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Big or small infestation? how to tell? and clothing?
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hatshepsut
newbite
Joined: Sep '08
Posts: 13
Posted 1 year ago
Thu Sep 11 2008 18:09:37
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Hi everyone,
Is there any way to tell how big our infestation is? Last Sunday, we found an area of feces on our mattress. While stripping the bed, we found a small feces area on one pillow, and one live bug in the pillowcase. We've searched and searched and don't see any other traces. Since Sunday, we put an encasement on the bed, and since then haven't had any new bites. My hope was that the bugs were contained in the mattress.
Today, I noticed a small bite on my leg... but I also saw a mosquito in the apartment last night. Argh! Any way to tell what kind of bite it is?
And what about clothing? What are the chances that the clothing in our drawers is infested, if we don't see any evidence on the dressers? What about clothes that were hanging in our closet? Wouldn't we see some evidence in the clothing if we inspected carefully? Do we really have to wash EVERYTHING? Every belt, purse, backpack, etc?
Has anyone had a small infestation that was successfully treated without washing, steaming, or throwing away EVERYTHING? I feel so overwhelmed. Please help!
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pleasenotme
member
Joined: Jan '08
Posts: 135
Posted 1 year ago
Fri Sep 12 2008 7:35:04
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I think bedbug bites are generally itchier than mosquito bites but it varies from person to person.
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buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,259
Posted 1 year ago
Fri Sep 12 2008 11:50:41
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My bed bug bites were exponentially more itchy than mosquito bites, and my mosquito bites itch pretty intensely. (The difference for me was duration. Mosquito bites would itch intensely, but only for a day or so. Bed bug bites would itch for multiple days, and they would itch as bad or worse than mosquito bites.)
One of the pros around here posted a guideline he uses for measuring the extent of the infestation. It's not about how many bites (because that varies by person) but about what evidence of the bugs you find:
http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/how-we-grade-infestations#post-17126
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BBGROSS
newbite
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 19
Posted 1 year ago
Mon Sep 15 2008 10:37:00
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Agree. Bed bugs were always itchier than mosquito bites. Not only that but for me I would see the bites and by the next night I had welts on my hands and they were all swollon on the area of the bite.
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Omega
junior member
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 39
Posted 1 year ago
Mon Sep 15 2008 11:30:02
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Im sure the bites vary from person to person. Look at all the people who get absolutely no reaction whatsoever. That can be bad because if your not seeing and feeling a bite, by the time you realize you have an infestation, it can be absolutely huge.
I get severe reactions to the bites. Yes, mosquitoe bites can be similar, but for me a BB bite it a thousand times worse and they last a very long time. On me, the bite creates a liquid top where I was injected and then it creates a hole when it bursts. The surrounding area blows up bigger than a quarter and itches severely. Today I am suffering from 8 bites inflicted by 1 bedbug. I caught the bug and killed it as it was walking off me on the bed. It bit while I had my laptop on my legs, right underneath the laptop. My laptop or the laptop desk was where it was hiding. I went 3 months without a bit until 2 days ago. Now I am awaiting the PCO AGAIN. Yes, I wash & bag everything.
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I am one who does not react. I am able to tell I've gotten bites if I get up right when I wake up and check, otherwise in a few hours they are not even visible and they almost never itch.
I only found evidence on my bed and things underneath it, but I have now seen live bugs in the next room (just two, while searching late at night, in the dark). I am treating the whole apartment and am washing or sealing all clothes. I cannot stand the thought of letting it get any worse.
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