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How often do they feed?

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bed bug bites

Clarity

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Posted 4 years ago
Wed Mar 25 2009 21:29:41
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I've read that bed bugs will feed at least once a week if they have an available source of blood. Does anyone know if that is accurate? If not, how often do they generally feed? I know that there will probably be a lot of variation.

The reason I ask is because I generally only get a couple of bites once every week and a half, and I just now went for about two weeks without getting any new bites. This led me to believe that we can't have very many bugs in our apartment, since the bites are so few (almost always less than five at once) and I've only gotten bites on more than one night in the same week once. I got the impression that most bed bug infestations produce bites more often than that. Of course, my husband doesn't react to the bites so that could make my theory incorrect since for all I know he gets bitten every night.

I got seven bites on the 9th, and one on the 13th (so two nights on the same week for the first time ever). That made me fear that things were getting worse. Then, nothing until today. I was starting to feel really hopeful, but this morning I have a new bite on my neck.

Does this mean that the ones who bit me two weeks ago have (mostly) been killed by the DE that the PCO put down? It seems that if they all survived, I would have gotten more than one new bite.
Clarity

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Posted 4 years ago
Thu Apr 2 2009 21:30:26
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Nobody has any input for me?

I'm starting to hope against hope that maybe the idiot PCO wasn't such an idiot after all and his DE has finally worked. In the last three weeks I've only gotten one bug bite. Surely that must be a good sign?
Emmm

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Posted 4 years ago
Thu Apr 2 2009 22:34:30
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I don't have an answer for you, but I'm curious as well. I only had 3-4 sets of bites-- two of them within 24 hours and some may have come from my boyfriend's. Then I was bitten 9 days later, then just ONE bite 9 days after that. Three weeks later, and nothing that I notice. So maybe you do have just a small number of bugs, who knows? I want to say I've been told they feed somewhere between a week to two weeks? But someone on here should know. Maybe it's in the FAQ.
Nobugsonme

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Posted 4 years ago
Fri Apr 3 2009 0:45:01
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They may bite once a week. More or less. Sometimes less frequently, or a bit sooner than a week (temperature plays a role).

Keep in mind, 7 bites can be 7 bed bugs. If the bites are in a row or in triangles, it could be a couple of bed bugs. (They sometimes but don't necessarily stop and start over when disturbed, we're told, hence the patterns.) And then another one 4 nights later.

It's true that your husband may be bitten as well.
Scared and Frustrated

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Posted 3 years ago
Sun Jun 7 2009 13:04:12
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[quote]

When you say temperature is a factor, does that mean that bite more when it's warmer, or less?
DragonFlight

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Posted 3 years ago
Sun Jun 7 2009 14:10:43
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Triangles are bed bug bites?
DragonFlight

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Posted 3 years ago
Sun Jun 7 2009 14:23:49
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I have (2) single red little bumps on two different toes on each foot, but they have already been there for over three weeks what could they be ? There hard and they hurt when I pick at it.
LVK9

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Posted 3 years ago
Sun Jun 7 2009 14:27:25
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They feed more frequently the warmer it is. They also produce eggs more frequently and live a shorter period of time. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
Adele

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Posted 3 years ago
Sun Jun 7 2009 14:29:02
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Then don't pick at them

leave the bites alone and try not to scratch and they will heal faster with less scarring and itch less

as for the bites - they will definitely bite more the warmer it gets - but the most frequently I've heard of is every 4-5 days but could be more like once every 7 days or so

if the temps are colder their metabolism slows down and they bite less frequently
DragonFlight

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Posted 3 years ago
Sun Jun 7 2009 15:03:56
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Actually they could be corns or something like that. The people who moved in across the hall from us do have Bed Bugs, and from a post, I posted a few days ago were still trying to figure it out. They can bite in triangles ? Does anyone have any percentage on what bites show up as or get marked as cause right now I feel very confused. I understand that baby nymphs are hard to see cause they are transparent, but from what I've read there bite is just as "bad" as a adult and after each bite and they need a blood meal instantly upon birth to reach to the next state of bed bug hood. Is it safe to assume, if one has not seen any nymphs that a female didn't give birth ? Is it also safe to assume that possible 1-2 could be hiding and if they are both females which can't make off spring they try to bite if and when they can otherwise they hide out most of the time ? Until either a) you see it and kill it b) step on it c) chemicals wipe it out d) it gives up on life. How long does it take for babies to hatch, in cooler room ? And after that given period if one does not see nymphs (which I saw one close up) that you could rest easy knowing your place wasn't a baby ward hospital for bed bugs?
DangerousDave

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Posted 3 years ago
Sun Jun 7 2009 15:57:42
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This is confusing.
So they are clearly more active and thrive in warmer temperatures, but dislike heat (in excess of 90F). I understand they are very resilient, but some clarification on this would be nice. From just my observations of the begbugs I've had, they always preferred a dark COOL (50-70F) environment, albeit their dislike for light.
Traumabugged

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Posted 3 years ago
Sun Jun 7 2009 16:48:36
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Oh my, I suddenly realized that the fact I'm getting fewer bites does not necessarily mean the three (casual) sprays from the PCO worked... just been bitten on the face like three days ago...
rayofsun

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Posted 7 months ago
Mon Oct 8 2012 0:22:49
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Can you tell me what happened in your case? Did you really have bed bugs, and did you ever get rid of them? I have recently began to get bitten a week ago and already have more than 30 bites on me. I don't know what to do. I am scared. I am not sure if it is bug bites or not.
camilogo1

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Posted 7 months ago
Mon Oct 8 2012 9:46:18
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I also had bed bugs about 5 months ago. I thought I got rid of them, but now I am getting bitten again every two weeks but only 3 at a time. I was wondering if there's just one left. I can't find any signs of them like I could when I was last infested. I steamed again but got bit the very next day. I don't want to go through this again.
rayofsun

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Posted 7 months ago
Tue Oct 9 2012 0:24:31
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When you were getting bit 5 mos ago, how often did you get bit? How many bites per "session"?
lucibug

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Posted 7 months ago
Wed Oct 17 2012 11:20:30
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camilogo1 - 1 week ago »
I also had bed bugs about 5 months ago. I thought I got rid of them, but now I am getting bitten again every two weeks but only 3 at a time. I was wondering if there's just one left. I can't find any signs of them like I could when I was last infested. I steamed again but got bit the very next day. I don't want to go through this again.

OH no. Are you certain? Are the bites the same as before? This is discouraging to hear. Do you thini perhaps the marks are from anything else? I've been told not to go by only bite marks as your skin reacts to different things. A safer way is to go by fecal marks and shedded shells.