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Will Fleas Go Away on Their Own?

by Richard

The short answer to this question is no. If you discover your pets and your home have fleas then you need to start treatment straight away. It involves using powder to kill the fleas and their eggs, vacuuming daily, and treating pets to eliminate the fleas.

However, they can be difficult to fully eliminate which is why it may be best to contact your local reputable pest control company and let them handle the issue.

The Life Cycle Of A Flea

Fleas go through four stages in their life cycle:

As an Egg

This is how life starts for a flea. The adult female lays the eggs after consuming blood. The blood is usually from your dog or cat but fleas can also bite humans. Blood gives the eggs the proteins and nutrients they need to start life.

Eggs look like white grains of sand. Although they are laid on your pet they are likely to fall off. This allows them to sink into the depths of your carpets. It helps increase the survival rate for fleas as they are dispersed over a large area.

They will hatch at any time between 2 days and 2 weeks when the area is warm and humid.

Larvae

When the flea first emerges from the egg it is blind and they will avoid light. They survive for several weeks eating pre-digested blood which is left by adult fleas in their environment.

At this stage, they are ¼ inch long and semi-transparent without any legs. At some point during the first three weeks of their life, they will spin cocoons.

Pupae

The larvae are now encased in a pupae and will stay in this for several days or even weeks. Again, the climate needs to be right for them to emerge. It is even possible for them to stay in a cocoon for years until the temperature is right.

The cocoon is sticky, ensuring they stay attached to the carpet even when you vacuum lightly. During this stage, they are also protected from chemical attacks.

Adults

The adult fleas will be born and will quickly look for a host to feed on. As soon as they have fed they will lay their first lot of eggs. They will repeat this process several times in their life, which ranges from 2 weeks to several months.

Why Leaving Them Doesn’t Eliminate Them

Fleas are geared toward survival. That’s why the next eggs are laid almost as soon as the adult flea emerges. Unfortunately, that means you can’t simply wait them out. They will keep producing more fleas and these will continue hatching and completing the cycle as long as your home is warm enough. It’s possible to turn the heat down and stop them hatching but they will simply wait until you turn it back up or the heat rises naturally.

In short, deep vacuuming helps but the most effective way to eliminate all the fleas is by undertaking repetitive treatments from a professional.

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