Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Detection / Identification of bed bugs
Please help ID fecal matter, smears? (photos linked)
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BugyBug Seriously
newbite
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 6offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 15 2012 15:17:29
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Hi all -
I read this forum and learned a lot all day yesterday and today I am posting some pictures and hoping for some recommendations. Yesterday morning we noticed the spots you can see on the photos here.http://www.flickr.com/photos/82701628@N03/
We did take pictures before washing the sheets (the ones without the pennies) but unfortunately they weren't super close up. I can say that the way the outer ring and inner ring are slightly different colors was like that before washing. The complication is that they may have been washed once before we even noticed - although it seems unlikely - at this point anything seems possible. After doing a thorough inspection yesterday we cannot find any bugs and the only evidence is posted here. Neither of us nor our dog seems to have unusual bites - although there is one possible "smear" on the top sheet near my face and I did have bug bite there about a week ago. After searching the entire house (in between bouts of crying) this is literally all we can find. So my first questions are - do you think those rust-ish spots are bed bugs and could those black spots on the baseboard be fecal matter? [Note - we bought this house a year ago and have slowly been remodeling - we did not paint the baseboard although we painted the walls last november.]
My second set of questions has to do with how to find a PCO - in our city none of the companies we called has very much experience dealing with bed bugs. We were just on a multi-city trip to some BB hot spots and assume we picked them up there. So if NO ONE in town seems to know as much as I do from reading the forum for an entire day (for example no one knew about bed bug blue and they all only treat with Temprid once) does anyone have any suggestions for how to best attack this? Obviously if these are bed bugs we seem to be catching it early - we just returned from our trip 2 weeks ago - and we want to get rid of them ASAP... Yesterday we did a complete vacuum session and throughout the bag, we are in the middle of washing anything that has ever touched the floor or either suitcase.
Last questions, when thinking about isolating the bed - if we don't have very many - is that a good idea? The companies I have spoken with want to encase the mattresses and put the little water things on the feet and spray the Temprid - if we do that could we cause them to disperse? Our clothing is not in our bedroom - it is stored in another room and some in the office so our suitcases were already all over the house - are we just kidding ourselves - are they already dispersed?
I thought I felt something on my face - woke up itching at 5 am and immediately turned the lights on and got the flashlight but was unable to find anything... So we have never seen a bug.
I appreciate any help or suggestions - I am feeling really alone and struggling with getting through the next couple days...
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,738offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 15 2012 20:17:22
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I would defer to the experts on fecal IDs. They're not always around quite as mich on the weekend, so hang on. I am sure an expert will see this soon.
I wouldn't take any action until you have some kind of ID.
I also would not assume the PCOs are bad if they have not heard of Bed bug blue-- it was only released a short time ago. They may be able to do a good enough job. However, if you treat without confirmed visual evidence, you may be wasting time and money.
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oldtimer
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 2,553offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 15 2012 21:20:28
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I didn't reply yet because I'm on a phone and i noticed you had a bunch of pictures. I'll comment once I'm in front of a PC... About 10:30 EST
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BugyBug Seriously
newbite
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 6offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 15 2012 21:37:10
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I appreciate it KillerQueen.
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oldtimer
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 2,553offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 15 2012 22:30:14
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The only picture that would need further investigating would be the baseboard. All the other pictures are not bed bug related. I imagine more evidence would be available if that is in fact fecal traces from a bed bug on the base board. It could be anything ... so look closer at the sleeping and resting areas to toss this one in the .. not bed bug category.
Bed bug blue ... can also take the guess work out of it. Visit usbedbugs.com for more info on that.
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your host
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 13,738offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 15 2012 22:37:44
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Here's a FAQ on Bed Bug Blue.
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oldtimer
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 2,553offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 15 2012 22:38:14
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PS. Temprid SC is a good product .. but like anything else ... i would want to see more then just that being used. It's a crack and crevice application ... they would be missing some key spots IMO if only just spraying.
They should also be doing a minimum of two treatments .... How will they know when enough is enough if they don't reinspect and treat after the first visit? I get it right 97-99% of the time on the first visit ... but I still go back a second time and make sure.
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BugyBug Seriously
newbite
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 6offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 15 2012 23:17:52
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I did look at close as possible at the baseboard spots and even took a wet qtip and swabbed it - the dot came off really easy and didn't leave any kind of red stain... I scoured the room, under mattress, box spring, metal frame all baseboards and that's the only bug evidence I could find.
Regarding next steps, does the qtip test indicate anything? I almost ripped the baseboard off but we are already in the middle of two other rooms being renovated and I couldn't quite face tearing up the one we already finished...
Any thoughts on what would cause those spots if it's not bed bugs?
Thank you so much for reading my looping post!
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BugyBug Seriously
newbite
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 6offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 15 2012 23:26:51
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That should read looong post - iPads just correct themselves as they like!
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oldtimer
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 2,553offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 15 2012 23:35:07
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It wouldn't show red after your Qtip test. (not a fan of the Qtip anything really) It could be anything as I mentioned, even fly feces. Don't count it as fecal traces from a bed bug if you aren't finding other evidence in the beds.
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