Found one, and living above an infestation « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Found one, and living above an infestation

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Ohmygawd

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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 1 2010 16:45:40
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Hello everyone,

BBs are a pretty bad phobia of mine, and unfortunately, I wouldn't be here unless the worst had finally occurred. I travel at least a couple times a year as a part of my job, and I've always been neurotic about checking beds and keeping my suitcase on the rack, etc etc.

We've been lucky and never had an infestation to deal with.

Unfortunately, this past weekend I was sitting on the couch watching a movie with my husband and my cat was attacking my hand. I looked over and I saw a weird smear on my finger. I went to wash my hands and boom, the bug fell off my hand into the sink. I took one look at it, the blood, and swore very loudly.

Anyways, I won't vent too much.. but most of my weekend was sleepless and full of tears.

We've contacted our landlord and they've contacted a PCO, they seem very reasonable about this because the woman I spoke with earlier said that they'll have to have the suites inspected to see if they've spread. So I think they'll at least inspect, and hopefully, treat the 10 suites in this building.

MY problem is that for the past week, our basement neighbours have left the headboard and frame of their bed outside. I thought it was weird like "Odd, I guess they bought a new bed" or something unless I found this damn BB on my hand. Now suddenly it makes sense.

Also, they've been away A LOT.. they're rarely at their apartment. We always thought that was strange. I'm worried they're self-treating, but I have to talk with the manager again to see if they are aware of what is going on downstairs. The other issue I'm worried about is that perhaps our manager KNOWS they are infested but never told anyone else, which sort of throws our world into flux.

We vaccummed the couch since that is where we found one. We looked over the entire bed and found no signs... we took our bedding / sheets / pillowcases and doublebagged them and threw them outside on the balcony for the time being, although they'll probably end up in the trash once the PCO comes out and confirms for us.

We didn't sleep the first night, we finished our movie on our wooden balcony chairs and had a lot of coffee.

The next morning after checking over our bed again.. we went out and bought white sheets and are now sleeping on our bed again (although it's not very good sleep I won't lie). We also did 4-5 loads of laundry at the laundromat and dried them for an hour and a half on HOT before placing them directly in these awesome huge ziplock bags. So we're living out of those at the moment.

We vaccuumed today (not like crazy.. just the floors as we regularly would)... I threw out the rug in the bathroom and kitchen.

Psychologically this is tough as hell on me, I have issues with bugs and especially ones that make me feel dirty and helpless. I know it's a misconception, but regardless.. it's really hard not to feel completely distraught. Hubby is being amazing.. I'm very lucky.

A couple of funny things we've done just for peace of mind that probably won't actually work, we bought double sided tape and did a couple of lines around our mattress so hopefully any little bastards will get caught on it.

We also put plastic tupperware under all the legs of the bed to prevent them from climbing up, LOL.. thankfully we don't have a headboard.

Anyways, I guess a few things to conclude my introduction, please forgive my longwindedness.

1. 99.9% sure it's a BB
2. Pretty sure basement neighbours infested
3. Landlord at least seems like they'll be acting quickly and thoroughly, but I'm very impatient I want PCO ASAP
4. Got them either from doing laundry or walking by their apartment as I was doing so this weekend OR they're coming up from the walls or something because our place shows no signs except this one bug (yet.. )

A few questions, sorry if they're already answered.. I'm going to do some more looking aorund, this site has been very helpful so far as I'm a REAL FRESH NOOB, do I need to be neurotic before going to work tomorrow? (ie, shower and then dress in our "safe" clothes just as I'm leaving the door?)

Should I assume we are now infested since I found a bug? (it's an adult too, I tried to take a picture but I can't get a clear one)

We've not been letting our cat onto the bed. Can the bugs travel/spread on pets? Should I stop the kitteh embargo? It breaks my heart not being able to get my kitty cuddles in the morning.

I've read that eggs typically hatch in 10ish days, if we've been infested.. how long before signs really start to show?

Our biggest damn fear is that the PCO will come out ... not find anything and refuse to treat. I'm really upset and worried about this.

We're ready to burn everything and move if the problem isn't dealt with swiftly.

Anyways, thanks everyone.. I love that this place exists..

xoxox
DeedleBeetle

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Joined: May '10
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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 1 2010 17:24:32
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Okay OhmyGawd...

