Flea Treatment

[Glory]

My cat has recently gotten fleas and I'm afraid they have ended up in the carpet in my bedroom. This is where I house my Rosea so I was curious to know if I remove her from my room and spray the baseboards with flea killer, when will it be safe to move my her tank back into my room, if ever? Or will the flea spray affect her at all? Thanks in advance for any help.
-Glory

 

[captmarga]

Take the T out, and keep her out, at LEAST for a couple of days afterwards, until you cannot smell fumes, or longer. Some people have noticed DKS in their Ts where flea treatments are used. It can harm your T, and it will remain in the room long after the spray has dried. If you can find an alternate method to treat the carpet, I'd try that, or find somewhere else to house your T for a couple of weeks. Search the forums here for more reports to be on the safe side!

Marga

 

[Glory]

Thank you! I do have a room that I can move her to temporarily for a few weeks, but it's my sister's bedroom so she can't stay there forever! I'll try to keep her out of my room for as long as possible after I spray. I've used many methods in the passed and nothing worked but the spray :/

 

[Moltar]

Lots of flea treatments are really flea and tick treatments. Ticks being arachnids, you want to limit that exposure to... well, to zero. You can't be too careful with insecticides and whatnot around your T's

 

[Glory]

Now that I look at it, the spray is actually for bugs in general, not just fleas. It says "spiders" right on it. I don't know what to do. My mom is telling me I have to get rid of my T so I can spray my room Wahh.

 

[Moltar]

Can't you just put her cage on the top shelf of a coat closet or something? It's not like your T is going to care. She would probably like the week of peace and quiet.

I can see this being a problem if you had 20 T's but just one? You can put her anywhere that has heat. In fact, if you have central heat/air, a closet might be the best possible place anyway (besides someone elses house) because there are no vents in a closet.

 

[JC]

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=181845

 

[Glory]

That's why I was asking if there was a certain amount of time before I could bring her back into the room. I have a different room to put her in temporarily but was just curious as to how long I need to let the spray settle before bringing her back in. Thanks

---------- Post added at 11:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:04 PM ----------

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=181845

Are you sending me that in advance for when my T gets DKS? haha.

 

[Bigboy]

Get yourself a large air tight plastic travel pack and seal you tarantula iinside a small container inside of it with damp paper towel just as if you were going to ship it. There should be enough air in there for several days easily. Treat your house and thoroughly and when you can keep crickets in your room without them dying off you can keep your tarantula in it too.

 

[bootdsc]

Don't worry, there is no need to use toxic chemicals when dealing with fleas. Its bad for your health and every other living thing in your home. Fleas can be killed off by dehydration using boric acid, its sold under a few names like FleaGo or well just boric acid.

This is something i have used personally and it has always worked but give it some time because it takes about one week to kill all of them...fleas have to ingest the powder its not a spray or gas that ends up everywhere on every surface. It also stops the eggs from hatching out later.

 

[Glory]

Tried boric acid. It doesn't seem to be working. Bottom line is that I need to use a chemical treatment. I have my T in a closet right now, but if I use chemicals (spray, etc.) to treat the house, won't it end up coming through the air conditioning vents into the room anyway? This is getting to be a real pain in the butt. I'm not experienced with packaging and I'm afraid I could kill her either way. I don't really have anywhere to take her while we treat the house. All my friends are scared of her. Unfortunately, I think I'm just going to have to sell her if I can't figure this out.

 

[scoundrel]

You really can't find 1 single brave friend or family member to keep your T for a week? They wouldn't even have to feed it. Where do you live? Maybe someone on the forums would be willing to take care of it for a short time?

 

[Necromion]

may seem a little overboard but you may want to try steam cleaning the carpet. I dont know if it would work 100% but the heat should kill any larvae present in the carpet. I would several cleanings though

 

[Rue]

Get your cats/dogs on a flea treatment, and use an IGR for fleas in your house. Vacuum lots too...and dump the container immediately after vacuuming...OUTSIDE the house...

