Possible bed bug exposure!

SallyWho · Dec 20, 2018

A coworker just texted me a picture of a note posted at work- it was posted today, and I have the night off so I hadn't seen it. Somebody brought bed bugs to our workplace (they were observed crawling around and off of the "suspect") and we're going to have to be fumigated. The problem is that the administration knew about it for over a week but only just now told us about it, so none of us have been taking precautions. This is a 450 bed hospital, I might add, so you'd think they'd be more on top of it. I might have introduced bed bugs into my house. If I have to have my house fumigated (or set on fire) to deal with friggin' bed bugs, how do I keep my tanks alive? I have a 120g display with a 40b sump, a 20L and two 10g for QTs, and a 30g freshwater planted tank. 50 square miles of sheet plastic to seal them airtight? 100lbs of carbon to run? No skimmer, I'm assuming?

I don't know yet if I've brought the plague home, but I'd like to plan for the worst while hoping for the best. I am so super mad about the delay in communication at work- it could have allowed dozens of people to take bed bugs home with them. The week before Christmas, too, when there's going to be lots of visiting and traveling and whatnot. This is like ground zero for a bed bug take-over. Man, am I mad! Anyway, any tips about not nuking my tanks just in case I wound up bringing the little monsters home?

Old Fritz · Dec 20, 2018

lots of carbon I imagine. If possible maybe move them to a part of the house that wont be fumigated. Like the garage maybe?

ScottBrew · Dec 20, 2018

We had them a few years ago, best way to kill them is steam. Bag everything in garbage bags and then run all clothing through the dryer on hot, better if you have a steam cycle dryer. Our pest control used a pro steamer to kill everything on the mattresses, couch and anything too big to go in the dryer. Then used powder around all the baseboards. We wrapped the mattresses in bed bug bags from Amazon and put traps under the feet of the frames. Vacuum every day to get any strays. Pain in the backside but didn't have to tent or move out of the house!

SallyWho · Dec 20, 2018

ScottBrew said:
We had them a few years ago, best way to kill them is steam. Bag everything in garbage bags and then run all clothing through the dryer on hot, better if you have a steam cycle dryer. Our pest control used a pro steamer to kill everything on the mattresses, couch and anything too big to go in the dryer. Then used powder around all the baseboards. We wrapped the mattresses in bed bug bags from Amazon and put traps under the feet of the frames. Vacuum every day to get any strays. Pain in the backside but didn't have to tent or move out of the house!

I'm assuming they can steam the heck out of carpets, too? I'm just shuddering at the thought of bagging and drying everything in the house. Plus, I do triathlons, and a lot of tri gear is that "hand wash and line dry only" stuff. I guess I bag that tightly and leave it that way until the bugs starve? Ugh. I really hope I don't have an outbreak at home. Thanks for the advice!

ScottBrew · Dec 20, 2018

SallyWho said:
I'm assuming they can steam the heck out of carpets, too? I'm just shuddering at the thought of bagging and drying everything in the house. Plus, I do triathlons, and a lot of tri gear is that "hand wash and line dry only" stuff. I guess I bag that tightly and leave it that way until the bugs starve? Ugh. I really hope I don't have an outbreak at home. Thanks for the advice!

Good luck and I hope you don't have them also! Check carefully around the seams of the mattresses and couch for little dark specks. They are nocturnal so do it at night.

SallyWho · Dec 20, 2018

ScottBrew said:
Good luck and I hope you don't have them also! Check carefully around the seams of the mattresses and couch for little dark specks. They are nocturnal so do it at night.

Thank you! Luckily, I work nights, so it shouldn't be hard to catch them if they're there.

ScottBrew · Dec 20, 2018

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=bed+bug+mattress+bag These are the mattress bags I referenced. Bugs can't get in to live in the mattress and if they are already there, they can't get out. Plus they are bright white with no seams, easy to see if anything is on them. https://www.amazon.com/Climbup-Inte...8&qid=1545286192&sr=1-9&keywords=bed+bug+trap these are the traps that you put under the bed frame feet. Bed bugs don't fly or jump so the only way they move is crawling or being on something and crawling off. We are paranoid now, when I stay in a hotel, I don't put anything on the ground, my suitcase goes on the table and then leave it in my car to "bake" for a few hours before bringing it back into the house.