Bed bugs

[goo_mason]

Strange that this should appear on the BBC News website today, as I discovered I had the little buggers two weeks ago and had to spend £350 last Friday getting the flat treated. I now have a 4ft-high pile of clothing in sealed black bin bags in my bath which I have to go through and wash / dry before I can put them back in my wardrobes & drawers.

I had to totally pack up & clear three rooms plus my hall in the space of a day and an evening, all on my own - made worse by the fact that you can no longer just nip down to the shops to pick up cardboard boxes to use for packing. The full day was spent from 7.00am - 11.30pm checking, packing & sealing everything up - I was shattered by the end and my back hasn't recovered since.

I now dread going to bed at night, and just lying in it makes me feel dirty, itchy and terrified that they're lurking and ready to feed the minute I fall asleep. What's worse is that even though the treatment has been carried out, they'll still be at me for 3 - 4 weeks. The adults are pretty much all killed by the initial treatment but it doesn't kill off the eggs. They need to hatch and the young need to wander around to pick up the insecticide on their bodies that'll kill them off - meaning they need to come out and feast to get poisoned. Same for any adults that escaped being sprayed.

No idea where I picked them up from, but the infestation level would tie in with bringing back some uninvited stowaways after my hotel stay in a rather grand hotel in Lytham St Annes earlier this year.....

At least I now know what they look like (and they're small beetle-sized, not microscopic - that's dust mites), what the signs of infestation are and where to check for them - but I guess I'll now be paranoid and checking every bed I ever use before I get in it for the rest of my life.

A truly horrible, vile experience - nothing like putting the light on in the morning and finding a bloated, blood-filled bed-bug making a dash to hide beneath your pillow. Hopefully by the time I get my follow-up inspection in 6 weeks, I'll get the all clear - then I have to buy a new bed & mattress. Until then, I live in a filthy flat as I'm not allowed to hoover or dust for two weeks, and then only very light hoovering for 4 weeks. Not ideal with the cat's hair and bits of cat-litter eveywhere.

Anyone else had these things or experienced them?

 

[zimzum42]

you need to get this done!

 

[summerdays]

Yuk - sounds like a very bad experience, I hope the next couple of weeks pass quickly. Could you sleep on a camp bed in the mean time or would that not help... do they need to be enticed out to feed on you to catch them anyway (not knowing much about the subject).

 

[goo_mason]

Yuk - sounds like a very bad experience, I hope the next couple of weeks pass quickly. Could you sleep on a camp bed in the mean time or would that not help... do they need to be enticed out to feed on you to catch them anyway (not knowing much about the subject).

If I went off to a different room, they'd likely start wandering out of my bedroom to find food and perhaps spread the problem. Yes, they'd likely come into contact with the insecticide and die but the risk of having them move to different rooms and maybe one or two surviving to start all over again isn't worth thinking about.

They're not always in the bed to start with either - they live in cracks and tight spots so are just as likely to be hiding in the electrical sockets, behind pictures on the wall, under skirting boards, in books on bookcases etc and will emerge to climb back up into the bed when you're asleep. I used to wrongly imagine that they simply lived in your mattress and you could just get rid of it to cure the problem.

 

[Globalti]

Feck! Mrs Gti would hit the roof if I brought something back from Africa!

 

[Toshiba Boy]

Feck! Mrs Gti would hit the roof if I brought something back from Africa!

What, like a Zebra?

 

[Yellow Fang]

I have a friend who became a pest controller. Eradicating bed bugs is a big part of his living. They sound like little blighters, and costly to eradicate. It's not something you can really do yourself, so I understand, because of the nasty chemicals. You can't even starve them out because they can hibernate for a long time.

 

[661-Pete]

Yuck! I'm fascinated by insects, in general, but these creatures are happily beyond my experience (I wish the same could be said of cockroaches - and fly maggots.... ). Sounds, from all the internet stuff, as if nothing short of taking off and nuking your house from orbit will eradicate the blighters. Call the professionals I guess.

I've read that they have a distinctive smell, apparently a pheromone given off by the males. Various accounts liken it to raspberries, almonds, and coriander. Can anyone enlighten us?

 

[Archie_tect]

Can't stop scratching after reading that!

How can you tell you've got them if you never see one g_m? ... do they bite leaving red blotches?

 

[fossyant]

Nightmare.

There is a huge problem in the US. You are most likely right about coming from a hotel though, travel is spreading them.

Sounds massively expensive to treat............

Argh...............

 

[fossyant]

Can't stop scratching after reading that!

How can you tell you've got them if you never see one g_m? ... do they bite leaving red blotches?

And you'll have spots of blood on your bed sheets from you............

 

[Globalti]

Don't they lodge in the groin?

 

[661-Pete]

Don't they lodge in the groin?

Er... no. You're thinking of pubic lice aka crab lice. (*phew*)

 

[markg0vbr]

as you know i am a contract killer.
you should have a revisit booked in for a month to six weeks after the first treatment, with monitoring to see if you need a third treatment.

first hint of a problem are bites around the neck and face and small black spots on beding.

prevention is the key, when going on a trip.
spray all your luggage inside and out with a water based insect spray ie ant spray with "deltemitherin 0.05%" allow to dry so do this the day before you go, put all you clothing in plastic bags. at the hotel pull back the sheets and look along the piping on the mattress for small black dots if you see any, dampen a tissue and wipe them if they turn red it is partly digested blood.
when you get home put your plastic bags with clothing to wash spray your luggage again and put into plastic bags fastened up for storage.

 

[fossyant]

Ergh.......we are off to London for a few days in a 'probably' busy hotel............in November........ what do we do to prevent this...........