Do You And Your Family/Room Mates Have Bed Bugs?

[crystal_waters]

I was watching a tv show and they said bed bugs are so common 1 in every 5 person in the usa has them, and they will be a global pandemic if they keep spreading,

My question is, have you and you family/room mate ever have bed bugs /currently have bed bugs

Whats it like living with them? ,

 

[CMSUVulcan]

I was watching a tv show and they said bed bugs are so common 1 in every 5 person in the usa has them, and they will be a global pandemic if they keep spreading,

My question is, have you and you family/room mate ever have bed bugs /currently have bed bugs

Whats it like living with them? ,

What’s it like living with bedbugs? Well, how do I put this? If I were Dante and were describing the various circles of Hell I would definitely include them in a mid to lower level. I would think they would be a great ironic punishment for sloth. I am serious, they are one of the most terrible things on this planet. Although they don’t transmit any diseases I would rather have an apartment with a cockroach infestation than a bedbug infestation for the simple fact that roaches rarely have you on the menu whereas the bedbug wants to eat your blood. The bedbug bite stings kind of like a misquito but somehow seems to last longer. Also, unlike roaches where all you normally have to do is thoroughly clean your house paying special attention to dark corners and in your cupboards and set off a couple of bug bombs to get rid of them, bed bugs don’t care if your place is spotless and immaculately clean or not. They will be there. If you have the little critters, don’t wait, get some diatomaceous earth and kill them because if you’re a light sleeper like me, they will ruin your sleep like nothing else. On the list of insects I hate, they are even lower than the cockroach, the flea, the tick, and the misquito.

 

[crystal_waters]

What’s it like living with bedbugs? Well, how do I put this? If I were Dante and were describing the various circles of Hell I would definitely include them in a mid to lower level. I would think they would be a great ironic punishment for sloth. I am serious, they are one of the most terrible things on this planet. Although they don’t transmit any diseases I would rather have an apartment with a cockroach infestation than a bedbug infestation for the simple fact that roaches rarely have you on the menu whereas the bedbug wants to eat your blood. The bedbug bite stings kind of like a misquito but somehow seems to last longer. Also, unlike roaches where all you normally have to do is thoroughly clean your house paying special attention to dark corners and in your cupboards and set off a couple of bug bombs to get rid of them, bed bugs don’t care if your place is spotless and immaculately clean or not. They will be there. If you have the little critters, don’t wait, get some diatomaceous earth and kill them because if you’re a light sleeper like me, they will ruin your sleep like nothing else. On the list of insects I hate, they are even lower than the cockroach, the flea, the tick, and the misquito.

You sound like you,ve experienced it first hand, what is diatomaceous earth?

 

[Rhubarb]

Diatomaceaous earth is a sort of powder made from deposits of silica left over from the hard cell shells of diatoms that have died. The powder is so fine it clings to the exoskeleton of bugs and kills them. It also works for slugs and snails. You just dust the areas you see the critters in and traveling through. Good hardware or garden supply stores should carry it.

I had a buddy who was stuck in an apartment for a few months that got infested. He tried diatomaceous earth and it didn’t do the job. They werew oming down from the ceiling and he couldn’t properly powder the holes and paths.

 

[crystal_waters]

Diatomaceaous earth is a sort of powder made from deposits of silica left over from the hard cell shells of diatoms that have died. The powder is so fine it clings to the exoskeleton of bugs and kills them. It also works for slugs and snails. You just dust the areas you see the critters in and traveling through. Good hardware or garden supply stores should carry it.

I had a buddy who was stuck in an apartment for a few months that got infested. He tried diatomaceous earth and it didn’t do the job. They werew oming down from the ceiling and he couldn’t properly powder the holes and paths.

From the ceiling? Wow!!!

 

[Kelfa28]

My husband said his deployment overseas would have been infinitely more tolerable if everyone wasn’t plagued with bed bugs.

I’ve never experienced them…I’ve been told I would never want to…they sound absolutely awful and very difficult to get rid of.

 

[CMSUVulcan]

Diatomaceaous earth is a sort of powder made from deposits of silica left over from the hard cell shells of diatoms that have died. The powder is so fine it clings to the exoskeleton of bugs and kills them. It also works for slugs and snails. You just dust the areas you see the critters in and traveling through. Good hardware or garden supply stores should carry it.

I had a buddy who was stuck in an apartment for a few months that got infested. He tried diatomaceous earth and it didn’t do the job. They werew oming down from the ceiling and he couldn’t properly powder the holes and paths.

Yeeesh, from the ceiling? That makes my skin crawl. However, you are right that is what DE is. The only problem I had with DE is that being so fine --I won’t lie I saturated an entire room with it to get rid of the little devils – it gets on everything, in everything, and even in your lungs and the only way that you can really get vacuum it up later is with a shop vac. That being said, DE is a God Send and I was so happy I had it last year when the critters invaded my apartment.

 

[daledalton]

I am lucky in this case. I dont have bed bugs.

 

[TEPO]

I stayed in a motel one time and was attacked by bed bugs. It was horrible -I got a full refund and plan to never return there again.

…as far as my personal home, absolutely not. Not ever, nor anyone else I’ve ever known my entire life has had bed bugs in their own home.

 

[CarolNoel]

Don’t have any and have not had the unfortunate experience of having them bite me.

 

[aspirant]

My question is, have you and you family/room mate ever have bed bugs /currently have bed bugs

Whats it like living with them? ,

I once lived in an apartment building that had bed bugs-- where they came from, I do not know, because the building did not initially have bed bugs. I agree with CMSUVulcan’s preference for roaches, ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes. I would also add ants, bees, wasps, mice, and spiders to the critters I prefer to bed bugs. In my experience, bed bugs are much worse and much harder to get rid of than all of those. The welts are much itchier and longer lasting than mosquito bites.

Many other pests can be actively baited and/or trapped and disposed of. Bed bugs are apparently attracted to animal blood, warmth, and/or the carbon dioxide animals exhale, making it very difficult to bait them with anything other than yourself and any other animals that might live with you. When my building was infested, for example, active baiting techniques (sometimes used by hotels) cost hundreds of dollars, way outside my price range. (There appears to have been more research and more options now.) They’re also quite hard to kill. According to what I read, they can survive up to two years without feeding. They can also survive some pretty high and low temperatures. If you can isolate them from food (i.e. all your family members) for two years, or subject them all to fire or freezing for some period of time, that’s great, but it’s very hard to do. (I did manage to have my suitcase and its contents locked in an industrial freezer for a month, just in case any were in it.) Additionally, many of the poisonous substances that might be used to kill bed bugs are also dangerous to humans and other animals-- not exactly substances one wants near the bed.

Many things I tried did not help. Some things did help. My bed frame was not made of wood, thank God, so the bed bugs weren’t living in that. I was able to put the bed feet in yogurt cups of water, creating a moat the bugs couldn’t cross. I encased my mattress in sealed plastic, so if any were living inside it they could not get to me through it. I surrounded the mattress with extremely sticky double-sided tape to hinder any bugs that might get past other barriers. I never put anything on the surface of the bed other than myself and bedclothes that had spent some time in the dryer at very high temperatures.

I now live elsewhere and haven’t had any signs of bed bugs, thanks be to God.