Flea Bombs

[kimberly0317]

I have always had house pets and I have not had fleas in 16 years. I have had an infestitation that I am have a heck of a time fighting. I have banned the dogs to the great outdoors and the 2 house cats have been getting baths every other day (that has been a barrel of fun) and I have been vaccuming daily.

I did some research on what I could use that would be safe for my bird and snake and came up with diatamaceous earth. I have used that on my carpet and my cats and have only had minor success.

By the way, the bird and the snake were moved to a separate part of the house while we used the DE.

I have finally decided to declare war on the fleas. I bought enough flea bombs to do the entire house and I am willing to pack up my zoo and leave for as long as necessary.

The box says to leave for 2 hours and let the house air out for 30 minutes. Do you guys think that is sufficient?

These are my other plans:

I have flea stuff from my vet for all the dogs and cats that goes between their shoulder blades (everybody gets flea baths first).

I am going to put Zoe's (my CAG) cage outside while the bombs are going off.

I am going to put plastic wrap over the snakes cage while the bombs are going off.

Am I missing anything here? My mission is two fold here: I have to protect my pets and I have to get rid of the fleas.

Am I doing enough to protect my bird?

Thanks,
Kimberly and Zoe

[stefan]

Originally Posted by kimberly0317

I have always had house pets and I have not had fleas in 16 years. I have had an infestitation that I am have a heck of a time fighting. I have banned the dogs to the great outdoors and the 2 house cats have been getting baths every other day (that has been a barrel of fun) and I have been vaccuming daily.

I did some research on what I could use that would be safe for my bird and snake and came up with diatamaceous earth. I have used that on my carpet and my cats and have only had minor success.

By the way, the bird and the snake were moved to a separate part of the house while we used the DE.

I have finally decided to declare war on the fleas. I bought enough flea bombs to do the entire house and I am willing to pack up my zoo and leave for as long as necessary.

The box says to leave for 2 hours and let the house air out for 30 minutes. Do you guys think that is sufficient?

These are my other plans:

I have flea stuff from my vet for all the dogs and cats that goes between their shoulder blades (everybody gets flea baths first).

I am going to put Zoe's (my CAG) cage outside while the bombs are going off.

I am going to put plastic wrap over the snakes cage while the bombs are going off.

Am I missing anything here? My mission is two fold here: I have to protect my pets and I have to get rid of the fleas.

Am I doing enough to protect my bird?

Thanks,
Kimberly and Zoe

I think you are doing the two most important things: 1) Not exposing your CAG directly to the flea bomb chemicals by removing her from the house completely during the treatment and 2) protecting the cage from direct exposure. What I don't know is what type of toxic residue the flea bomb might leave on other parts of your house that are not easy to clean but Zoe might still come in contact with (walls, floor, furniture, etc) after the treatment.

What kind of carpet do you have? Does this flea bomb stuff get fleas that may be deep down at the base of carpet fibers? Will you clean the carpet after the flea bombing?

Good luck

[kimberly0317]

I just have a typical low shag carpet. I don't really know how deep down the bomb/fogger will get. It says it will kill fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, flea eggs and flea larvae. After the house has been closed up for 2 hours I have to open the house and air it out for 30 minutes. After that I will go in and vaccume the carpet.

I have tried doing more research on this and I can't find anything. Hopefully you guys can either tell me more or reassure me that I am doing the right thing.

Thanks,
Kimberly and Zoe

[stefan]

Originally Posted by kimberly0317

I just have a typical low shag carpet. I don't really know how deep down the bomb/fogger will get. It says it will kill fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, flea eggs and flea larvae. After the house has been closed up for 2 hours I have to open the house and air it out for 30 minutes. After that I will go in and vaccume the carpet.

I have tried doing more research on this and I can't find anything. Hopefully you guys can either tell me more or reassure me that I am doing the right thing.

Thanks,
Kimberly and Zoe

I would try to wait as long as you can. For something as strong as this sounds, 30 minutes of airing does not sound like enough. I would try for a full day. Vacuuming is probably not a good idea right away. It could stir up some of the residue in the carpet and distribute it back into the house air. You probably want to steam clean your carpet and furniture as well. I would remove Zoe when you have that done.

Best wishes

[kimberly0317]

Have any great ideas on where to go with a bird and a snake all day?

Thanks,
Kimberly and Zoe

[TheresaS]

I would give the DE another shot. My very good friend who is a breeder, uses it with her show dogs. She just recently had a dog come in infested with fleas(she also boards dogs) well with having birds and a very young pup, she wanted something safe. This is how she did it. She used a shaker to put it on her animals, and all the carpets and furniture every night before going to bed. The next day she would vacuum it up. She did this for a week. All the fleas are gone. She still dusts her dogs once a week or so. The house has been flea free for about 3 months now

PS: Make sure it is the food grade DE.

[Lisa B]

that doesnt sound like enough time to me given how delicate the lungs and air sack of our birds are. What I would do is contact your avian vet and talk options before doing anything.