growth regulator (to stop larvae turning into adults).
Most of these chemicals are toxic to humans, their pets as well as fleas (and many innocent helpful insects plus spiders).
I have heard that spreading common salt can be helpful indoors (it dehydrates the buggers). Not sure how it would work outdoors, especially during the wet season.
Rain, or copious watering outdoors could help by washing away eggs, etc.
Someone mentioned regular fogging. For fogging to be of any use, it has to be done regularly. One-off fogging never achieves much in the long run.
The chemicals actually used in fogging should be carefully considered, too. Many are straight pesticides/insecticides in a kerosene base. Nasty shit.
Flea bombs aren't much better and obviously you can't flea bomb your garden. Agent Orange might do the trick but I don't know where you can buy it these days. Bad joke (sorry).
Neem, citronella tea-tree oils, etc, might be of some help.
I'd also be looking at buying some high-quality mosquito netting.
:grief:
A lot of sprays kill adult fleas but don't have much (or any) effect on their early stages.
The conventional two-pronged attack on flea infestations usually involves an insecticde followed up with an insect growth regulator (to stop larvae turning into adults).
Most of these chemicals are toxic to humans, their pets as well as fleas (and many innocent helpful insects plus spiders).
I have heard that spreading common salt can be helpful indoors (it dehydrates the buggers). Not sure how it would work outdoors, especially during the wet season.
Rain, or copious watering outdoors could help by washing away eggs, etc.
Someone mentioned regular fogging. For fogging to be of any use, it has to be done regularly. One-off fogging never achieves much in the long run.
The chemicals actually used in fogging should be carefully considered, too. Many are straight pesticides/insecticides in a kerosene base. Nasty shit.
Flea bombs aren't much better and obviously you can't flea bomb your garden. Agent Orange might do the trick but I don't know where you can buy it these days. Bad joke (sorry).
Neem, citronella tea-tree oils, etc, might be of some help.
I'd also be looking at buying some high-quality mosquito netting.
:grief:
I have not come across this in Bali, but in Australia, if a house that used to have pets has been left empty a while, then you walk in (perhaps following a real estate agent who hopes to sell or rent) baby fleas hatch from the eggs in the dust and jump on your ankles. They seem to respond to the vibrations of the people walking in - or something like that.
I have no idea why you would have a crop or dormant eggs in your house or garden - but the good new is - it will not be a continuing problem - once the dormant eggs have hatched, and you spray them or they starve, that should be the end of it. As JohnnyCool says, the eggs are resistant to the usual sprays, but the jumping ones will quickly be knocked off.
I have no idea why you would have a crop or dormant eggs in your house or garden - but the good new is - it will not be a continuing problem - once the dormant eggs have hatched, and you spray them or they starve, that should be the end of it. As JohnnyCool says, the eggs are resistant to the usual sprays, but the jumping ones will quickly be knocked off.
Well it's day 3 and the sweeping has been helping a lot. The villa is almost 2 feet off the ground, so once the fleas are swept off they can't jump back in (my husband is fully entertained watching them try to jump back in all along the sides of the house!). The ants have also come in to attack the fleas (my husband is enjoying watching this too). I have a natural bug repellent lotion from a local company (Utama Spice) that is totally repelling the fleas from my feat and ankles, and my daughter's diaper rash balm does wonders on soothing the bites I already have. I'm hoping we have a few big rains soon, I feel like that will be best solution for the garden...
My husband is from here and he has a landscaping business here, and he's never seen anything like this before, especially all the fleas in the garden...
Thanks everyone for your input, much appreciated!
My husband is from here and he has a landscaping business here, and he's never seen anything like this before, especially all the fleas in the garden...
Thanks everyone for your input, much appreciated!
We have no animals in our villa or on our land (other than strays that wander in). We have flea problem outside - in any shady area including our bale and umbrella tables. Once the sun shines they dissipate . We have re - lacquered our furniture but it appears the eggs have hatched and the problem is still there. It would be nice to enjoy the villa but I'm tormented daily. All I need is a source for flea solution to spray for three days on the trot. Can we not get this in Bali?
We had exactly the same in Australia. We had a rental house where the tenants had a cat. They moved out and a couple of weeks later I went in and was attacked by fleas all over my feet and legs. They must have been starving and heard me coming. I had to run and even then my car was full of fleas after I drove off. We put in a couple of Flea Bombs that set off a mist and then left the place alone for a couple of days and the fleas had gone. The house had all tiled and wood floors too, no carpets.