Catching it "early" « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Catching it "early"

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mam1974

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Sep 17 2010 0:23:08
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So I keep reading about the "benefits" of catching them early, and tackling the problem early. I think I've done that. I still haven't seen any live bugs, and I'm still the only one who's been bit, or at least noticed it.

So I presume, relatively, speaking, we've caught it early.

That's terrific, we don't have quite the same horror story as some of the other folks on here, and since we live in a house, we don't have any neighbors to worry about.

BUT...

It's still going to cost me $2500 for a PCO to come out and treat my house (not including the costs for the encasements, detectors, bags, etc). I'm still going to be paranoid about visitors, work, my car, etc for a long time. And based on how this is being described as an exponentially increasing pandemic, it seems like we're just going to end up the little f***ers again sooner or later. And then what, pay another $2500?

Does catching it early mean that there might be cheaper ways to control the problem?

Any thoughts?
BBGen0cide

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Sep 17 2010 1:13:17
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its a nightmare
Richard56

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Sep 17 2010 1:17:34
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bugnut

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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Sep 20 2010 9:04:44
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I am in the same boat - I am all for catching it early, but it does not save you any coin - just some time. I do already have a LOT of water/air proof containers already, climb ups, a beacon, passive monitors, encasements (2 on boxspring), cans of Bedlam and Phantom, DE, Tempo Dust, a bellows duster, ziploc bags, dissolvable laundry bags and 2 packtites - one that I purchased and a a big DIY one that we used for furniture. And since we treated 3x (3 K9s too) my 2 rugs are so pesticide laden that any bug crossing them dies almost immediately.

All this and I only found one dead bug, some fecal and a cast skin! Could have been more I vacummed up, but I guess I will never know. Did I over treat? I think so, but in the throes of an infestation, it is all out war and my judgment was clouded. Don't know how much I really spent because I can't bear to add it up. I live in a house also so I have some control but it will never be 100%.

I also can't really tell when I can consider my "problem solved" 2 months, 3 months a year? I am 68 post treatment and 3 months with no prisoners in the climbups.

Will continue to live out of plastic until maybe 6 months, or my husband threatens divorce - whichever comes first.
PANewBugger

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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Sep 20 2010 9:18:53
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We caught ours early (in about 2 weeks ). Initially, we thought maybe it was fleas, and as days went by, we saw more signs that it was more than that. PCO found a dead bed bug and we started treatment pretty soon after that.

I agree with Bugnut - catching it early won't save you money (we have spent several thousands of dollars) but will save you time. Most advice on here is to have a professional do the treatment. Treating yourself will save you money but it's a lot of work (also, there seems to be mixed reviews as to effectiveness, but that will also depend on what methods you decide to use). For me, even with PCO treatments, I still put in several hours each day of my own time in our bed bug battle. We're in month 3 and think we're finally in the clear. But we'll continue to live for the next few months with everything bagged, bed isolated, climbups being monitored, etc.