Bedbugs and travel

[rescueme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigNick I don't know if bed bugs are becoming a bigger problem.

Here's some reasons why:

Bed Bug History

[Charlie_Boy]

You can check the Bed Bug Registry: Bed Bug Registry - Check Apartments and Hotels Across North America

[Janet H]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie_Boy You can check the Bed Bug Registry: Bed Bug Registry - Check Apartments and Hotels Across North America

Thanks for the link! Highly useful (in a 'my skin is twitching' sort of way).

[chris2008]

Here you can check hotels and adresses:
Bed Bug Registry - Check Apartments and Hotels Across North America

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rescueme Here's some reasons why: Bed Bug History

That article does indicate that regular spraying for other bugs will prevent infestations, but that pest control companies now are using baits instead of sprays, which is not at all effective.

I do my own spraying, and always spray under the beds with the nozzle facing up toward the box springs. This won't help me in a dodgy hotel room, but I hope I never bring them home!

[happy2bretired]

Thank goodness the hotel in Chicago where we stayed was not listed, however, one very nice one close by was.

I'm getting a mattress cover. Seems like they are everywhere.

Quote:

The bloodsuckers shut down an Abercrombie & Fitch clothing store in the South Street Seaport Friday - two days after an infestation forced a sister shop in SoHo to close its doors. Read more: Bedbugs force yet another store to shutter its doors, this time it's Abercrombie & Fitch at Seaport

I would like to visit New York some day but I don't know now.

[NW Landlady]

Up until 5 months ago I had never seen/heard of bed bugs.

Unfortunately, since we usually do our own Pest Control in Apts, I have seen 'em more that I would like to lately. (fortunately, only in one Bldg)

We have gotten rid of them (so far, knock on wood) using a combination of EPA approved pyretheum spray and simply sprinkling everywhere in the Apt with Silica Gel (we grind up silica gel Kitty Litter to a fine powder). It is this powder that is the most effective & flattens the bug population quickly - just a drag to have everywhere. We also drill holes in the walls every 16 inches (between studs) and spray with dust (Drione) inside the walls to prevent transmission to other units.

Actually, I am totally paranoid about Bed Bugs after this experience. When I returned home from one of these treatments in an apt that was the worst swarm I had ever seen, I was shocked to find a few bugs clinging to my clothes and bare arms -- even after a close inspection had seen none.

Definitely don't want to get the bugs & now I am creeped out by it when I travel....

[haha]

When I was a little boy traveling with my family we picked up bedbugs in Biloxi, MS. Somehow we got rid of them before returning home, because I don't remember any ongoing problems.

Ha

[Orchidflower]

Didn't read this whole thread yet, so hope nobody posted this before; but, I did read this article and there are some great tips in it about how to avoid bringing home the bedbugs, specifically, one being put your suitcase on the bathroom shelf away from the bed. This article has some good stuff:

Check for bedbugs, and don't bring them home Travel - MarketWatch

Bedbugs are the worst according to someone I saw talking on tv the other in the State of Ohio. Why Ohio

Never seen them, but they say they are the size of an apple seed. That should help us look for them.

[W2R]

I have never had bedbugs, and I have never even seen a bedbug or known anybody who has. So, maybe I don't know what I am talking about.

But anyway, if I got a bedbug bite while traveling I'd notify the hotel and seek whatever treatment I needed and a room at another hotel at their expense. Once I got home I would call the pest control to make sure I didn't bring any home from my travels, and then I would go on with life.

[Martha]

W2R, the risk is probably small of encountering a problem with bed bug. However, when you do it can cause all sorts of havoc. Part of the problem is that you don't always know you have been bit. Some people react more than others. So, you can inadvertently bring them home. Often people don't know they got them from somewhere until they end up with a serious infestation at home. Then the problem is that it is very, very difficult to get rid of an infestation. Pest control people differ on what should be done. Heat? Poisons? Cold? All of the above? Poisons that once were good at dealing with them are no longer available and everything else is not a sure thing. They even hide in picture frames and electrical outlets.

