Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Introductions
New here- please help
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sopc
newbite
Joined: Jun '12
Posts: 1offline
Posted 11 months ago
Sun Jun 24 2012 1:56:23
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Not sure what we have on our hands honestly. I woke up with just a few bites...three in a row a few weeks ago, then my hubby had a whole bunch that really looked like all the pics online...my daughters could have bites, but have also been outslide a lot lately and could be mosquitos???
I bought those saucer cups to put under the bedposts and have been doing my best to keep my blanket from falling to the floor at night and bed away from the wall. Bought encasements from Ber Bath and Beyond- Allergy Luxe, but now am reading that they arent the best????My ladlord called our exterminator, not a bb specialist...and he wants to spray Suspend around our room and my kids room....v nervous about that. He thinks he sees their brown spots on one or two of the slats under my daughters mattress (we have bunkbed- wooden slat have grooves in them....not sure what to to do with that)
Anyhow starting reading about DE powder...and looked on Dirt Works website...not sure which to buy....the Concern brand that says it is not feed grade, or the Perma Guard that is food grade.....I want to sprinkle around the baseboards in the room and in the back of closets etc....I see you all say it is not as safe as they say it is...I thought I could sprinkle between the matress and the box spring, but I read it will ruin the encasements???
I want to catch this before it gets out of hand...dont really have a place to store all the clothes in my apt...but have been putting everything in thr hot drying cycle..but only for a max of 70 min?? is that ok?
whats the deal with Rubbing Alcohol? And Double sided tape- should i put that around the cups under my casters? I bought these cups last year from BB website, they essintially want the bbs to crawl up and then get caught in the powder....Do I tape the outside? And how do I tape the perimeter of my bed and then not have any covers touch the tape??? Help help help....I am so tired..but nervous...I know there are a ton of new posts...but please help. I am worried about my three babies!
Thanks.
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oldtimer
Joined: May '07
Posts: 1,969offline
Posted 11 months ago
Sun Jun 24 2012 3:26:03
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Not sure what we have on our hands honestly.
This is our 1st problem... We need to identify the pest... Do not place tape around the moat devices... The moats are designed to trap bed bugs... Applying tape to them will interfere with the function of the device.
DO NOT sprinkle DE around your residence... DE should be applied in cracks. voids and crevices only... Food grade DE is required for pest control... Pool filter DE is unsafe and useless for killing bed bugs... Do not sprinkle DE in open areas where it can be disturbed.
If you concerned about your children... Don't engage in "do it yourself" pest control... Pay the pest control company to apply the DE... DE is only safe when it is applied correctly... Emotionally driven decisions lead to unsound practices.
The brown spots can be tested with a product called Bed Bug Blue to confirm bed bug activity... At this point we need physical evidence before we start any treatment.
If everyone is being bitten... bed bugs would be leaving physical evidence that could be discovered by close visual examination... At this level we should be finding digested blood, live & dead bugs. cast skins and eggs.
The fact that you are not finding any specimens in the moat devices or anything beyond some unidentified "brown spots"... suggests that we need to keep an open mind about a different source being involved.
Here is an article that might be helpful
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ent58.aspThere is additional information in the FAQs and on the Resource page.
Double sided tape is not very useful... bed bugs tend to avoid it... There are better bed bug monitors on the market.
You can use commercial glue traps, fly ribbon and flea traps to check for other sources of biting insects, but bed bugs are very tactile and usually avoid them.
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Scritch
junior member
Joined: Jun '12
Posts: 52offline
Posted 10 months ago
Wed Jun 27 2012 1:17:35
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I have food grade DE around some of my baseboards, including the one along the bed wall. In what way is it unsafe? My understanding was it was safe around humans and pets?
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flabergasted
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Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 192offline
Posted 10 months ago
Wed Jun 27 2012 1:47:44
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I have food grade DE around some of my baseboards, including the one along the bed wall. In what way is it unsafe? My understanding was it was safe around humans and pets?
Scritch DE in food grade can be added to you morning bowl of cereal and be benificial to your digestive system.
Reads Doug's reply carefully, this stuff is like inhaling simple way to put it is think of inhaling asbestos. You would not sprinkle that around your house. This stuff will toast a shop vac not just a residential house vac. So little of it is required I have had the same container for 2 years and haven't used a 1/4 of it. I only apply it in arreas where the adjoing propety is conected to my house and we couldn't seal the foundation because I would had had to tear out all my air returns. I keep a fine line behind all the beds at the head boards with the monitors and in the interceptors on the bed legs when I apply it I wear a mask and use a paint brush right into the crease of the base board, if they cross it the are dead.
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,722offline
Posted 10 months ago
Wed Jun 27 2012 9:32:55
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The FAQ on DE gives some background.
Keep in mind some DE-based products sold for pest control probably aren't "food grade" because they have pesticides added. I don't think that's the case with Concern, though.
One PCO cited in the DE FAQ (KillerQueen, I believe) recommends using a full respirator mask -- not a simple dust mask-- when applying DE. If I were trying to remove it, I'd do this too.
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