How long can fleas go without host blood or food?
The flea can go quite a long time without food if there is no food source nearby. In this case, the parasite easily tolerates starvation for 30-40 days.
During forced starvation, the flea doesn’t even fall into anabiosis, but only reduces its activity and stops reproducing. And some scientific data allow us to state that fleas can do without food for several months! This begs the question, what helps a flea to tolerate the absence of food so easily? It turns out that this insect is similar to a camel and other inhabitants of deserts and other areas with scarce food. Like them, the flea is able to store up food and accumulate strategic stores of food in its body, which it uses in difficult times.
The sucking period can last from 1 minute to several hours. Many fleas hoard it in case of a long absence of a host. This is why fleas can go without food for several months. But if there is a host nearby, they don’t miss an opportunity to replenish their supply.
Some rodents and lizards store their food in the tail part of the body. The flea uses its abdomen as a blood storage tank.
If you find fleas on your pet, you should not only worry about treating the pet, but also treating the entire apartment against fleas, as these creatures can settle in the elements of furniture and interior.
