saw a tip in MotorHome magazine a few days ago about using a flea collar in the water heater bay to repel pests. has anyone tried this? does it work? what sort of pests...spiders, bugs, wasps, bees, mice???found evidence of mice in our MH today (first time in 33-yrs fir us) and in the process of cleaning up and disinfecting. not much damage...nest was very small. gonna place a few traps and d-conn bait boxes but going forward would like to repel them.

Repell with D-conn and steel wool.

D Con will draw them as it is food to them. It will kill them seeking water or drinking it.If there is water nearby that may be where you find them dead.Looking at your coach in your profile, I can't tell but your water heater is up on the side of the coach, isn't it. If they are getting to it there you have a hole on the bottom somewhere Really strong lights in the closet and elsewhere with you on the other side may help you find that hole and others. The expanding foam, in there flavors, large expansion small expansion etc squired into that or those holes and they won't come back in that way. They'll chew new ones if they can.Copper Sulfate, if you can find it will stop rot, bugs and just about anything else. it smells like army tents or supply rooms used to. It is green an can be painted on. Maybe it can be sprayed on too. Might take some effort to get it everywhere. Maybe start feeding your cat a bit less and under the MH if it is a mouser.

no cat. looking for point of entry, too. two different issues, though. the mice and whether a flea collar can really repel other pests as the tip stated. apologies for my poorly worded post. i doubt the mice found their way in via the water heater...evidence was in a closet drawer and under kitchen sink...mostly in the closet drawer.

Bait only as a absolute last resort, trapping would be better, this way you KNOW where they are, baits, not so much.. Baits, they take the bait with them and tend to die in places which you will never be able to get to them..Have my doubts, folks have tried drier sheets, mice love to use them to make nests for some folks.Folks have used moth balls, pew, terrible odor to clear in the spring but yet mice still take residence for some folks, folks have tried ultrasonic devices, essential oils, smelly soap and on and on but yet mice still leave little presents for some folks..Yet there are folks who swear by all of these remedies because they have never seen evidence otherwise and others have still had issues with mice despite using all of these remedies..BEST way is to PREVENT them from finding a way in.This does require a lot of detective work on your part, typically they will come in where ever there is any opening from the outside to the inside that they can squeeze through.It is shocking just how small of an opening they can get through.. I have seen claims from a dime size down to the diameter of a pencil..So, find the holes where wiring, plumbing and heater ductwork go through the floor to the outside or basement and seal the gaps with something they can't chew through (eliminates GreatStuff spray can foam alone, they can and will chew through it so you were warned!).They CAN and will chew through wood, plastics and soft thin metals like aluminum, copper. Steel will stop them but that is not friendly with electrical wiring or plumbing without lining it with some plastic grommet around the wiring or plumbing.

Do Flea Collars Really Repel Pests? | Good Sam Community

MrWizard
Moderator
Oct 09, 2019
If flea collars repelled pests

I would wear one just to keep the beggars and Politicals away

When I go to the grocery. :B
samsontdog
Explorer
Oct 09, 2019
I had mice in my TT this past June. I found out they were coming in by crawling along my elect cord as I was plugged into my elect box. I used poison bait and was lucky they died inside the TT
Admin
Moderator
Oct 09, 2019
samsontdog wrote:
I had mice in my TT this past June. I found out they were coming in by crawling along my elect cord as I was plugged into my elect box. I used poison bait and was lucky they died inside the TT

:E

Admin
AJR
Explorer
Oct 09, 2019
I had a spider build a web in the mixing tube close to the LP jet in the water heater overnight back in 2006.

I have placed used pieces of flea & tick collar in the hot water & furnace bays ever since and have never had a spider issue again.
jrs1871
Explorer
Oct 09, 2019
I don't know about flea collars repelling bugs, spiders, etc. But no pest strips work quite well. We keep them in our basement storage area all the time. You can get the Home Defense brand but we use a generic that works just as well. You just have to look for it in the animal meds/treatments section instead of the lawn and garden section. At least that is where we find it at our local farm store.
drsteve
Explorer
Oct 09, 2019
samsontdog wrote:
I had mice in my TT this past June. I found out they were coming in by crawling along my elect cord as I was plugged into my elect box. I used poison bait and was lucky they died inside the TT

That's why newer TTs have eliminated the "mouse hole" by going with removable shore power cords.
drsteve
Explorer
Oct 09, 2019
AJR wrote:
I had a spider build a web in the mixing tube close to the LP jet in the water heater overnight back in 2006.

I have placed used pieces of flea & tick collar in the hot water & furnace bays ever since and have never had a spider issue again.

I too had this happen, about ten years ago. I did nothing, and haven't had a problem since...
JRscooby
Explorer II
Oct 09, 2019
My BIL's job required him to sometimes walk into tall grass. He kept a couple of flea collars in zip-locks in the work truck. Before he went in the weeds he would use the collars around pant leg/boot top. He claims it reduces chiggers and ticks. But it could just be sealing the gap...
rk911
Explorer
Oct 09, 2019
drsteve wrote:
AJR wrote:
I had a spider build a web in the mixing tube close to the LP jet in the water heater overnight back in 2006.

I have placed used pieces of flea & tick collar in the hot water & furnace bays ever since and have never had a spider issue again.

I too had this happen, about ten years ago. I did nothing, and haven't had a problem since...

we had a spider's web in the burner tube a couple of years ago that I missed and which resulted in a small fire. the problem with any remedy like no-pest strips or flea collars is judging their effectiveness vs. either doing nothing or frequent inspections.

it's like the old joke...a fellow's house was trashed by a stampeding herd of elephants so his neighbor puts up a sign in the yard, "No Elephants". it must've worked since there've been no more elephants in the neighborhood.

there's no way to know, apart from scientific experiments, whether any of these things work but I guess they can't hurt either.
Crowe
Explorer
Oct 09, 2019
Baits, they take the bait with them and tend to die in places which you will never be able to get to them..

Right before we moved last year we had one crawl up and die in the back of our house refrigerator. We had to replace it because it stunk so bad.

If you can avoid items like D-Con please do so. What is also happening is birds of prey are dying because they eat the mouse that has ingested the poison. I regret using D-Con at my old house. If you can stomach it, trap them then dispatch them by whatever means you can handle.