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Confused about how bed bugs travel to new locations

1. 

   ej16p
   

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   Posted 3 years ago
   Fri Sep 18 2009 13:17:23
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   Hi everyone,

   So I had thought that bed bugs mainly travel by suitcases and purses and the like. I've seen posts on here about people sealing their cameras and cell phones and being super caughteous about shoes. But if you look at these products and see no bugs on them (after all, bed bugs and their eggs are able to be seen, right?), why do we have to be careful with things like this? I also keep my washed clothes in garbage bags that I twist closed, in my bathroom. I've heard that this is no good because they're not sealed, but even so, I would be able to see if a bed bug crawled onto a shirt I am wearing, right? I just have to be careful with pockets?

   I'm scared about transfering bugs and am just confused with the extent people go to in prevention, I don't understand how a camera or cell phone can be infested? The only bed bugs I've found are deep in the couch or under my sheets, why would they move into the bathroom and into a plastic bag I have there? Or how would they infest my cell phone in a way that I can't see them and that can infest other people?

   I just want to be careful not to infest other people, especially my boyfriend or family, so any advice here would be great. I posted beforehand and got some great responses that were really helpful, but this new question has been on my mind. I thought I was now doing everything to prevent carrying them, but it seems I have not been as careful as I maybe should be??

   Thanks,
   EJ

2. 

   BuggedInSomerville
   

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   Posted 3 years ago
   Fri Sep 18 2009 13:51:55
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   Bedbugs are visible to the eye, but they do hide in some impossible-to-see places. The bugs can and will go wherever they can fit, and they can fit pretty much anywhere you can slide a business card into. If I were a bedbug, I wouldn't necessarily pick a nook inside someone's cell phone as my ideal hiding/resting spot, but it *could* happen. And with bedbugs, you should try to prevent anything and everything that could happen. I'd say it's next to impossible to fully inspect a shoe, for example, and determine that it's bedbug-free, because they find the craziest places to hide. The best way to prevent transferring bugs via your items is to keep them sealed up in plastic bags when you travel - when I visit my parents' house, I keep my phone and wallet in ziplock sandwich bags that they have in the house, mostly for peace of mind but, then again, who knows where there's a tiny, nearly-invisible nymph hiding...

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   ej16p
   

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   Posted 3 years ago
   Fri Sep 18 2009 14:56:50
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   Thanks for the feedback, I'll definitely be more careful with my belongings.

   Say a nymph did make it's way with me into a friend or family members home, can only the adults lay eggs? Wouldn't it just be one bed bug that would be there? Wouldn't you need two to grow and create eggs and eventually reproduce into a bed bug infestation? Or can nymphs also be egg carriers?

   Thanks
   EJ

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