 

[Offkillter]

Food grade Diatanatious Earth. Sprinkle it in your carpet and the fleas will die.It's safe for you and your pets and as long as you don't coat your T it will be fine too.

 

[Glory]

Thank you guys for all of the suggestions. I have used dietematious earth before and it didn't work, either. I've also steam cleaned the carpet and had it professionally cleaned. My cat has been treated, but I don't think it's working because she still has fat living fleas on her. These fleas just don't want to die. I'm going to make an attempt to convince someone to take her for a week or so. Thats all the time it takes for the air to clear and then I can bring her back?

 

[Rue]

Fleas don't live on the cat...they jump on to feed, then jump off. They lay eggs in the bedding and carpeting and that's where the larvae feed.

If you spray the IGR on the carpeting - the larvae won't mature.

If you treat the cat - it will poison the adults...who then can't lay eggs.

Fleas can be picked up anywhere...so to control them in the house you need to treat both the pet and environment.

 

[Formerphobe]

dietematious earth

...diatomaceous...

re: Many IGR (insect growth regulators) - can be toxic and/or fatal to tarantulas.

re: fleas on cat - Capstar, an oral tablet, will kill any fleas actually on the cat. Then you have to worry about the thousands to millions living in the house.

Advantage, a monthly topical, can be applied to kitty every 2 - 3 weeks during heavy infestations. Wear gloves to apply to cat. Keep cat out of T room.

Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum to help get eggs, larva and fleas out of carpet. The only good use for a flea collar is to put it in your vacuum cleaner bag to stun any living fleas till you can dispose of the bag. Either boric acid or diatomaceous earth will help dessicate various flea lifecycles living in the carpet.

Any living adult fleas will need to get on kitty for a blood meal and will be killed by the Advantage.

If your kitty goes outside, well, you may be in a high flea area. You can treat your yard, but can't make your neighbors treat theirs. Infested wildlife, too, can leave their fleas behind. If you can't keep the cat inside, then you are pretty much SOL and will continue to have a flea problem.

 

[malhomme]

...diatomaceous...

re: Many IGR (insect growth regulators) - can be toxic and/or fatal to tarantulas.

re: fleas on cat - Capstar, an oral tablet, will kill any fleas actually on the cat. Then you have to worry about the thousands to millions living in the house.

Advantage, a monthly topical, can be applied to kitty every 2 - 3 weeks during heavy infestations. Wear gloves to apply to cat. Keep cat out of T room.

Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum to help get eggs, larva and fleas out of carpet. The only good use for a flea collar is to put it in your vacuum cleaner bag to stun any living fleas till you can dispose of the bag. Either boric acid or diatomaceous earth will help dessicate various flea lifecycles living in the carpet.

Any living adult fleas will need to get on kitty for a blood meal and will be killed by the Advantage.

If your kitty goes outside, well, you may be in a high flea area. You can treat your yard, but can't make your neighbors treat theirs. Infested wildlife, too, can leave their fleas behind. If you can't keep the cat inside, then you are pretty much SOL and will continue to have a flea problem.

+1

You cannot just treat your room because the problem is throughout your house and potentially even in your yard.

Another problem with IGR's is that it takes multiple generations before it begins to makes them sterile.

When I was in the extermination biz I was surprised at how long many of these chemicals remained effective. Things like humidity, UV, heat, etc. will degrade pesticides. The longest effective time, independently tested, was 6 weeks under these harsh conditions for one of the tested pesticides (I think it was Tempo EC).

What this means to you is that the pesticides are still effective long after you've stopped smelling them (usually you're actually smelling the carrier agent for the pesticide).

In other words, a quarantine that lasts a few days may not be long enough. Try the methods outlined by FormerPhobe and have someone sit your t for a few weeks.

HTH

 

[Glory]

...diatomaceous...

Must have forgotten that I was asking for help with my accidental spelling error I realize that I have to treat the whole house. Looks like I'll just be getting rid of my T.