By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: We have rats living outside our flat, now we've found a few fleas on our bed. Should I be worried?
I'm cleaning & washing like crazy, but if we have fleas in the house might we catch something nasty from the rats outside? I have no idea how they're getting in, our flat was empty for a while, we just moved in. So we have boxes of stuff everywhere, perfect hiding places for fleas. I'm really frightened in case the fleas make us ill. Advice please, I'm freaking out!
12 years 11 weeks ago in Health & Safety - Shanghai
You are going to run into rats and bugs everywhere in China, there really is no getting away from them. But, the higher you live up in a building, the better it is. I normally will only look at apartments on the 10th floor and up.
Fleas can hide anywhere and are difficult to get rid of. The best thing you can do is get some bug bombs and set them off in your apartment. That will at least keep them away for a while and will kill the ones that are there. Just make sure you get a bug bomb that kills the fleas and their eggs.
Hey, i've got cockroaches living inside my balls. Actually inside my balls! Quit whining sister, things are tough all over.
Xpat.John:
You really have a way of welcoming people here and making them feel comfortable, don't you?
of corurse rats carry all kinds of disases and the flea can transmit it get out asap check and see if their fleas or mosquitos good luck
-Fleas are only a serious problem if the host is living in your apartment. (Cats, Dogs, or rodents) Humans can be bitten by fleas, but rarely carry fleas (body lice, typhus is another issue)
-Honestly, if your apartment has fleas, throw out ALL bedding, including the frames, bomb the bedroom, and get new stuff. It's worth the money. Or wash the frame in kerosine.
-DON'T DO THE ABOVE IF YOU SMOKE!
do they have pest control in China?
Beside washing your bedding there must be some DIY insecticides you can buy and spray your house
Bug bombs are ok but dont always kill every thing and if you do use them
turn off all electrical appliances including the fridge
when you come back into the house open all windows to vent the gas before turning everything back on
let us know how you get on and good luck
The fleas are inside and the rats are outside. That is how it starts. Soon, the flies will enter and the cockroaches won't be far behind.
Run. Don't look back. And what ever you do, don't wear green. For all that is holy, don't wear green. That is how they know. That is the flag they rally around.
When the storm comes, it will be the people wearing green that first get rounded up by our arachnid overlords. They will take them to the breeding centers where they will be served as nutrients to the great egg sacks.
THAT is when the clowns will laugh. Oh, how they will laugh. With their tiny little cars, big shoes and cream pies. And on that day all the world will know the power of cactus. And purple birds will sing Bieber covers while puking diamonds in the shape of carrots.
Pills. Have you seen my pills? It is time for the pill people......
giadrosich:
Very creative. That would actually make a good story, John! Kinda along the lines of a Tim Burton production in a movie...
Xpat.John:
haha. I was just bored and made it up as I typed it. But I appreciate the compliment. Tim Burton is a creative genius in my opinion. I absolutely love most of his work.
There is hardly any reliable pest control in China, and even if some companies advertise that they can fumigate your apartment, I tried a couple when I first arrived and they do not do a good ,complete job. so, I have been buying cans of bug spray (3 or 4 per month) and with apartment closed I spray along baseboards, kitchen cabinets, bathrooms, etc., and leave apartment for at least 8 hours. When I return, I open every window to air apartment.
At the beginning I had a roach problem, coming from Chinese toilet mainly. I have managed to eliminate it. I still see maybe one roach every three or four weeks, if I do I will spray again. If do not stay on top of it, bugs will take over your place.
Lots of great advice here. However, in the mean time, have you ever thought about opening up a Flea Circus? Jk. Hope you solve the problem soon. 
Pesticides will eventually fail over time as the fleas/bugs become immune. I would not want to be around pesticides 24/7. You could use pesticide and stay out for a day or two. Then clean/vacuum regularly. You can make flea trap, get an shallow aluminum pan, filled with lots oif liguid soap and water, place a desk lamp over the tray. the fleas will be attracted to the heat and light. The soap coats the fleas so they don't just float on the water.
I have never seen so many rats as I did in China. China needs bigger cats and more of them. In the Dark Ages the witch hunts and killing cats started the plague. I'd bring over some Maine Coon cats but they have more meat on them than I ever ate in China and really nice fur. If everyone in China swears off eating cats and the government would allow me to bring them, I would. Start a petition for me, import Teds cats....; and his dog too.
urbanina:
I used to live in Kangqiao in Pudong, where there was a rat problem... so they introduced ***SIBERIAN WEASELS*** they are great, sorted out the problem naturally and looked cute, too. The mangy cats didn't get a look in. I vote more weasels.
robinhood:
What do they do about the fleas on the Weasels? Don't they cause pneumonic plague?
Thanks, everyone for your answers. Although we did consider opening a flea circus, in the end, we moved out. Because we realised that the rat problem outside was fairly established, so it would be no use putting traps/poison down unless everyone on the street did too - let's face it, we live in a city. As long as there are rats outside, we would also have a problem with fleas, even after de-bugging the flat. So,we threw out all our bedding and washed all our clothes. We stopped reading wikipedia 'bubonic plague' and started reading smartshanghai housing section instead...
Get a cat.
Rats hate the smell of cats...
Make sure your cat does not have fleas....lol
