How Do You Know If You Have Fleas in Greenwich?

Test One: the White Sock Test

The simplest diagnostic on this whole site, and it costs nothing.

1. Put on a pair of white or very pale socks, pulled up over the ankle.
2. Walk slowly around the rooms you suspect - particularly where a pet sleeps, and along the edges of the room rather than the middle.
3. Do it for a few minutes, then stop and look at the socks.

Adult fleas respond to warmth, vibration and carbon dioxide, and they jump towards a passing host. Against pale fabric they are easy to see - small, dark, and moving. If there is an active population in that room, this usually finds it.

It is also useful in reverse. Walking several rooms and finding nothing is a reasonable indication that whatever is biting is not fleas, and worth knowing before you spend anything.

Test Two: the Damp Tissue Test

This one confirms flea dirt, which is the most reliable evidence there is - more reliable than seeing an adult, because it stays put.

1. Comb the pet over a sheet of white paper, or take a sample of the dark specks from its bedding or from the carpet where it sleeps.
2. Put the specks onto a piece of damp white tissue or kitchen roll.
3. Wait a moment and look.

Flea dirt is digested blood. On damp tissue it dissolves outward into a reddish-brown halo. Ordinary dirt and grit do not - they stay black and stay put. That colour change is a positive result and it is unambiguous.

The Bites

Useful as a prompt, poor as proof - but the location does say something.

Flea bites concentrate around the ankles and lower legs, because fleas reach you from the floor. Small, intensely itchy, and often several close together. That distribution is genuinely different from bed bug bites, which tend to be on skin that was uncovered in bed.

As with any bite, reactions vary between people, so one person in a household covered and another untouched proves nothing either way.

The Other Signs

1. A pet scratching more than usual, particularly at the base of the tail and along the back.
2. Flea dirt in the coat, found by combing over white paper - see the tissue test above.
3. Small dark insects that jump. On the pet, on light flooring, or on socks and trouser legs. Fleas jump; nothing else in this category does.
4. Bites in a property with no pet at all. Common after moving into a home where the previous occupants had animals, and it surprises people every time.
5. Pale specks in the pet's bedding. Eggs, though they are small and hard to be sure about without magnification.

What Else Bites Like That

• Bed bugs. Bites on skin uncovered in bed rather than around the ankles, and the evidence is in the mattress seams rather than on the floor.
• Mosquitoes and midges. Seasonal, usually a single bite at a time, and typically on exposed skin anywhere.
• A skin reaction. New washing powder, a fabric change, a medication, heat rash, or an existing skin condition flaring. More common than people expect, and it produces marks that look convincingly like bites.
• Carpet beetle larval hairs. Some people react to contact with them. The insect does not bite, but the reaction can be mistaken for bites.

Where to Test, in Order

1. Wherever the pet sleeps - its bed, the sofa, the foot of your bed.
2. The edges of that room, and under the furniture rather than the middle of the floor.
3. Any room the pet spends time in, in descending order.
4. The car, if the animal travels in it.
5. A shed, garage or utility room the animal uses.
6. If there is no pet: the rooms with carpet, and anywhere an animal might have access underneath - a suspended floor, a decked area, an outbuilding.

Fleas With No Pet in the House

It happens regularly and it has two usual explanations.

The first is a previous occupant's animal. Flea pupae sit dormant in a protective cocoon and emerge in response to warmth and the vibration of somebody walking past. An empty property provides neither, so they wait - and a new tenant moving in supplies exactly the trigger. Bites within days of moving in are the classic version of this.

The second is wildlife with access to a subfloor, a shed, a garage or the space under a decked area. No household pet required.

If either applies, say so at the enquiry - it tells us which rooms to prioritise, and it is usually a smaller job than people fear.

When to Call

• A positive result on either test.
• Bites around the ankles continuing for more than a few days.
• A pet being treated by the vet with the biting continuing anyway - that is the property rather than the animal.
• Bites starting within days of moving into a new property.

If You Have Just Moved In

Bites within days of moving into a new home is one of the most common flea enquiries we take, and it is almost always the same story.

Flea pupae sit dormant in a protective cocoon and emerge in response to warmth and the vibration of somebody walking past. An empty property provides neither, so they wait - through the void period, through the viewings, through the cleaning. The new occupants walking about supply exactly the trigger, all at once.

What that means practically:

• It is not something you brought with you, and it says nothing about the property's condition.
• It is usually a smaller job than it feels - typically the rooms with carpet where an animal spent its time.
• Say it is a new tenancy or a recent purchase at the enquiry. It tells us which rooms to prioritise and it frequently reduces the room count.
• Do the white sock test before assuming - it takes five minutes and it either confirms it or points you somewhere else.