Need some advice...K9 came today « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Need some advice...K9 came today

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k9
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plankfarm

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Joined: Apr '11
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Posted 2 years ago
Tue May 3 2011 13:11:57
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The K9 came today and hit on one area of the bed where the mattress (which is encased, and was brand new when we encased it) meets the headboard. The handler took the bed apart and gave the dog more opportunities to sniff around, but the dog didn't hit on anything else. The handler looked over the bed and found some 3 suspicious spots that "may be" fecal stains, but no live bugs or anything else. He offered to have another dog and handler come out to inspect again and see what they come up with. Here's my dilema...should I have the other dog come to inspect the bedroom or just go ahead and have the room sprayed. Is having a dog hit on a spot only once, finding a few possible fecal stains, and the fact that I'm getting red spots (bites or not) enough evidence to go through with a treatment or should I wait until I'm absolutely sure it's bed bugs? I'm torn here over what to do.
DougSummersMS

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Posted 2 years ago
Tue May 3 2011 15:41:50
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Plankfarm,

You can try placing bed bug monitoring devices like BB Alert Passive or Bed Bug Beacons in the identified location to see if you can detect evidence of live activity as a follow up in addition to visual inspections.

You can take a vacuum cleaner and place a nylon stocking in the hose... roll the stocking over the end of the hose and hold in lace with a nozzle like a crevice tool... Vacuum the surrounding area... particularly any cracks and crevices in the bed frame to see if you can collect some physical evidence in the stocking prefilter... Dump the contents on a light colored surface and check with magnification for bugs.

It is a judgment call as to whether you wish to initiate treatment without further evidence... Steam treatment might be useful in the identified location... Bite marks are not a reliable indicator... You can try sticky traps and fly ribbon to see if you can identify other biting insects as an alternative source... Plug in flea traps or a flea comb may also be useful to rule out fleas indoors.

Is their a pattern to the locations of the marks on your skin?

Here are a couple of articles that may be useful for you
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/entfactpdf/ent58.pdf

http://citybugs.tamu.edu/factsheets/biting-stinging/others/ent-3006/
plankfarm

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Posted 2 years ago
Tue May 3 2011 17:02:28
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There isn't really much of a pattern of bites. There are a few that are spaced closer together, but in general they are spread around. They are also all, except one, in areas that are under my clothes while sleeping. Is it normal for a bed bug to reach exposed skin, then keep crawling till they get to the waist and hip area to start biting?

I'm thinking of going to see an allergist or dermatologist to see if they have any idea of what's going on before proceeding with any treatment. The K9 handler put out some cardboard sticky traps and I've already had a bed bug beacon in place for 4 days, so hopefully I'll be able to figure out something with those.
Buggybumpers

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Joined: Apr '11
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Posted 2 years ago
Tue May 3 2011 18:44:59
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I can tell you that BBs will bite you anywhere. I have gotten bites mostly on my arms, legs and feet and on the tops of my hands where they itch like mad. I have also had some on my back near the waist and near the neck. So far not one has bitten me on the face and I am grateful for that, but I bet others here can attest to having received bites there.