can you get fleas without owning pets?

Hello, I found flea eggs (i think) and 2 live fleas in my bed.  (i do not own a pet). I managed to freak out and clean every inch of my place, call an exterminator, etc.  However, when I was cleaning, I only saw about 3 more very small fleas.  I found an adult dead one upstairs on a couch.  I dont see them and cannot tell the difference between dead fleas, eggs, and just specks of dirt? (I see a lot of specks of dirt looking things) How can I tell the difference? Will I know when it is a flea/larvae/pupae/egg? No one else in my family believes me because they dont see them but are they just hiding??

If you read our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn the cycle of the flea and that it’s entirely possible to get a flea infestation without being a pet owner. Basically all you need is one flea and your house or yard can become infested. There are many animals that carry fleas besides the common pets which are mostly to blame for any local infestation. Additionally, the current weather pattern most of our country is experiencing only serves to heighten the chances that such an infestation can occur.

Still, I’m not quite sure you have fleas. Here’s why. First, seeing flea eggs is just about impossible. To the trained eye they’re quite hard to id; to the average home owner impossible. Second, fleas are very easy to id to the naked eye and not difficult to tell apart from specks of dirt. Lastly, if you did indeed have fleas but no pet that resides in the house, all you would need to do is walk around with bare legs or feet with white socks on. If in fact there were fleas in the home, anyone there would find them landing on their socks or legs. Fleas need food and if there is no host animal in the home on which they can feed, any fleas present will readily attack the people in the home.

At this point if you feel you are unsure or would like to take a proactive approach and do something, I suggest setting out some FLEA TRAPS to start. These do a great job of collecting a wide range of “people seeking pests” and if anything in the home is looking for a blood meal, the traps will surely catch some. This could lead to information that you could then use to solve the problem with the proper treatment the first time around. If after monitoring the problem for some time you still believe there is something living in the carpet or on the floors and would like to spray something, the FLEA TERMINATOR GRANULES would be ideally suited for any carpeting in the home. It’s odorless and very safe yet highly effective lasting upwards of a year. For hardwoods or tiled floors, the PRECOR 2000 would be a good way to treat. It’s a dry aerosol that can be misted over the area. It’s just about odorless, easy to apply and treatments will last many months.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article:  www.flea.net/flea-control

Flea Traps:  www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page22.html

Flea Terminator:  www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page23.html

Precor 2000:  www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page246.html