Nashville, Murfreesboro, Knoxville and Chattanooga TN
According to a recent survey of pest control professionals, 70% of those who responded indicated they received more calls about flea activity in 2025 than they did the prior year. Warm and humid weather can make flea problems more prevalent. You face a higher risk of dealing with an infestation if you are a pet owner. Regardless of the weather or if you have pets, you need to take proactive measures to prevent a flea infestation. Your Nashville pest professionals dig into this topic, today on the blog.
Trust us, you want to avoid a flea infestation
A single flea infiltrating your home quickly can become a full-blown infestation. Here’s what happens …
A female flea can lay 25 eggs, or more, in a single day. Once the eggs hatch, those flea larvae enter the pupae stage, when larvae go into cocoons and develop into adults. Pupae may remain in the cocoons for weeks, but can emerge more quickly if they sense a warm-blooded host, either due to heat or movement. If these flea pupae are already in your home, they’re going to sense a host more quickly. The pupae leave their cocoons, attach to a host, feed on their blood and then mate. Any female adults lay another round of eggs, and the entire cycle starts anew, quickly exploding the population of fleas in your home.
Then there are the health concerns associated with an infestation:
- Flea bites: If you’re dealing with flea bites, you will know it. These bites form painful, itchy red welts. On humans, these bites occur most often on the ankles and lower legs. If you have pets, flea bites are found most often on their neck, tail, ears, stomach or lower back. The more fleas that have found their way into your home, the more bites you or your pets will experience.
- Diseases: Fleas are carriers of diseases that can affect humans as well as animals. These ailments include murine typhus and tapeworms. Fleas have even been known to carry the plague.
When can flea infestations occur?
There’s a misconception that fleas only pose a problem during the summertime. False! Flea infestations can happen in all seasons and all types of weather, including the dead of winter.
How you can prevent fleas
If you have pets, be sure to use a preventive treatment and administer each follow-up treatment when scheduled. There are over-the-counter options but you probably will have greater success repelling fleas by using something prescribed by your veterinarian. You also should have your pet groomed on a regular schedule. Lastly, clean the bedding for you and your dog in hot water and make sure to vacuum regularly, especially in your pet’s favorite spots to rest.
Flea infestations happen more frequently than you might think: at home, in businesses, even in schools. Take what happened back in August, when Berclair Elementary School reported a flea infestation in one of the three buildings on its campus. Today on the blog, check out our guide to flea prevention.
Flea prevention is important, whether you do or do not have pets
Fleas are most associated with pets like dogs and cats. These tiny insects tag along on their fur and survive by biting their host and feeding on the blood. Fleas don’t just enter homes on pets, though. They can enter through windows, doors, or even infinitesimally small cracks.
Pest control for fleas in Nashville, Tennessee
There are plenty of do-it-yourself measures out there to prevent fleas, but there is no true substitute for the professional treatments, training and expertise of the technicians on staff at Ameri Care Services. To find out more about our program of flea control or any of the other services we offer, call (615) 893-7111 or contact us online.