hollams
Gold Member
I've said that many times as a joke without really knowing anything about bed bugs and let's just say I now know it's not a joking matter.
My Aunt died a year ago and my Dad was handling her estate and brought home some of her purses and other items about 5 months ago and hiding in them were some bed bugs. A week later my Dad found some crawling in his room, but he wasn't sure what they were and dismissed them as ticks. Three months later my Dad passed away and then a month ago my mom started to complain about itching. That week she found a bug on her bed which when she squished red blood came out and when I researched that I saw articles on bed bugs and when I went down that weekend I confirmed she had bed bugs. I'm lucky in that I did not take any home with me when I was staying there weekends when we didn't know they had them.
I spent hours researching bed bugs and they are the worst household pest and the hardest to kill. They feed on human blood and can go 18 months without feeding. Most people aren't allergic to their bites so they can go unnoticed and spread like crazy. Luckily they don't transmit any diseases. They aren't fast bugs so they usually hang around 8-10 feet away from your bed usually on the box spring, inside creases in your mattresses, or in the outlets closest to you bed. They wait until night until you are sleeping and find you based on the carbon dioxide you exhale and the heat you generate. They will usually bite you 3 times around 5 to 15 minutes each then go back to their hiding spot. They molt up to 5 times before they become adults with each molting requiring feeding. If you move where you sleep they will eventually find you and then cause that area of the house to be infested.
They have become immune to most pesticides so the best treatment is heat as they will die around 120 degrees Fahrenheit after 30 min of exposure. We went with that method although it was very expensive, over 2k, since we just wanted them gone and didn't want to mess with pesticides that could take months to work. The exterminators came in with butane tanks, heaters, and about 20 fans all throughout the house and got the house to 130 degrees for 5 hours. They went in the house every 45 minutes to move furniture around and after it was done it took another 4 hours for the house to cool down enough for us to go back inside. The exterminators said there was a big resurgence in bed bugs and that they do 4 or 5 a week so if anyone is looking at starting a small business there is money to be made.
They also mentioned that we may see some bugs around 2 weeks after treatment, but if we noticed any after they would come out and do another treatment for free. We did find 4 non-adult bed bugs about 2 weeks later, but this weekend when I went down we didn't see any so hopefully they are gone for good. The main issue with bed bugs is psychological in that once you know you have them it's very hard to sleep as any little itch will cause to you question what caused it and you are constantly looking around your bed for any signs they may be hiding.
As one co-worker who also had bed bugs that took a year to get rid of said he wouldn't wish bed bugs on his worst enemy.
My Aunt died a year ago and my Dad was handling her estate and brought home some of her purses and other items about 5 months ago and hiding in them were some bed bugs. A week later my Dad found some crawling in his room, but he wasn't sure what they were and dismissed them as ticks. Three months later my Dad passed away and then a month ago my mom started to complain about itching. That week she found a bug on her bed which when she squished red blood came out and when I researched that I saw articles on bed bugs and when I went down that weekend I confirmed she had bed bugs. I'm lucky in that I did not take any home with me when I was staying there weekends when we didn't know they had them.
I spent hours researching bed bugs and they are the worst household pest and the hardest to kill. They feed on human blood and can go 18 months without feeding. Most people aren't allergic to their bites so they can go unnoticed and spread like crazy. Luckily they don't transmit any diseases. They aren't fast bugs so they usually hang around 8-10 feet away from your bed usually on the box spring, inside creases in your mattresses, or in the outlets closest to you bed. They wait until night until you are sleeping and find you based on the carbon dioxide you exhale and the heat you generate. They will usually bite you 3 times around 5 to 15 minutes each then go back to their hiding spot. They molt up to 5 times before they become adults with each molting requiring feeding. If you move where you sleep they will eventually find you and then cause that area of the house to be infested.
They have become immune to most pesticides so the best treatment is heat as they will die around 120 degrees Fahrenheit after 30 min of exposure. We went with that method although it was very expensive, over 2k, since we just wanted them gone and didn't want to mess with pesticides that could take months to work. The exterminators came in with butane tanks, heaters, and about 20 fans all throughout the house and got the house to 130 degrees for 5 hours. They went in the house every 45 minutes to move furniture around and after it was done it took another 4 hours for the house to cool down enough for us to go back inside. The exterminators said there was a big resurgence in bed bugs and that they do 4 or 5 a week so if anyone is looking at starting a small business there is money to be made.
They also mentioned that we may see some bugs around 2 weeks after treatment, but if we noticed any after they would come out and do another treatment for free. We did find 4 non-adult bed bugs about 2 weeks later, but this weekend when I went down we didn't see any so hopefully they are gone for good. The main issue with bed bugs is psychological in that once you know you have them it's very hard to sleep as any little itch will cause to you question what caused it and you are constantly looking around your bed for any signs they may be hiding.
As one co-worker who also had bed bugs that took a year to get rid of said he wouldn't wish bed bugs on his worst enemy.
