Please Help My Furry Critters Have Fleas

Jarrod B

Arachnopeon
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Jul 19, 2016
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31
Hello,
I am new to posting so here it go's, I am worried about my T's. I have 2 dogs and 3 cats I just found they all have fleas, what should I treat them with so I don't harm my T's, I have 6 T's and love them dearly Please Help. Thanks
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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Jan 3, 2016
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508
Do your animals come in close contact with the tarantulas? If you keep them separate then I see no need to worry. I'd wait to hear from some other users though so you can see what they have to say.
 

Jarrod B

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Jul 19, 2016
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Yes I display Them on a book case in the living room I Have different size enclosers the biggest is 5 gal and smallest is a pill bottle. I have 3 slings.
 

Vanessa

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Mar 12, 2016
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A product like Revolution is a very localized, and extremely effective, treatment that does not go far beyond the animal being treated. Anything that you are going to have to spray, or distribute in some manner, all over your home is going to be far more dangerous.
Get your dogs and cats some Revolution and move your tarantulas to a closet where they cannot come in contact with the animals being treated. Revolution is your best bet - it absorbs quickly into the animals skin and does not leave dangerous residue everywhere.
You will have to keep the tarantulas locked up until the treatment is over, though.
 
Last edited:

Vanessa

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Oh, and you must thoroughly wash your hands, and ideally change your clothes, before interacting at all with the tarantulas after you have been interacting with the dogs and cats.
 

Jarrod B

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Jul 19, 2016
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A product like Revolution is a very centralized, and extremely effective, treatment that does not go far beyond the animal being treated. Anything that you are going to have to spray, or distribute in some manner, all over your home is going to be far more dangerous.
Get your dogs and cats some Revolution and move your tarantulas to a closet where they cannot come in contact with the animals being treated. Revolution is your best bet - it absorbs quickly into the animals skin and does not leave dangerous residue everywhere.
You will have to keep the tarantulas locked up until the treatment is over, though.
How long should I keep them locked up? like a week or months? I just gave the cats a bath with dawn soap (boy was that fun lol) I will call our vet tomorrow and get the Revolution, and start the cleaning of the house, Thank you for the advice I hope this works.
 

Vanessa

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I have used Revolution on my animals while having tarantulas and nobody was harmed. I did lock them away, high up in a closet, until the treatment was finished.
If none of your animals go outside, the treatment is done one time and takes about three weeks to get rid of all the fleas in the house (egg hatchings included). However, your dog probably goes out all the time and will just be bringing fleas back in, so that will cause everyone to be treated every couple of weeks until fleas are no longer an issue - in my area that is usually beginning of October.
It isn't good enough to just treat the animals who go outside, because they are just going to bring fleas inside over and over. The fleas will jump onto the animals who are not treated.
None of my animals went outside, so I did one treatment and all the fleas were gone. You'll have to check with your vet how often the treatment has to be done. It was a long time ago and I don't remember all the details.
 

Jarrod B

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
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I have used Revolution on my animals while having tarantulas and nobody was harmed. I did lock them away, high up in a closet, until the treatment was finished.
If none of your animals go outside, the treatment is done one time and takes about three weeks to get rid of all the fleas in the house (egg hatchings included). However, your dog probably goes out all the time and will just be bringing fleas back in, so that will cause everyone to be treated every couple of weeks until fleas are no longer an issue - in my area that is usually beginning of October.
It isn't good enough to just treat the animals who go outside, because they are just going to bring fleas inside over and over. The fleas will jump onto the animals who are not treated.
None of my animals went outside, so I did one treatment and all the fleas were gone. You'll have to check with your vet how often the treatment has to be done. It was a long time ago and I don't remember all the details.
Thank You, I will ask the vet I hope its not too long I like to look at my tarantulas every day I have a Brachypelma Emilia in pre molt right now and would like to watch the molting process. :)
 

darkness975

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Here is my .02 cents:

If you do any form of flea treatment I would do one of two things:
1. Remove the Tarantulas from the home completely. They will not starve for a week or two.
2. If you cannot remove them, seal them off in a room that you do not access until after the treatment is over.

