HCA: Hermit Crab Association

i hate this time of year! i live in south jersey and the fleas get soooo bad!i gave my dog a bath at like 1 am this morning cuz he was covered with fleas and he's got just as much back already!last year i couldn't find anything that worked!my problem is i have to be careful about what i spray or put on my carpet and dog cuz i have a 17 month old who is all over the dog(they are best friends) and i don't want anything to make her sick, also my hermit tank is in my living room and i also have a pet rat, and they are sensitive too.does anyone know of anything natural that i could use?i tried apple cidar vinager and baking soda last year...didn't work! i am gunna buy some skin so soft when it is time to put my avon orders in but that won't come in until next thursday!i know where they are comming from...our back yard is all sand and i live in a trailer park and it seems that every cat in the park likes to hang out in my back yard...so when my dog goes outside the fleas jump on him! it has been really rainy here lately too!i feel so bad for my poor junior(dog) cuz he is allergic to fleas and last year he lost all his hair on his back side cuz of it...i took him to the vet and that was no help!

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/animal/animal.phpTry that. I know that the flea collar that has the spray uses lemon grass and I have heard of that being an effective flea deterrent. The spray that has the cedar might work too.

i live in North Jersey Kat, but i know how bad the flea's are this year in Jersey!!..i use Frontline on my dog for two years now and have never had a problem!...This might sound crazy, but when we were kids my Dad always gave our dog cloves of fresh garlic...he would mix it up with his dog food...Maybe that might help??

I have a lot of sand around my yard, too and cats that like to come into the yard and torture my cat through the windows or sit on my roof, grrr. Mine is an indoor cat, but where I live, you don't even have to own an animal to pick up fleas on clothing and carry them inside. I had dogs when my kids were born and had the same concerns about treating the house and my Lab was especially sensitive to fleas. I'm sorry, I don't know the name of the product, but there is a great one used by exterminators that is organic and harmless to people and animals (you'd have to protect your hermies though). If you make a few calls, you may be able to find it. If I'm not mistaking, Sears began using it at some point, too. Also, it is guaranteed for a year as long as you don't shampoo the carpets. I kept the carpets as clean as I could and got twice the time out of the product and more. It isn't a quick fix, it takes time depending on how severe the problem, but I didn't have to treat the dogs at all.Also, I've used Borax on the carpet and around the parameter of the house, especially near the doors. It actually seemed to help. I used to wait until the kids were down for a nap or in the evening when they were in bed, poor it on the carpet, let it sit for as long as I could and then vacuum it. The reason to leave it sit is because it takes time to work, by drying them out. If you have some kind of implement you can use to push it into the fibers of the carpet, even better, then just lightly vacuum the surface. I'd suggest wearing something over your face if you try it just so your not breathing in the dust, cover the hermie tank well or move it to another room and open some windows. It helps also to poor it close to the carpet rather than from a standing position. If it's bad, you'd probably have more success using this in combination with something else, but I believe it helps.

garlic pills they work at a vitamin store i know it sounds strange but it really works my aunt told me this a long time ago and i have not had a problem in a long time evan with cats

I have heard that both Frontline and Advantage are quite safe when dry and won't rub off on anything. They were recommended in an organic(!) magazine I read....they said using them would be safer and more effective then dumping a bunch of "natural" pesticides all over your house. You'd just have to keep the dog separate when the solution was still wet. When I had a rat, the vet told me to put a drop of cat Advantage on her, it worked great and she was fine, so I don't think it would hurt the rattie. Of course, you wouldn't want to buy a whole thing of Advantage for just the rat if you don't have any cats. Also, I use Frontline for my 5 cats, 2 dogs, and 2 ferrets, and no harm has come to any of them or the hermies, either. Although there's always a slight health risk when using any insecticide, I feel that the risk of tapeworms from the flea is worse (oooh...ugh, ugh, ugh...I hate tapeworms). Just don't use the supermarket brands, they're not nearly as safe.

my sister used some kind of over the counter flea spray on her cat years ago and the cat ended up having seizures!!...she had to rush him to the vet and he ended up being o.k....but it was very scary!!I swear by Frontline...its been great for my dog and cat...my cat is a indoor cat, but since the dog goes outside, you never know what she could be bringing in with her...so we give it to the cat as a precaution...

The active ingredient of Borax is Boric Acid which you can buy by itsself. It works by dehydrading the insects and clogging their breathing spicules. It's safe enough to use in food prep areas, and with a moderate amount of care shouldn't hurt your crabs or little one. Apply it like you would a powder carpet cleaner, maybe even a bit heavily if the flea problem is really bad, wait 30 minutes or so, then vacuum. I'd repeat the treatment every couple of weeks or so to keep new fleas down, since they lay their eggs in the carpet.

my grandmother used to use Boric Acid all along the perimeter (sp?) of her apartment (she lived in NYC) to keep the bugs out...

dont' *ever* use any OTC flea or tick oils. the collars are ok, but they don't really work. I'm working on my 8th year at my local animal hospital, and *the* best thing to use is frontline. it may be a bit expensive, but trust me... it's worth the money!!

quote:Originally posted by buddafly:dont' *ever* use any OTC flea or tick oils. the collars are ok, but they don't really work. I'm working on my 8th year at my local animal hospital, and *the* best thing to use is frontline. it may be a bit expensive, but trust me... it's worth the money!! I agree completely....I just saw in the paper today that Hartz is voluntarily discontinuing their OTC flea and tick spot-ons because of problems, including deaths(!). Well, I'm glad they have the sense to discontinue it, instead of stubbornly insisting it's safe, as most companies do in the face of "anecdotal" evidence. So only use the stuff you get from the vet.