How long can you have BB's before seeing one? « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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How long can you have BB's before seeing one?

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Started 6 months ago by suspicious
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suspicious

newbite
Joined: Mar '09
Posts: 29

Posted 6 months ago
Thu May 14 2009 15:08:16
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I have read that they feed around 4 to 5 in the morning but many people post that an hour after going to bed they can find bed bugs in their bed. I am confused about this. I search all hours of the night but it is true that I don't use a flashlight.

I have found fecal traces but nothing else. However, it seems most people find the bug in their beds hiding or on them after (or before) three months. So, does that mean I am BB free and the black spots on my sheets and clothes are not from BB's but something else? My white sheets are beginning to be covered in spots.

How long before you are so over ran by BBs that you find an actually bug?

I haven't been sleeping well for over a month. I have thought I have seen things but accidently swept them up before I realized or they were too small.

If you have BBs you know it...Right? Because you find them running in your bed?

I am desperate to find one or know for sure I don't have them. The mother in me can't sleep because I can not stand the thought of something on my three sleeping children.

I am so tired. Tired to the bone.
I really really want to believe we don't have BBs but each time I start to do just that there is something there that taunts me. Those black spots are evil. I wish they would stop showing up.
lumpyredthing

newbite
Joined: May '09
Posts: 23

Posted 6 months ago
Thu May 14 2009 16:17:26
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You can have them a long time! I can't be sure because I'm not totally certain where they came from but I think the first one arrived sometime around December and I only found them a few days ago! Now I know about them I realise that there were so many signs, I just didn't know what they were.

Bites, blood spots on sheets, fecal spots - all the evidence was there but I never saw a bug. Because one of us showed bites and the other didn't we didn't realise it could be bugs and the doctor said the rash was some sort of allergy.

It's really worth picking up your mattress and shining a torch under it to see if you can see any lurking and there's no such thing as 'too small' because the youngsters are tiny. If you even think you might have bed bugs then it's essential to get a good PCO to check, they'll be able to tell you in a few minutes.

I really hope you don't have them! Good luck!
blazing

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Joined: May '09
Posts: 65

Posted 6 months ago
Thu May 14 2009 16:32:13
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I don't think bedbugs are ones to make themselves scarce. While you may not find an actual live bug in front of you, signs that they are right around the corner ARE easy to find before long.
(Anyone feel free to correct me if I am wrong)

However, if you start with a very tiny population, it may very well take months before you can even find the signs.. though they may be there.. you may not find them unless you took everything apart.

I am starting to sleep well finally because after two months and a bit, there is just nothing really there to support that bedbugs have followed me home. This is, I feel. a miracle from God.
(Once again, anyone feel free to tell me just how lucky we are if this is indeed the case as it seems to be)
DragonFlight

banned
Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 233

Posted 6 months ago
Thu May 14 2009 20:17:25
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My mom started to gut almost everything, in the closets within the past three days and she saw today two bed begs crawling on the floor in the day time, could it be because she was rampaging though everything they got disturbed and started to run ? We recently had a major outbreak from people across the hall and not knowing for 6 months we would see every 2-3 weeks what we had hoped for was only a straggler that we killed cause if more came though before we finally blocked up the hole just a week ago then we really don't know. A week ago the people across the hall had sprayed and they were running over to our apartment we we not home, so we don't know just how many came though from the time they started coming probably after 5pm as we were home before then until 10pm so what signs could we look for. Some people have said we could have a nest but we really are unsure. We saw the majority coming though that day a week ago. No Previous signs before then as far as we could tell could someone please give me some insight we already have thrown away a lot of stuff not just cause of the bugs but it was old and we sorta didn't want it no more.
suspicious

newbite
Joined: Mar '09
Posts: 29

Posted 6 months ago
Fri May 15 2009 6:17:58
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Thanks everyone for responding. I really wish all of you well in your fight against BBs. At least there are so many people that I have read about that have came out of it. So, these bugs are not unbeatable!