This might sound crazy over-paranoid, but better to be overly cautious than risking being too lax.

Again , my .02 cents.
 

Tim Benzedrine

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Oh, and you must thoroughly wash your hands, and ideally change your clothes, before interacting at all with the tarantulas after you have been interacting with the dogs and cats.
I think the washing of hands is the most important thing, though changing clothes is probably not a bad idea either. Not quite as practical, due to the numerous interactions one can have through the day with a dog or cat, though. And hand-washing is probably the easiest to forget to do. I've put a Seresto collar on my dog today, as I spotted a flea. I had been holding onto the collar until I actually saw a flea due to my reluctance to have any insecticides present in the house. but a heavy infestation in the home can be misery to deal with so it is best to prevent them from getting a foothold.
My dog is very low-profile and the enclosures are probably five feet above the floor. However, remembering to wash one's hands can be difficult when you have done something as casual as petting the dog. So, I've decided to print a sign and tape it up as a reminder to wash my hands before fooling around with the tarantula's enclosures for any reason, and also (maybe especially) when dealing with crickets or other feeders.

My main concern at the moment is more about the heat-wave that is currently stationed over the area. With no AC, it gets pretty toast in the room with the spiders.
 

magicmed

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Jun 4, 2016
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Fleas are not fun, I fight with them every year living near a dog park. What you need to do if you want to get rid of them fully is a process, here we go... (keep in mind, flea gestation period is I do believe 4-6 weeks, so basically keep treatment up for 2 months to get any new hatchers)

(Remove your T's while fogging, they want nothing to do with the nuclear warfare that starts this off)

1. Nuke the yard with some pesticide purchased from lowes, home depot, etc..make sure it says it kills fleas. Spray EVERYTHING. the grass, sidewalk, side of your house, fence, everywhere.

2. Fog the house to oblivion. Shut up all windows and set off about a fogger per room. You want full coverage.

3. Spray the floors with a floor spray once again from lowes or home Depot etc. Spray under everything,move furnature, get corners, baseboards, behind everything, closets, etc. (You need to keep this up every couple of days for the 2 months)

4. Bath every mammal in the house, use a flea shampoo, and if you can have your vet get you a product like capstar for control on the animals.

As said. remove the T's during sprayings, and repeat floor spraying every couple of days. Fleas are tough, a long gestation and dormant period makes these guys annoying
 

Starantula

Arachnopeon
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Dec 24, 2015
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Liquid treatments are best for this like Spot On our whatever your equivalent would be. Very effective against the fleas and no fear of any spray or powders getting around your Ts. But just make sure to wash your hands.
 

Trenor

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Jan 28, 2016
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Dogs and cats can't bring in fleas if they are outside. Just saying :D

Yes, I know... I'm that guy... :p
 

Garth Vader

Arachnobaron
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Jun 25, 2016
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If the fleas are pretty severe then there is also oral medication your pets can take. This is sometimes necessary if they have been irritating and chewing at the fleas- they then ingest the eggs. When my furry critters have had a bad outbreak, oral meds from the vet and Revolution did the trick. I agree with others- keep the Ts far away, wash hands, and if possible, have someone else administer the Revolution (someone who doesn't come into contact with the Ts).

Best of luck. Treating fleas is a miserable and yet necessary endeavor. I don't even want to know how much money we've spent on these treatments! We use Revolution regularly as a proactive measure in the summer, which I highly recommend.
 

8Legs8Eyes

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May 8, 2014
Messages
126
My spiders are kept away from the flea-treated cats in the house and I always wash my hands before doing any sort of spider maintenance or feeding. I have never had an issue.
 

Poec54

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Mar 26, 2013
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Yes, washing hands is a must, but also wear disposable gloves, which you should be doing anyways.
 
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