Bed Bugs Are Bastards

[Iron Woode]

I discovered bed bugs in my couch in mid February. They bit the heck out of my arm. It took me a while to figure out what was doing it. I was actually bitten back in mid January but I had no idea what it was.

I finally saw one of the buggers and was like FML! They were also in my easy chair. That really pissed me off. They managed to get into my bedroom but they were small in number and I was never bitten in there. My bathroom and my kitchen are safe zones.

I started bagging my clothing, bedsheets, etc... and washing them in hot water and drying them in a hot dryer. Keeping them bagged so they stay safe. Got rid of a bunch of clutter and vacuumed the furniture and the living room and bedroom. I then tossed out the bag.

I also started getting paranoid about them. I had problems sleeping and thought bugs were crawling on me. It was driving me nuts.

I told my Landlord as soon as I discovered them and arranged for an exterminator to come out. I had to wait over a week for them to arrive. They came Monday and sprayed and told me to come back 6 hours later. The place smells a bit odd.

We'll see if those bastards are gone.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I think the cold kills them. Turn off the heat, open the windows, leave water faucets running and go live in a hotel for a few days.

 

[Iron Woode]

I think the cold kills them. Turn off the heat, open the windows, leave water faucets running and go live in a hotel for a few days.

I live in an apt. I have no control over the heat.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I live in an apt. I have no control over the heat.

Oh that sucks, and even if you kill them, they could be coming from another unit.

Dry ice the hell out of the place, if that does not work, move.

Intense heat also kills them, do you pay for hydro? :twisted:

 

[Iron Woode]

Oh that sucks, and even if you kill them, they could be coming from another unit.

Dry ice the hell out of the place, if that does not work, move.

Intense heat also kills them, do you pay for hydro? :twisted:

the guy sprayed the adjacent units today.

My utilities are included.

EDIT: the unit beside me was renovated just before Christmas. That unit hasn't been updated in 18 years. They could have come from there.

 

[ViRGE]

Oh that sucks, and even if you kill them, they could be coming from another unit.

Indeed. I don't mean to be a downer when you're clearly already freaking out about the situation, but "bed bugs are bastards" is an understatement when it comes to shared housing.

They're difficult to get rid of even in single family housing (DDT-free pesticides don't work very well), and most landlords don't do enough to simultaneously get them in shared housing.:|

 

[Iron Woode]

Indeed. I don't mean to be a downer when you're clearly already freaking out about the situation, but "bed bugs are bastards" is an understatement when it comes to shared housing.

They're difficult to get rid of even in single family housing (DDT-free pesticides don't work very well), and most landlords don't do enough to simultaneously get them in shared housing.:|

there is an outbreak of them in my city now.

I have seriously considered moving for the last 2 months. I just haven't found a place that is right for me yet.

 

[BoomerD]

Oh that sucks, and even if you kill them, they could be coming from another unit.

Dry ice the hell out of the place, if that does not work, move.

Intense heat also kills them, do you pay for hydro? :twisted:

Unfortunately, once you have them...if you move, you move them with you.

Bed bugs are very difficult to eradicate...

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Washing your clothes/linens in hot water does not really help. I've had them once and I had to use one of those Raidmax room nukes. I never saw one of those buggers but they would leave that 3 bite line all over my arms and body. The nuke finally did the job.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I think the issue is the eggs survive practically everything so anything you do, you need to do it in waves so that the newborns don't have time to lay more eggs. Not sure what their life cycles are like.

The way they mate is also rather barbaric. Bed bugs don't mate, they get raped.

 

[IGBT]

that's what you get for letting all those homeless guys in the house.

 

[Iron Woode]

I think the issue is the eggs survive practically everything so anything you do, you need to do it in waves so that the newborns don't have time to lay more eggs. Not sure what their life cycles are like.

The way they mate is also rather barbaric. Bed bugs don't mate, they get raped.

that explains why they are such bastards.

The pest control company is coming back in 2 weeks for a follow up spraying.

 

[Newbian]

Well you might as well burn everything with fire now.

 

[KlokWyze]

nuke it from orbit its the......

 

[mizzou]

If they don't bite you, they don't live.

The problem is that 1 house that lets them bite the shit out of everything and anyone.

 

[JManInPhoenix]

I discovered bed bugs in my couch in mid February.

I always have bedbug phobia every time I stay in a hotel for travel. Those things freak me out.

 

[Jimzz]

Yea 1 spraying will not get rid of them. Also its heat that kills them. Usually the pest control will have to spray and either tent the house and/or put heaters in it to really kill them.

So get the place as hot as you can and use warm water when you wash your clothes. If you see one report it right away and start scrubbing again. They multiply fast.

 

[NetWareHead]

Unfortunately, once you have them...if you move, you move them with you.

Bed bugs are very difficult to eradicate...

Yep. I sold my mattress and moved when my apartment building came down with bedbugs. Didn't want to take any chances

 

[NetWareHead]

You need some Diatomaceous earth, usually available at garden shops. This powder will dry the hell out of bedbugs and dessicate their little bodies. You need to use a multi pronged approach to bedbugs. Look up online where they live in a bed and furniture and spread some of this powder in all of their hiding spots. Under the bed, in between box spring and mattress and on top of mattress. Inside furniture, inside couches, between cushions etc... do your research. And then you need to bomb the place ever few weeks with a bedbug fumigant. They will attempt to seek shelter from the fumigant by hiding in your bed/furniture etc... but the diatomaceous earth will kill them there too.

 

[slag]

I live in an apt. I have no control over the heat.

Huh? Sure you do.. Every apartment unless it is a rat infested scummy place..... oh wait, you have bedbugs.

Nevermind.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Yep. I sold my mattress and moved when my apartment building came down with bedbugs. Didn't want to take any chances

Lol, so you let someone else take a chance that you already had them.

You are THAT guy.

 

[bignateyk]

I live in an apt. I have no control over the heat.

You're fucked. Unless they fumigate the ENTIRE apartment building at the same time, they aren't going away. They are likely in the walls between units.

This happened to an apartment building I lived at in college. They sent exterminators out 3 or 4 times, and they always came right back. You need to throw away everything you own and move.

I put up with that misery for 4 months until I moved. I got rid of everything. I sure as hell wasn't going to take a chance of bringing them to my new house.

 

[bignateyk]

Huh? Sure you do.. Every apartment unless it is a rat infested scummy place..... oh wait, you have bedbugs.

Nevermind.

It takes temperatures below 20 degrees for days on end to kill bed bugs. No way in hell you could get an apartment that cold even if you opened all the windows in the middle of winter and turned off the heat. There's too much heat coming through the walls and floor.

 

[Jimzz]

Lol, so you let someone else take a chance that you already had them.

You are THAT guy.

Craigslist

Cheap used mattress. Slightly stained with possible bedbugs. First $50... FIRM!!!

 

[Jimzz]

It takes temperatures below 20 degrees for days on end to kill bed bugs. No way in hell you could get an apartment that cold even if you opened all the windows in the middle of winter and turned off the heat. There's too much heat coming through the walls and floor.

Yep cold is to hard to do unless you rip out all your insulation. Best to use heat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_bug_control_techniques