I have checked all the beds frames (I will admit that I didn't take them completely apart), mattresses (we don't have box springs) and inspected all the other furniture. I did find what I thought were BB droppings in our chester drawers but I didn't find any bugs. I do know that they can get in tiny areas and there are alot of those in this chester drawers. It is very old from before the 50s I think. I have pulled all drawers out and examined underneath and inside but didn't see anything else. I am only finding black spots on the sheets and sometimes on clothes but I am finding them more and more. It is frustrating.

We are going to buy the Climb up cups to moniter the situation and then know for sure if we do or don't have BBS. If we do have BBs we must have a bug to give to the landlord or he won't treat which I understand.

I think it is a good investment and will allow me to sleep. I can't sleep not because I have BBs but because I don't know and that drives me crazy. If I knew I would just take care of the problem and get through it but not knowing is really hard for me.

Since we do stay in a hotel at least once a year I don't think it would be a bad idea to keep these cups or another monitering tool in place even if we end up not having BBs. We live in an apartment building with 12 apartments of which almost every single one of my neighbors travel at least once a year as well.

There are no PCs that have experience with BBs where I live. In fact, you can't find much info about BBs in French online. I think that is changing but for the moment I don't have many options until I find a bug.
buggyinsocal

oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,130

Posted 6 months ago
Fri May 15 2009 10:59:14
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You mentioned that you speak French, but not where you live.

If you live in France, you might send a PM to David Cain and/or EffeCi. David's in the UK, and EffeCi is Italian. Since they are both pest care professionals who are closer to you, they may know of a good PCO in France.

If you live in Quebec, you might get in touch with the people on the boards here who are in Toronto. Someone there might have a lead on a PCO in Quebec.

I do realize that French is also spoken in plenty of other places around the world, but those are the only places that it's spoken that I remember people on the boards from being near. Hope that helps if you're looking for a PCO.
suspicious

newbite
Joined: Mar '09
Posts: 29

Posted 6 months ago
Fri May 15 2009 15:46:50
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Hello buggyinsocal!

I live in the French speaking part of Switzerland. I am very close to France and just a few hours from Italy.

I have asked both David and EffeCi questions and both have been super helpful. It amazes me the level of kindness from so many people found on this forum.

I am going to search in Geneva for a PCO and see how much it would cost to get them to drive to us and whether or not they even would drive here. Other than that, we can only set out moniters of some sort which we are going to buy next month. Just getting some moniters in place will give me peace of mind.
suspicious

newbite
Joined: Mar '09
Posts: 29

Posted 5 months ago
Thu May 28 2009 3:03:12
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I keep reading that a sign of BBs is fecal staining. We keep getting more and more of these mysterious black spots various cloth items in our home. I thought perhaps it was the washer or drier but have been monitering that and do not think that is the case. So, I am left scratching my head over these spots!!!!

I am so sick of finding them. I have not found any bugs.

I wouldn't even think about bed bugs if I would stop finding these types of spots on my sheets, clothes we sleep in, fabric on chair where our cat sleeps and other clothes or material items.

I sweep daily (even in the beds) because we did have fleas...perhaps still do. So, I could be sweeping up any other evidence without realizing it.

I have searched the forum and Google for photos of fecal stains on sheets but can't find any. All I find are of the nest or heavy infestations which don't really help me.

If anyone would like to take a look and see if these spots resemble BB fecal stains or not this Mama would really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

I have ordered the Climb up interceptor which is being shipped to my mother's home in the States because it doesn't ship out of the States. She will mail it to me when she gets it. I am also going to buy David's monitors next month because we travel quite a bit. Better safe than sorry.

Photo taken of our duvet cover...I found this black spot Tuesday morning as I was making my bed.

http://s701.photobucket.com/albums/ww20/suspiciousandwatching/?action=view&current=007-2.jpg

And, on our clothes...this is my daughter's sweater that she wore as a jacket for the last two days.

http://s701.photobucket.com/albums/ww20/suspiciousandwatching/?action=view&current=001-6.jpg

http://s701.photobucket.com/albums/ww20/suspiciousandwatching/?action=view&current=003-4.jpg

And, on my son's sheets...

http://s701.photobucket.com/albums/ww20/suspiciousandwatching/?action=view&current=012-1.jpg

I want to let it go but I keep finding these black spots. I have even found them on my daughter's underwear!