One of the newest weapons in the war against fleas is the flea trap. There are a variety of companies that make a flea trap and they all have pros and cons.
How Flea Traps Work
The basic concept behind these devices is to attract to fleas into a container where they are then trapped by a pad that is covered with adhesive. Some of these devices work solely on the principle of attracting the fleas to the heat given off by a night light size light bulb. Others work by emitting light at a frequency that attracts fleas using a green light spectrum bulb and a white night light style bulb. Both of these types of flea trap attract fleas and then cause them to be trapped on an adhesive pad. The fleas that are trapped on the adhesive pad die because they are kept from their food source (you and your pets).
Arguments in Favor of Flea Traps
Most of these traps are very small and can be plugged in in out of the way places so they aren’t visible. They also use no poisons, so they can be used in rooms where you r pets and children play without worries. They are well built and carry full one year warranties. Price-wise, these flea traps are very affordable, with prices in the ten to twenty dollar range being standard. Once the adhesive pad has trapped a sufficient number of fleas, instead of throwing the trap away, like you would with the Roach Motel of yesteryear, you just peel out the old adhesive pad and stick in a new one. There are even a couple of versions of flea trap that can be powered by two AA batteries or by a six volt power supply.
Why You May Not Want to Use Flea Traps
These flea traps aren’t normally sold in pet supply stores or at your local vet yet. Normally, you will have to find these on websites such as Amazon or the website of the company that makes it. Most of these flea traps will only come with two or three adhesive pads. This means that you will have to order extra pads when you buy your flea trap. One trap won’t be able to remove fleas from a whole house. Each room that your pets frequent will need at least one trap in it and some larger rooms may need a minimum of two. Flea traps must be combined with other methods of flea control, such as medications, shampoos and diet change. These two factors will add significantly to the overall cost of using flea traps.
To increase the effectiveness of flea traps, fleas must first be driven off of their food sources. Once this is accomplished, these flea traps have been shown to be extremely effective in ridding your house of fleas. Adding garlic to your pet’s food is a great way to healthfully make their food source non-palatable to them without using medications or shampoos.