Deeeeep breath...

Listen while i tell you a short story about a bed bug:

Once upon a time, about a month and a half ago, while sitting on the toidy, a woman saw a bb on her calf and was able to catch it. It turned out to be a female bb. The woman was very concerned that she would soon have a lot of bb babies around. The woman learned that the woman in the apt downstairs had seen some bbs in her place and had been treated for them. A month and a half later the woman has not seen another bb in her place and no other evidence such as blood, cast skins, bites, etc. so the woman and her husband are living happily ever after....

So, you see? It is not absolutely necessary that you have an infestation of bbs even if the people downstairs have them. But you are right to be vigilent and proactive. It's good to have a professional inspection. It is not so necessary to throw good things out.

If you can afford it, please order a PackTite. Even if you don't have an infestation, the PackTite will give you such peace of mind because (especially since you travel alot) you can pop your suitcase in there and bake your stuff to be SURE that you haven't brought any bbs back from your trips.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

oh..by the way...i read that you put tupperware on the legs of your bed. Did you put anything in them to kill the bugs if they can climb in?

Another thing...The double sided tape is not a bad idea...Anything like that which can give you some chance to sleep and which will keep those suckers (literally) off of you and hubby is a good idea.

Remember, you want to stay in your bed so that if there are any other bbs around, you will not tempt them to venture to other parts of your crib.

Keep the bb you caught. You can show it the landlord and professional, but try to keep it if you can in case you doubt the identification. You can always send it to our LouBugs who can give you a definitive identification.
Richard56

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Joined: Jul '10
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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 1 2010 18:20:36
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Should I assume we are now infested since I found a bug? (it's an adult too, I tried to take a picture but I can't get a clear one)
-------------------------------------
Sorry about all the stress and commotion. I understand it can sometimes be hard to get a good picture, but maybe you can try again and/or borrow a better camera and then post the picture here. EVERYTHING starts with confirming an infestation and even though you're "99.9%" sure, there have been others just as sure only to find out that it wasn't a bed bug at all. A little time identifying the insect now can potentially save you a lot of time, stress and money later. It will also give you evidence to show your PCO if it turns out it is a bed bug. If you absolutely cannot get a picture taken, my understanding is that one of our experts "loubugs" will take a look at specimens via mail. He is an entomologist.

Richard
Ohmygawd

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Joined: Nov '10
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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 1 2010 18:24:53
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You're such a sweetheart thank you.. lol.

I know I am overreacting but they're just so creepy and very persistant even when dealt with professionally. So we just don't want to take any chances and taking precautions for the worst.

We do want to get a packtite, I think it's a great idea since I do travel fairly often. It would give us peace of mind for sure, it's just a little expensive on top of not being sure if we'll have to get a new bed/couch or even move depending on how the situation pans out with our neighbours and the place in general.

I'm cautiously optimistic, if we have an infestation we've been lucky to catch it early and so I hope it will be easier to deal with.

We're going to buy some of that Diatomaceous Earth, and I will put into the tupperware, because noooo I didn't put anything in to kill them. LOL .. I actually am excited about it because I'm a health food buff but I'd never heard of this stuff before. =D

Unfortunately, we found the sucker while on the couch. So it might be the couch that is the problem rather than the bed. Either way.. we'll get through it. I'll keep you folks posted.

Still just wondering, do I have to be neurotic so I don't pass it on to people at work or on the train tomorrow? How easily can you spread them around? From what I've read it seems like they tend to hide away except when feeding. So if I shower and dress in the kitchen and go I should be ok (i hope)...

Or with our pet, we're worried about the pesticide with him, he likes to scratch our bed / floor heaters / couch... I wonder if we should take him to a kennel or something. =(

Anyways, rambly..

Thanks so so much for the advice and support.
Ohmygawd

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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 1 2010 22:53:50
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I managed to take a fairly clear picture of it, ugh it's horrible just looking at it.

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m627/sighsighsigh/specimen.jpg

Keep in mind it was also sitting on my finger drinking my blood.. so I am pretty sure =(
Richard56

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Posted 2 years ago
Mon Nov 1 2010 22:57:46
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Good photo but I'm going to leave the ID to the experts here. If you don't get a response, you might re-post the photo in a new thread titled "Please ID this bug" or something similar so as to flag it better. Here's hoping it's something else.

Richard