Shovelhead

My two pups spent last week with the daughters dogs while I was at Casa Del Shovelhead.

Didn't notice until the next day after getting them home that they brought 'souviners' of their stay home with them.
Been battling those pesky things all week.
Bombed the basement, sprayed the dogs with Zodiac flea killer.
Vacuum two times a day with my BIG shop vac.
Couldn't go downstairs without having three or four pop on me.

Talked to someone who asked if it was a tile floor.... it is.
Those buggers hide in the cracks of the tile to avoid the bug sprays.
He told me to vacuum REAL good first, then get a container of salt, and a box of Borax laundry stuff.
Mix 'em 1/2 and 1/2 in a blender or food processor until it becomes a fine powder, almost like talc.
Spread it on the floor and work it into the cracks.
Let it set for 24 hours and then vacuum the floor.

I thought, why not? I've tried everything else.

It WORKS!!!

As soon as I spread the powder on the floor,... dying fleas were popping out of cracks all over the floor...........
I worked the powder into the cracks with the bottom of my shoe and the edges of the baseboard with a broom.

Not seeing any more fleas.
Dogs are in the garage for the night.

I've got a REAL good feeling about this one.

irocpractice

Hey Ed,you might not want to call your insurance agent on this one,you don't want then to total your home.

Shovelhead

I was trying to figure out how to use the pressure washer to clean the floor......or the dogs.

Of course, the daughter has now washed all her dogs and flea bombed their shed............

BTW, the ID10T neighbor now has traded his wrecked Accura for a 6 series BMW.

NJTman

FWIW,

Fleas will not leave their hose that quickly. It's possible you had them before. Their life cycle doesn't work that fast.

We used to have a flea problem, but switched to a monthly (actually we use it every 3 months) of frontline plus. I get it from Amazon.

Where I live, fleas aren't the problem... Ticks are. My one dog has lymes disease, and she's been treated for it many times. She's recovered, but we have to keep an eye on her health.


Borax is an excellent bug killer, and it's really not bad for the environment.

Totallyrad

One thing I've seen work is a large pan, like a cake pan, and a night light. Fill the pan half way with water, add a couple tablespoons of dish washing detergent and place it under the light. The fleas are attracted to the warmth of the light and fall into the pan. The dish washing detergent reduces the water tension and keeps the fleas from jumping back out. If you've really got them with the powder you won't see anything in the water.

Spooler

Just did the Borax thing myself last Sunday, washed all the dogs, and did Advantage drops to the dogs. Didn't do the salt. It says to do it once a week until no pesky varmits are found.

Blake Clark

I have heard that diatomic earth works really well in such situations.

Shovelhead

The borax shreads their exoskeleton and dries them out.
The added salt just dries them out quicker.

Fronty Owner

we go thru flea cycles.
there are some monthly pills for the dogs that works pretty good. I may try the salt / borax on my yard next spring. Take care of a couple problems....

Totallyrad

I wonder how it would work on ants?

high bid

Maybe I can eradicate the neighbors dog w/it!

Bark

Now I feel itchy.

6cylinders

It works great on ants and cockroaches.

Jim Lane

Imagine fleas smart enough to hide in the cracks, bet they are trained like Navy SEALS.

It sounds so simple that it has to work, I have seen houses where the kids bedroom wall is black with fleas where the dog sleeps with the kids.

I will have to get out my ultrasonic detector and see what a million fleas coughing and screaming in pain and then go silent sounds like.

Will it work on parrots?

NJTman

Did you get permission ?


Itchy doesn't like it when I touch him.....


Stupid dog !