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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

Evidence of Bed bugs needed

20 replies

AaHu · 27/08/2023 07:49

Hi
i posted a few days about suspected bed bugs and have since contacted the council for treatment.
They do not offer the heat treatment but the spray x 3 treatments for £600 - almoat £1000 cheaper than private pest control companies.
The problem is I have no pictures of any bed bugs to find to send them and they cannot start treatment without identifying the bug.
i have turned my room upside down and found no bugs including behind all the furniture and frames and bed/matteress.
Can you advise as not sure how to find one to get treatment started esp as I hear they can hide for weeks!

thanks in advance

OP posts:

Sunsnet · 27/08/2023 08:52

Check at night when they come out to feed. There will be loads of the buggers! You should also be able to see their droppings in the corner of the mattresses and in other nooks and crannies. What evidence have you found?

Original poster

AaHu · 27/08/2023 08:58

Just bite marks - although none in a line. Gp said suspected bed bugs. I have literally turned my room upside down and didnt find any evidence except this on sheets.

OP posts:

Sunsnet · 27/08/2023 09:05

your previous post said you found some dead ones. What did they look like? Have you found any blood on your sheets?

MarshyMcMarshFace · 27/08/2023 09:48

Get up about an hour after you have gone to bed and pull the duvet back.

If there are live bugs, they will be there.

gamerchick · 27/08/2023 09:50

They like to sit on the ceiling as well.

What makes you think they're bedbugs? They look like fleas to me going on those photos.

maslinpan · 27/08/2023 10:27

Buy some bed bug traps, they are cheap and effective for collecting some specimens.

Original poster

AaHu · 27/08/2023 15:16

I found 2 dead which husband hoovered but i cant really remember what they looked like? Small and red maybe? But could be paranoia.
no blood on sheets. I have in the middle of night gt flash light out and checked in bed but nothing.

OP posts:

Sssudio · 27/08/2023 15:24

If they are bed bugs (which id unlikely to have those bites and no trace) you should also have black dots on the mattress around the seams and or on the slats. They liked hiding under where the slats attach to or rest on the bed frame.

If you have a fabric headboard look at the back of it. Any blood spots/smears on the sheets.

If none of the above and you either haver pets or are often in a house who does I would reckon it's fleas. When we had bedbugs once we looked it was so obvious, there was evidence everywhere. And once in bed they'd really quite quickly appear

amylou8 · 27/08/2023 15:26

They look like flea bites, we're having a nightmare with cat fleas this year.
Amazon do sticky flea trap lamps. Maybe invest in a couple of those, put them in the bedroom and hopefully they'll catch whatever is lurking.

Original poster

AaHu · 27/08/2023 18:10

I dismantled the slats and nothing. We did move the headboard but it is a dark velvet greay bedframe so maybe hard to see. The only signs i thought I had are the marks on the bed sheets and the bites.
My motherinlaw has a cat but they dont have any bites or marks like my household does.

OP posts:

Glovesandscarf · 27/08/2023 18:13

Earlier this year I got paranoid that we had bed bugs, but could find no evidence. Eventually I found a single flea in our bed. Bit weird as we have no indoor pets, but there you are, caught it & no more problems. Bites much like yours, although all torso & ankles.

t1479 · 27/08/2023 20:22

I think flea bites can become a problem when their animal is not around, right? So if MIL has a cat somewhere you've visited, maybe you've brought a flea or two home on clothing, and now they're going for human blood because they can't get cat? Would explain your MIL's household not having bites.

Sunsnet · 27/08/2023 22:47

AaHu · 27/08/2023 15:16

Doesn't sound like bed bugs to me and the bites look nothing like them. I'd wait until you have signs of them before spending money on exterminators.

If you really want to get them in, just in case, just send them a stock photo as 'proof'. Or if you really want I can send you one I took from a holiday from hell i had last year!

YukoandHiro · 27/08/2023 22:49

The black mark on that sheet isn't bed bugs. The marks look like dots where a felt pen has dropped.

BigBadaBoom · 27/08/2023 22:57

Rentakill sells bed bug traps with a chemical that attracts bed bugs and a sticky pad they get stuck to. That should prove it one way or the other. You'll probably catch other insects too, so you'll want to check them closely before deciding they really are bed bugs.

Original poster

AaHu · 30/08/2023 09:35

I found something. Is this a bed bug

OP posts:

SirVixofVixHall · 30/08/2023 15:54

The bites look like flea bites to me.

DaddysGirl36 · 01/09/2023 22:55

Jumping on this thread as I'm stressed to bits worrying we have bed bugs. I can't find any evidence & GP doesn't think it's bed bugs but can't identify the bites. Something has pretty much eaten my son alive & they look horrific, not very itchy apparently but sore & some have blistered. They are all over his arms, legs & torso

Those with evidence of bed bugs, can you help me identify if this is likely or alternatively any idea what else it might be? I don't want him to get worse

P.S. He's on antibiotics because some look infected

Missingmyusername · 02/09/2023 20:19

@DaddysGirl36 looks like it could be chicken pox, but you’ve seen a G.P so I guess not… that looks very painful. Horsefly bites?

When did they develop?
Where has he been the last week or so?
Are there more daily?
How long has he had them?

DaddysGirl36 · 02/09/2023 20:51

A GP & Pharmacist both assessed & diagnosed insect bites but did not identify source. Said its too difficult

They started Wednesday, more appeared Thursday & much worse Friday. None since. Most have blistered badly which look terrible but not bothering him.

He has been outdoors lots in parks, gardens & also by a riverside. We got back from Spain 2 weeks ago

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