Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Detection / Identification of bed bugs
Treating for carpet beetles - how long until I can assume no bedbugs?
(4 posts)-
badbadbedbugs
newbite
Joined: Aug '09
Posts: 33
Posted 2 months ago
Sat Aug 29 2009 11:14:03
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Okay, as I posted in the other thread, we KNOW we have carpet beetles (I've seen one adult and enough larvae to know without a doubt that they are there.)
We've boraxed the bedroom, let it sit for 48 hrs, vacuumed within an inch of our lives, washed and changed the sheets, gotten rid of the bed skirt and matress cover (which was really thin). We now have white sheets on the bed.
In the past 3 nights (since the cleaning started) NO BITES!!!!! We keep inspecting for bugs (with flashlight) and we've found a lot of really scary looking lint and a few dead carpet beetle larvae but no bug casings, no feces, no live bed bugs (we have never found casings, feces or a live bed bug. The PCO also did not find any of these but thought we had BB because of the bites and 2 'eggs' he found. He did not do anything about those eggs. They could have been carpet beetle eggs right?). How long until I can stop going crazy thinking we have bed bugs as well as carpet beetles? How long would it take for bed bugs to really make an appearance?
And most importantly would the aggressive cleaning we've done slow down bed bugs or would I still be getting bites at night? (of course, I'm the only one getting bites. My partner, the baby and the 4 yr old are bite free and have been all along.
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The standard around here seems to be 60 days bite-free to be absolutely certain. Unfortunately, 3 days is probably meaningless since bed bugs generally feed every 5-7 days, so anything within that range is still a definite possibility.
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NewBlood
newbite
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 47
Posted 1 month ago
Thu Oct 1 2009 11:16:33
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"How long until I can stop going crazy thinking we have bed bugs as well as carpet beetles?"
From what I have seen one never stops going crazy. The craziness LEVEL decreases, but one is always crazy once you know what Bed Bugs are, how difficult they are to treat and even inspect for, and how the bites/itching makes you paranoid. I'm dealing with a possible infestation myself - as I was bitten many times along my ankles/legs a month ago and could swear I am STILL receiving bites now (although I have really bad skin, and some of what I thought were new bites are definitely NOT new bites).
"How long would it take for bed bugs to really make an appearance?"
I believe this would depend on the level of infestation you have. I know that's not what you want to hear - but there are some folks here who were bit for months and months without ever seeing a bed bug. I know I can't find a single trace of the critters after examining my bed, spring board, outlets, furniture, and the like. I have seen no blood specs, no smell, no casings and definitely no live bugs.
"And most importantly would the aggressive cleaning we've done slow down bed bugs or would I still be getting bites at night?"
It's possible that you could/would have killed some of the eggs! You could have vaccumed up some of them too if you were doing such cleaning. However - if hungry ones were hiding in places you couldn't reach and got hungry they would creep out to bite you if you missed them. If I'm wrong someone please correct me. :) I'd like to think that aggressive cleaning will at least slow them down - as if you have some you'd hopefully get a few of them by the efforts. I think of that at least when I do my cleaning.
- NewBlood
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bugcrazylady
newbite
Joined: Nov '09
Posts: 10
Posted 2 days ago
Wed Nov 18 2009 23:38:47
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Hi, I'm confused. do carpet beetles also bite? I think I have seen shells of these in my apartment, but I didn't think they could bite...
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