Flea Control - Which Is Best?

[weco]

As many of you know, from my various replies/postings, that I am not a believer of manufacturer's/vendor's sales pitches about what a particular item will or will not do, especially when those sales pitches/information/data do not offer any independent studies and/or other verifiable data to support these various sales pitches and I generally hold anecdotal stories similarly when presented with no further information/data that can be otherwise confirmed/verified.

Well, I have always had questions about fleas and diatomaceous earth or diatomaceous earth and fleas, actually, my problem has been with not fully understanding how microscopic diatom skeletons can successfully eradicate a flea infestation so I have been looking for a better understanding for myself and though I have yet to find exactly what I have been looking for, I have found a veterinarian's explanation of diatomaceous earth at Diatomaceous Earth (DE) for Flea Control and I found an article published by a professor from Texas A & M University Safer Flea Control | Insects in the City that offers the best explanation of how best to address a flea problem. It doesn't offer an instant solution, but does explain how the problem should be addressed.....

Good luck on your war with fleas.....

 

[Tosca]

Do birds get fleas? Yesterday a pet shop groomer told me they did. I alway thought they did not.

 

[weco]

Do birds get fleas? Yesterday a pet shop groomer told me they did. I alway thought they did not.

Normally, fleas don't bother our feathered friends, apparently their blood is not a favorite snack/meal for our friendly dog & cat fleas, but there are a couple of flea varieties that have less discerning tastes; the Ceratophyllus gallinae or European chicken flea and the Dasypsyllus gallinulae, a larger South American flea, both of which are now considered global travelers/residents.....

Given that there are thousands of flea species, there may well be considerably more types of fleas that might enjoy feeding from our furry and feathered friends, as well as ourselves.....

There a couple of other reasons we don't see more flea problems in our companion flocks, first, parrots usually don't hang out on floors & furniture cushions, where our furry, four legged pets do and though fleas are good jumpers, they can only jump about 7"-8" vertically and around 18" horizontally; but where you have several dogs, cats & other furry pets that are great flea magnets/breeding grounds and allow your feathered friends to interact directly with your furry pets, yes, there is a chance you will expose your bird(s) to fleas.....