House being Flea-Bombed....

We are bombing the house for Fleas tomorrow with the little gas cans.

It says keep out for a minumal of 2 hours. What do I do with the snakes?

They arent safe in it are they?

Im bringing every one out in tubs and taking them to my aunt's for a few hours, but what should i do with the tanks? Will they be safe to put the snakes back in withous cleaning them of some sort after the bombing?

Thanks, Doug

I wouldn't risk it, as there may be a residue left over, and the snakes coming into contact with that wouldn't be safe.

If you can, just put the tanks/tubs in the front yard or garage until it's safe.

And if you have flea issues, many people(including veterinarians and techs alike) have had great luck with boric acid powder. You can sprinkle it across the threshholds, as well as on your carpet and vacuum it up. Also, generously sprinkle it around the perimeter of your yard as it will keep all sorts of pests and buggies away from your house(as sometimes in Texas and other southern states, the ticks are so bad they crawl up your outside walls in great multitudes).

Frontline for the animals works great too! Not for the snakes though, but it can be used for mite issues(off-label of course) :)

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Originally Posted by pslsnakes

We are bombing the house for Fleas tomorrow with the little gas cans.

It says keep out for a minumal of 2 hours. What do I do with the snakes?

They arent safe in it are they?

Im bringing every one out in tubs and taking them to my aunt's for a few hours, but what should i do with the tanks? Will they be safe to put the snakes back in withous cleaning them of some sort after the bombing?

Thanks, Doug

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No,i would place them upside down to try to minumize the exposure to the chemicals.Then cover them with a tarp or something or just take them all outside in the back yard.If you leave them in their i am not sure if you can get them clean enough to be safe for your snakes.Those chemicals in those bomba are wicked stuff.Good luck

I would definately take them out of the house. We bombed a few years ago, and we drove our snakes a few miles up the road to my friend's pet store. The rats, cat, etc. we put in pet carriers out on the deck.
Fish tanks are OK to leave (not sure about amphibians or betta fish; I would definately remove those too if you have any.) For fish you can just cover the tank w/ a heavy blanket.
I used Feline Advantage on our cat after that, and last year, and had no problems with fleas since. And I swear to you; I was getting eaten alive for a few weeks; I would wake up with a dozen new bites every morning, and they'd be on my white socks if I wore any to bed. And my boyfriend, sleeping right next to me, got NO bites.. but the fleas had been in the house a few weeks while it was empty, and were starving.

Thanks guys for the advice.

We bombed earlier today, and i just got the snakes and the tanks back up and running.

Im going to look into that boric acid stuff. Where can i find it?

I just went through a fumigation in my house (the furnace caught of fire), and they told me to take all animals out for 6 hours. Boy, was that the biggest pain in my arse ever, with 19 tubs (plus rat tubs and cats) and no place to keep them there for that long. We ended up putting them all in bags and all the tubs in my car (VERY tight fit) and driving to the b/f's house over night. Then they all went BACK into the tubs when we got them there, just to do the whole process over again in the morning. we got them home, just to find out that they actually DIDNT do the damn fumigation, and they were going to do it that day - sooooo, we did the WHOLE thing over AGAIN. Aye yi yi - i hope I never have to go through that again.

Don't know why I felt the need to share, guess I just felt like venting about it- lol. Glad you got everyone out and back again safely!!

NOT SAFE FOR ANYTHING!! Thats why they uise it for bugs!! Turn the tanks upside down with a blanket over them. Hope it helps!!

Better yet; don't bomb at all. That residual crud is -nasty-.

Flea control cannot be achieved with anything less than a multi-faceted approach.

1. All dogs and cats need to be on Frontline, Advantage, or Revolution (Rx only) for a minimum of 3 months, but even better is year round. The flea's life cycle allows them to lie dormant, and it can be as much as 3 months from the time an egg is laid to when the adult flea emerges and goes looking for its first blood meal. Do -not- use Hartz, Biospot, Zodiac, or any of that knock-off supermarket crud. It won't work, and it will probably kill your cats.

2. Buy a cheap flea collar and put it in your vacuum bag, and vacuum everywhere meticulously. Get down in the couch cushions, the pet beds, etc. Then seal the vacuum bag with tape and take it immediately to an outside trashcan. Flea eggs are tiny and very round and smooth, and disappear into cracks and crevices. The larvae hatch out and feed on dander, blood droppings from adult fleas, and whatever other animal tissues they find in the carpet fibers.

3. Get a -good- area spray and use it as directed. I like Siphotrol...costs about $30, but it only takes a light misting; covers 2,000 square feet and is effective for about 9 months.

Forget the bombs...they don't work and they just expose you and your pets to nasty chemicals.

Excellent information, slartibartfast...although could have been better without the cursing thrown in. ;)


But I totally agree with what you're saying. When I was a kid, we had a flea problem (this was WAY before the days of Frontline and those other excellent flea remedies). And we were getting ready to go on an extended family vacation. The pets were boarded and the house thoroughly "bombed" on the day we left. Seemed like a perfect solution because we weren't going to be back for a few weeks and all the poison would be dissipated by the time we got back.

Well....our first night home after being away for so long....we slept in the camper!! Because the fleas in the house were unreal...unbelievably dense! It was quite sickening. The next day we had professional exterminators and cleaners out to the house to get rid of them once and for all. The "bombs" didn't do a thing.

I'm a vet tech at a dog and cat day practice...I field questions on flea problems alllllll day long. :-P

Cursing fixed, ma'm.