Hoping I don't have bedbugs: can anyone advise? « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Hoping I don't have bedbugs: can anyone advise?

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peppy

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 3 2010 10:39:55
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Hi everyone! I'm new here and have been looking at your site since over the past two days. It definitely seems to be the most informative site on the web regarding bedbugs. I was hoping if I shared my story some of you might have some thoughts to share with me.

Two days ago, I was in a home that had a recent bedbug infestation. They said it had been treated a week before, and I could smell some kind of chemicals when I walked in. I was there during the day, for about 45 minutes. I didn't sit down on anything, but did walk around quite a bit. At one point, I stepped into a dark closet to place something on the closet floor. The apartment was garden level, so although it had windows, it was also semi-underground.

I got home and began doing research on bedbugs, but figured that it was highly unlikely one had hitched a ride home with me. Yesterday, I noticed I had about 15-20 marks that looked like bites or a rash on my right hand. They were very itchy for a few minutes, but the itchiness went away. My right hand is pretty much the only part of my body, other than my face, that is exposed when I sleep, so I became concerned it was bedbugs. I put hydrocortisone on the marks last night and today they are pretty much gone.

I inspected my sheets and mattress and the only strange thing I found were some tiny pieces of brown debris. They were hard and semi-round, but there was no consistency in their shape. I wet them and there was no smearing or streaking. I didn't have trouble picking up the pieces of debris. What was so odd, however, is that when I put the debris on a fingernail and then turned my hand upside down, the debris did not fall off of my finger, but just stuck there, hanging upside down.

I know that it is pretty impossible to tell from this description whether I have bedbugs, but does anyone have any thoughts on this? Should I call in an inspector to look at the small specks of debris? Does the debris sound inconsistent with bedbugs? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
DeedleBeetle

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 3 2010 12:00:17
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Hi peppy...

can we see some photographs? the sticky black thingies...and your hand bites.

Go IMMEDIATELY ("immediately, if not sooner" as my mom used to say when ordering us to do something) and get the bag you had placed on the closet floor of that place and put it in a plastic bag and seal it completely....then RUN and get all the clothing you wore that day..including your underwear, socks and shoes and anything else you had like a brief case, bag, whatever and also put those in plastic bag and seal it up. Take the clothes and put them in to a dryer for at least 1 hour at the highest heat possible. Take the other things outside somewhere and open each thing and shake stuff out and inspect everything and wipe all the stuff down with something that kills bbs on contact = check the forums for what you can use. Alcohol (has to be a certain strength so check that) or some other product.

Strip your bed and wash but more important put the sheets in the dryer (pillow cases, blanket, quilt, whatever else is on your bed, including ruffle skirt, stuff like that..as well. At least 1 hour at high high heat.

In fact, take all of the clothing you've worn since that day and put it in the dryer also. Retrace your steps and try to remember everything you touched,e tc. Check those things.

Others may have other suggestions for you.
peppy

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 3 2010 15:06:49
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Thanks for the advice. I just saw a larva on my mattress so I am pretty sure I have bedbugs. I am hoping to get someone to come to my place ASAP so we can hopefully catch the problem early. If anyone has any suggestions for a PCO in the Washington, DC area (even better if there is one who comes out on holiday weekends), please let me know. Thanks.
BugsInTO

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 3 2010 17:30:19
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Peppy - Save the brown things and the larva to get them identified.

While you may have bedbugs, a couple of things aren't supporting it so I thought I would mention them.

1) You say you found a "larva". Can you say more about it? Does it match the photos here? Because bedbugs have "instars" which are basically the same structure as a fully grown bedbug except they are tiny and translucent. Bedbugs don't metamorphize, so if you have found a worm-like thing, it's not a bedbug.

2) Bedbug poop tends to soak into porous surfaces so if bedbug feces were on your sheets, they would be more likely to look like magic marker dots than loose brown bits.
( http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/what-exactly-is-the-consistancy-of-bb-feces)

3) You say your exposure was two days ago? That's not enough time for a bedbug to lay eggs in your apt and to have them hatch. That takes 10 - 14 days. So, if you found a baby bedbug, it either hitchhiked or it was already there.

Hope everything turns out okay for you.
Uhlizza Polen

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 3 2010 18:45:13
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Hi, jeez I so totally know how you feel I am a newbite. I have nothing to do but to stare at this screen as my apartment is torn apart and my BF & i got in a "dispute" last night.

The thing that caught my eye was the hitchhikers, have seen a lot about this since i joined just 2 or 3 days ago. It was my understanding from my own research that hitchhikers are(unless the bb's are flung about); but I thought that the critter's do not have the body types to attach to your skin or hair follicles for long, so how do they hitchhike? Cause I have a dog, and was informed on some sight a long the way that the dog would not really transmit them about the apartment. Not an emergency though as I got dumped gallons of 2nd round from PCO yesterday; god I am so thankful I got service under the holiday weekend deadline. Like in your shoe laces or purse? Or a loose fold in your clothing? I thought they pretty much hid in there expert little hiding places except when they came out to get a blood meal; then morph. BTW; if DeedleB is still on here, can I take photo's and send them to you of my unwanted but documented entomology collection? Thanks, Uhlizza
peppy

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 3 2010 19:23:22
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Thanks everyone for this advice. This whole situation is just so exhausting, and I sympathize with those of you who have been going through it for so long.

Bugs in TO, I posted photos on a different thread. You can see them here: http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/photos-are-these-bedbug-exoskeletonslarvae-or-some-other-pest Do you have any thoughts? If it is bedbugs, I think the first two photos would have to be eggs, not larvae. I think I used the wrong terminology. Let me know what you think!

I am in the process of encasing my bedspring and mattress and bagging up everything as a precautionary measure. I think I'm going to have to wait until Tuesday to get someone out here. There is someone who said he could do it tomorrow, but he sounded a little sketchy, which made me concerned. Would doing something as soon as possible be the best course of action, or am I better off waiting a couple more days for someone who is more experienced/higher quality?
DeedleBeetle

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 3 2010 19:27:15
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testing...
BugsInTO

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Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jul 3 2010 21:14:43
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Hi - I checked the photos - I'm not an expert, but doesn't look like a bedbug to me.