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Original poster

aaargh - WTF keep biting us???!!!!

27 replies

geekgrrl · 23/04/2007 07:26

For the past 2.5 weeks we keep being bitten by something - the bites looks like mozzie bites but slightly smaller, and often appear in clusters of two or three.
On dh and me they're mainly around the ankles and calves with the occasional one just above the trouser waistband area, the children get bitten all over though
The bites are very very itchy and we seem to get between 1-4 a day each.
We are fine overnight, it would seem that we get bitten in our lounge/dining room/kitchen space.

I thought it was fleas at first and had actually found a half-dead flea on the floor in our d/s toilet, and whilst it did seem like an unlikely scenario (we have no pets and no carpet flooring and I do hoover quite frequently) I treated it as a flea infestation and sprayed the furniture & skirting boards etc thoroughly and repeatedly. The bites continued and I bought a flea trap, which hasn't caught anything. I've not seen anything else other than that lone flea, which I guess could have come in from outside - and I really have looked rather a lot.
I'm so fed up. Dd1 and I went away for the weekend and it was so pleasant to not get bitten for a change.
Any ideas what it could be?

OP posts:

Pruni · 23/04/2007 07:34

Message withdrawn

Pruni · 23/04/2007 07:35

Message withdrawn

fryalot · 23/04/2007 07:35

Have you thought about ringing a pest control firm, not necessarily to use them, but to get their advice. If you are sure it is not fleas (ooh, am itching myself now) then they may have some ideas

Original poster

geekgrrl · 23/04/2007 07:43

yes, thankfully it doesn't appear to be bed bugs [phew] We live in N. Yorks.

Am starting to wonder now whether we suddenly get midges down here and whether midge bites don't come up until a while later....?

squonk, I think I will do that. 'm so sick of it.

OP posts:

Blandmum · 23/04/2007 07:50

Sorry to tell you, but clusters on the legs sound life fleas to me. Cat or dog fleas.

Original poster

geekgrrl · 23/04/2007 08:00

mb but wouldn't we see them? Just the occasional one? My friend said you can see them jump...
And the flea trap is supposedly very effective but hasn't caught anything...

Also, no cat or dog in this house or even in the vicinity.

Would actually be quite pleased if it turned out to 'just' be fleas.

OP posts:

NotQuiteCockney · 23/04/2007 08:14

Are you sure it's not bed bugs? I think the bites often take a little while to come up.
They're really common and annoyingly easy to catch (my sister back home had them, and I know at least one poster on here had them, too).

I'd check through the beds etc.

NotQuiteCockney · 23/04/2007 08:15

The thing is, from what I know, fleas can feed on the wrong sort of host, but need the right sort to breed on, so a flea infestation couldn't continue without pets.

Original poster

geekgrrl · 23/04/2007 08:21

I've checked the beds v. thoroughly and in the middle of the night etc., and there's nothing... from what I've read bed bugs are quite big and easily spotted - our bedding is mostly white and if there was anything there I'd notice it.
Also, dh and I have just got a brand-new bed & mattress; and it doesn't tie in with us only getting bitten on our ankles/calves.

OP posts:

Original poster

geekgrrl · 23/04/2007 08:23

oh, one more thing - we did have a dog but rehomed it last September - he was a puppy and had fleas on and off (despite frontlining etc). Maybe it's leftover eggs from that dog which have started to hatch in the warmer weather?
It still doesn't explain why the trap isn't catching anything and why we've not seen any (other than that lone flea a couple of weeks ago)

OP posts:

fryalot · 23/04/2007 08:23

If you're being bitten on the ankles, it's got to be something in the carpet - or have you been spending a lot of time in the garden? Could it be ants?

fishie · 23/04/2007 08:24

yes it does sound exactly like fleas - if they are cat or dog they'd turn to human in desperation i think.

fryalot · 23/04/2007 08:24

Fleas can hibernate in a carpet for years and years, and wake up when it gets warm, or when a nice juicy bit of ankle walks past.

Have you treated the carpet with flea powder?

BandofMothers · 23/04/2007 08:25

Have you only just moved, cos fleas can breed in carpets and fabrics. And one flea can lay up to 15 eggs a day.
I had some last year and I saw them. They jump towards body heat. Freaked out when one jumped on my newborn dd2's body while I changed her nappy.
I used to see them on my legs and feet.

Check down the edges of your carpets esp under radiators. They start hatching when it's warm.

Also put a bowl of warm water with wash up liquid in a corner and they jump in it cos it's warm.

fishie · 23/04/2007 08:25

oh we had them in the sofa (rented flat, previous tenant's cat moved out) nowhere else. they are probably jsut in one place, but somewhere you go a lot.

Original poster

geekgrrl · 23/04/2007 08:27

we don't have carpet anywhere, it's all wooden floorboards or tiles. I've hoovered the edges etc. and sprayed them. We've been in this house for 5 years.
The flea trap I've got warms up a sticky pad which the fleas are attracted to and then stick to (supposedly ).
Really appreciate the replies btw, feel that I might get to the bottom if this

OP posts:

moopymoo · 23/04/2007 08:28

my vote, if bites are def. in house, for fleas...we had a recurring problem with them 3 years after our cat died. warm weather recently will hatch dormant eggs. keep up with spray treatment, all the stuff you have been doing and other tips here.

fryalot · 23/04/2007 08:28

The other thing you could do, is show a bite to a pharmacist or a vet.... they should be able to tell you where the bite came from.

fryalot · 23/04/2007 08:29

But if there's no carpet, then the fleas must be in the sofa, and that wouldn't explain why the bites are only on the ankles... it's got to be something that's on the floor.

NotQuiteCockney · 23/04/2007 08:29

No carpet, though.

I have had varied reports of the visibility of bed bugs these days. I do gather you can generally find their (bloody) poo, in little patches. (Like you can with nits.)

Ankles do sound like fleas ...

Original poster

geekgrrl · 23/04/2007 08:30

could they be on the underside of the sofa maybe? That's upholstered...
The sofa upper is leather.

OP posts:

moopymoo · 23/04/2007 08:30

they can live in cracks in floor boards i think, we certainly found them there. thats if its old boards, modern t and g not so sure.

BandofMothers · 23/04/2007 08:30

Hmm, sounds like you should 've seen them then or the trap should work. How wierd.
Agree with Squonk, ask someone about bites.

fryalot · 23/04/2007 08:30

that makes perfect sense. Yes, that would tie in with everything.

Original poster

geekgrrl · 23/04/2007 08:32

will tip the sofa over today and spray the bottom of it.
What a PITA
Wish I'd actually see the little feckers

OP posts:

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