Preventing Bedbug Infestations?
I live in a townhouse and just found out that my upstairs neighbor has bedbugs and has hired an exterminator to deal with his situation. At this point, since we have had no issues, I think that hiring an exterminator is a bit untimely. However, I have a toddler and a cat and am keen…
I live in a townhouse and just found out that my upstairs neighbor has bedbugs and has hired an exterminator to deal with his situation. At this point, since we have had no issues, I think that hiring an exterminator is a bit untimely. However, I have a toddler and a cat and am keen to avoid infestation and the resulting need to use noxious chemicals.
Any suggestions as to what I can do to minimize the likelihood of the infestation spreading to my apartment? So far, I have considered: (1) putting all our non-essential cloting etc. into ziplock bags, (2) putting all our books into watertight containers, (3) having the gaps where pipes come into our apartment caulked, (4) using climbup bed interceptors such as these http://www.bedbugcentral.com/shop/products.cfm/climbup-insect-interceptor-2 for our bed and the crib, and (5) holding my breath.
Thanks!
Thanks!
The first thing you want to do is not panic. Obtain and place climb up interceptor traps under all beds and be sure they are at least six inches from wall and covers do not reach the floor. These safe to use units will now protect your bed , crib etc by creating a mote that bed bugs will get caught in. In addition obtain reliable information on what to look for like at the NYC Dept. of Health site. Consider bed bug proof mattress encasements which an avoid future expense. Again don’t panic but do be alert.
if you worry about bedbugs – call the bedbug sniffing dog. they are 95% accurate and will let you know if you have something to worry about. Also note that all bedbug stories can be divided in two categories (1) I tryed to deal with it myself and it was nightmare and (2) I hired professional and now my house is clean.
So get professional. i.e. Stern Environmental services use CO2 to freeze bugs out. This is not toxic at all.
My understanding is that if you exterminate in one apartment in a building, they’ll just move to the next. The only way to get rid of them is to do an entire building at once. There is absolutely no way to completely seal off your apartment.
I’ve heard diatomaceous earth is a good alternative to chemicals. It’s this natural powder you can get in pet food stores. The microscopic shards cut the exoskeleton of bedbugs (and roaches, etc.) and it dehydrates them and they die. I hear if you sprinkle it around your baseboards, you can keep bedbugs from getting a foothold, since they will crawl across it and die before they can really do anything. It’s pet safe. I just haven’t yet figured out how to put it down without having visible white powder all over my floors, but I’m sure there’s a way.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/51188/title/Do-it-yourself_bed-bug_detector
The good news is that the neighbor hired an exterminator, and told you. That seems like they’re dealing with it responsibly. The worst scenario would be for them to start spraying willy nilly — that can cause infestations to get worse because then they go running.
I’d ask the neighbor to let you talk to the exterminator — they can inspect your place for evidence of bugs. Climbup interceptors aren’t a bad idea. Also mattress encasements — it won’t prevent them, but makes them much easier to detect. That’s probably a much more useful step than putting books away.
Putting your clothes in ziplocks won’t do anything unless you know the clothes are bedbug free. Bedbugs, and their eggs, can’t live in temps hotter than 120. If you are going to ziplock away your clothes, dry them for at least 20 minutes on hot first (once already dry).
what u want to do is seal up as much of your apartment as possible. I would go to bedbugger.com and do a search for “sealing” and read the various experiences with different types of caulks, sealants. if they come, they’re mostly likely going to come through your heating pipes or under baseboards.
you should have them spray too–unfortunately that’s the only way to beat them.
and the interceptors are good too. they won’t catch all the bugs, but will at least let you know if you have them, so you can get a jump on treating them.
but truthfully, if the apartment that has them is adjoining, I’d say move if you could pull it off. I had them this summer and believe it or not, moving will be cheaper and take up less time than dealing with BBs….
Do you guys live on St Johns Place near 8th avenue?
Incidentally bedbugs will not be interested in your cat. They need bare skin, and don’t like fur or hair.
To deflate Rob’s “bed bugs are going to take over your life” scariness… I’ve had them. And the great thing was that they didn’t find my bed! They got to my couch. And I basically did a do-it-yourself process rather than using an exterminator (I don’t trust them and the bed bugs freaked me out). I had a very small “infestation.” I’m sure I picked up one of these buggers anywhere and they hopped off onto my couch. I guess I was lucky that i discovered them early.
I ended up basically ruining my couch (the chemicals stained), but I got rid of them all. It’s been a year… and I keep checking various places periodically — still have all of the chemicals on stand-by.