Anyway, I've been reading up on this as I am looking for an apartment to rent in the city and want to minimize my risk. The place I really wanted to rent near my good friends' house and a park I like is listed on one of the bed bug reporting sites. Also, I am setting up a hotel for a seminar I am going to at the end of the month. Most all the downtown Minneapolis hotels are listed on one of the bed bug registries. I think that I will stay with friends.

Because of the increasing prevalence of this problem and how difficult it is to deal with, I am no longer likely to buy a condo.

[NW Landlady]

One thing I have noticed with tenants who get BBugs, is that at first they may think they have fleas. The bite site is similar & itchy. But I always ask them WHERE they were bit & while a flea will bite anywhere, they tend to focus on the lower extremities, especially ankles & calf legs. BBugs favor the arms & upper extremities, although like flea they will bite anywhere. Have no idea why this is so (perhaps because fleas jump out of the carpet?), but it is one "red flag" I look for. We then look further into places like the mattress for brown spots which are actually BBug excrement of human blood (UGH!! Sorry if this is TMI).

There are ways to detect BBugs that if you google for BBug detection/monitoring you can find. Once we have eradicated the problem we run a Monitoring device in the apt to make sure they are truly gone. One is a CO2 based system (only for empty apt/home), the other is heat related. Just some tips for the timid.

[DangerMouse]

Bed bug bites are vastly different from flea bites. When I was getting bitten I went to both my primary care Dr and Dermatologist and neither diagnosed my bites as bed bugs. However the classic bed bug bite will be 3 sites close together, that is breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only places I was ever bitten was on my left arm, just about the elbow and at the back of my neck. I found my bites would itch for days after they happened, they were so constantly itchy and nothing stopped the itch.

When they check our mattress the bugs seemed to be living at the top of the mattress which probably explains why they feasted at the top of the body. That said, they went right by DH yet they bypassed him every time and only ever bit me.

[Moemg]

Thanks for the bed bug registry site . We are spending Thanksgiving in Philadelphia and I was shocked at the hotels that have had bed bugs .

[Martha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg Thanks for the bed bug registry site . We are spending Thanksgiving in Philadelphia and I was shocked at the hotels that have had bed bugs .

Also check Bed Bug Hotels - Bed Bug Hotel Reports - Bed Bug Apartment Reports as well as Bed Bug Registry - Check Apartments and Hotels Across North America.

[73ss454]

You guys are creaping me out. I just got down to the Fl Keys and I checked the bed and room real good.

[Moemg]

This article creeped me out .
Beating back bedbugs - MSN Real Estate

[73ss454]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73ss454 You guys are creaping me out. I just got down to the Fl Keys and I checked the bed and room real good.

I guess we didn't check good enough. We left Hawks Cay today and drove north to a friends house. When we got there DW opened her baggage and out came a bed bug. Needless to say she is freaked out. We just called the hotel and tomorrow a manager is going to call us, not that they can do anything for us at this point.

DW was itching her leg from the first night we got there and thought it was a mosquito bite. As we now have learned it wasn't a mosquito. Seems they bite in a pattern of 3 which is what DW had and I didn't even realize till we looked on the internet tonight. I guess I have to do some research as to what to do now.

Mean while all our stuff is out in our friends garage till we figure out what to do.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73ss454 Mean while all our stuff is out in our friends garage till we figure out what to do.

Put everything in the oven. Bake for one hour at 140 degrees.

Seriously, what a bummer.

[GoodSense]

I am also totally freaked out. I travel for work about every other week. I always inspect the mattress & headboard, and under the mattress if I can. Even then I am still paranoid, and often feels itchy. It's just nerves, though. I haven't found a bite yet and don't think I've ever had them. It's terribly annoying. I was in NYC over Labor Day, where they found bedbugs in retail stores and movie theaters.