http://bedbugger.com/forum/ Bed bug support forums en Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:38:41 +0000 http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/climbup-monitors-catching-bugs-in-the-act#post-52469 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:32:42 +0000 wirehead 52469@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Nope, I've never been bitten in that chair before... or, in fact, anywhere in that room aside from the bed. (It's a wooden chair, not upholstered, so while it has hiding places it isn't really a bedbug haven. I gave it a once-over and didn't find any others.)</p> <p>There are lots of options... it could've crawled onto me elsewhere (or been on the clothing I put on when I got out of bed) and not bitten me until I stopped walking around, it could've been a refugee from the bed dismantling/cleaning, etc. I've often wished for a tiny, tiny interrogation chamber. ;)</p> <p>I will continue to report back... as far as I can tell, we have a pretty small infestation, so I'm not necessarily surprised that we haven't caught any bugs yet. There are also two legs under the bed that I can't easily see without lifting up the boxspring, so it's possible there are some in those traps. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/climbup-monitors-catching-bugs-in-the-act#post-52457 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:37:32 +0000 lil_bit_obsessed 52457@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>i haven't caught anything in mine yet either. i'm hoping that means i'm in the clear.</p> <p>have you been bit in that computer chair before? if a bug lives in the chair and is satisfied getting a meal from you whenever needed, maybe he wouldn't need to travel to the bed to find you. although i agree, it's really uncharacteristic for a bug to bite in the daytime if it could just do so at night. weird... </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/climbup-monitors-catching-bugs-in-the-act#post-52455 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:47:06 +0000 wirehead 52455@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Nope, I didn't remove the tape. Maybe we just have particularly dumb bugs? </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/climbup-monitors-catching-bugs-in-the-act#post-52454 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:46:05 +0000 BugZipAdam 52454@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>Did you remove the making tape on the outside of the ClimbUps? Make sure you DO NOT remove the tape. It is meant to give them enough grip to climb up the outside. </p> http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/climbup-monitors-catching-bugs-in-the-act#post-52453 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:24:54 +0000 wirehead 52453@http://bedbugger.com/forum/ <p>I just got my Climbup monitors delivered last week. When the weekend rolled around, I couldn't wait to dismantle the bedframe and install them. Wiping down the mattress and boxspring encasements, I found 2 nymphs, and I washed an adult out of the frame. Once everything was dry, I put it all back together with the Climbups under the legs. I decided not to add DE right now because I didn't want to risk repelling them from the traps.</p> <p>After four nights with the monitors installed, the good news is, I'm no longer being bitten in bed. However, the weird thing is that nothing has shown up in the traps (yet). BUT, after getting out of bed yesterday morning, I sat down at the nearby computer desk to check my email. Within a few minutes, I started feeling super itchy on my neck. "Crap," I thought, "Did I get bitten last night after all?" I scratched the spot hoping it would go away instead of come up into a bite.</p> <p>Then a new spot starting itching. I scratched at it, and then looked down only to see a nearly full-grown bug crawling on my shirt! Ugh. Needless to say, that particular bug is no more.</p> <p>It's interesting that this is the fourth time I've caught one of them in the act. The previous two that bit me while I was awake were both nymphs -- one had been in a tank top that I'd stupidly left unbagged on top of my dresser, and when I put it on, it bit my shoulder and I caught it. The other bit me on the bottom of my foot last week (before installing the Climbups). I would say that maybe I'm just more sensitive to it if they bite while I'm awake, but I caught one biting me in bed last week, too. I woke up super itchy and realized I'd just been bitten. I got out of bed to run hot water on it and then the same thing happened when I went back to bed. So I grabbed my cell phone to use as a light and checked the mattress, and there it was, just hanging out, presumably waiting for me to fall asleep so it could finish its interrupted meal.</p> <p>Anyhow, it's strange because it seems like I'm becoming MORE sensitive to the bites. I don't feel the bite per se (not like a pinch or anything), but what I do feel is an intense itchiness that comes on very suddenly and feels very "small" -- like, confined to a very small area. Almost like the feeling of a pinprick, but with itchiness instead of pain. And then I look and there's a bug just finishing its meal. Normally, when I get bitten overnight, the bites won't come up until late in the afternoon.</p> <p>My working theory is that, when I already have bites, my histamine system is in overdrive. That's my explanation for all the "fake" bites that come up, too; I've noticed I'm just more itchy in general when I've been bitten (and for a few weeks afterward). Every little thing seems to set my skin off.</p> <p>On the one hand, I guess it's good because I can kill them when I notice them biting me. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that extra sensitivity is why my bites swell up to the size of golf balls and last for almost a week. :(</p> <p>I'm curious about the one in the bedroom though. It seems to me that biting during the day, while I'm awake, is the behavior you'd expect from a bug who was unable to get into an isolated bed and is getting hungry. I wonder if they're being repelled by the plastic of the traps, or are unable to climb up the outside of the trap and thus aren't getting caught. </p>