How do I know if I have bedbugs? I have two really itchy swollen bites on my right ankle and foot.?

Question

I have had a couple of bites that have been the same in the last month or so, and we don't have pets and I live in the UK, so no poisonous spiders...The doctor said I was allergic to whatever has bitten me. I haven't seen anything that would suggest bedbugs (like bloodstains, or any bugs), but the itching is driving me crazy! Does anyone know how to get rid of them if they are there?

Answer 1

If they are bed bugs most likely you would have been itching all over. But if there are bed bugs then you will have to wash all your linen in extra hot water separate from your other things. Then spray your mattress with a bug spray, either the regular kind you would find in a hardware store or maybe even better something from a pet store.
Wash the linen everyday after you have used and spray every day.

Answer 2

Bedbugs can be difficult to spot - but ankles are not the most likely place for them to attack. They like nice warm areas of the body. If you had bed bugs, you'd probably smell a creosote kind of smell in the room.

Bed bugs don't actually live in the bed. They hide in paper-thin cracks along skirting boards, or often where the bed head joins onto the bed - wooden joints work very well for them, as does any area of loose wallpaper. They are nocturnal and do not like light.

The best way to find them is to go into the room in the middle of the night, pull back the sheets, then turn on a light or torch. They are around 1/4 to 1/2inch wide, but paper thin - kind of circular, like a coin. They are only thicker once they've fed.

You could simply have an allergy to household spiders. Those bite too, but most people do not react to the bites.

If you have a dog or cat, my bet would be fleas. Ankle bites typically occur with cat fleas, which actually live in the carpet, not on the cat. They just jump on a cat as it passes by to feed, then hop off. When you walk past, cat fleas will mistake you for a cat, hop onto your ankles, bite, find you are not a cat, and get off again.

Dog fleas can bite anywhere, but they typically stay on the dog.

Answer 3

if find any bedbugs DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT crush them as they have a very very foul odor. The best way to esterminate them is by putting a drop or two of lighter fluid or anything similar. Then pick them up using tweezers

Check your bed. You won't see them in open spaces but in small cracks. if you can dismantle your bed casing do it and clean very well every piece.
if by chance you get a new bite, change your linens, pillow cases immediately because they can also hide on cloth seams. i would also suggest getting new pillows.

if your room is carpeted, suggest you get a professional cleaner. If just an area rug have it cleaned very well or replace it.

Answer 4

If u only have a couple of bites, it probably isn't bed bugs. They would be all over u. The bites still itch after a month?

Answer 5

Bed bugs infest only a small proportion of residences, but they should be suspected if residents complain of bites that occurred while sleeping. The bedroom and other sleeping areas should be carefully examined for bed bugs and signs of bed bug activity. Folds and creases in the bed linens, and seams and tufts of mattresses and box springs, in particular, may harbor bed bugs or their eggs. They may also be found within pleats of curtains, beneath loose areas of wallpaper near the bed, in corners of desks and dressers, within spaces of wicker furniture, behind cove molding, and in laundry or other items on the floor or around the room. Sometimes, characteristic dark brown or reddish fecal spots of bed bugs are apparent on the bed linens, mattress or walls near the bed. A peculiar coriander-like odor may be detected in some heavily infested residences. Adhesive-based traps used for sampling insects or rodents are not particularly effective for trapping bed bugs.

Because several different kinds of insects resemble bed bugs, specimens should be carefully compared with good reference images (such as those in this document) to confirm their identity. If any questions remain regarding the identity of your samples, then submit them to a competent entomologist for evaluation (see information below).

Once their identity is confirmed, a careful plan should be devised to eliminate the bed bugs in a manner that promotes success while limiting unnecessary costs and exposure to insecticides. Don’t discard furniture and don’t treat until and unless you have a plan.

Bed bugs are small wingless insects that feed solely upon the blood of warm-blooded animals. Bed bugs and their relatives have evolved as nest parasites. Certain kinds inhabit bird nests and bat roosts and await the return of their hosts; others have adapted well to living in the ‘nests’ (homes) of people.

Hatchling bed bugs are about the size of a poppy seed, and adults are about 1/4 of an inch in length. From above they are oval in shape, but are flattened from top to bottom.

I hope this helps?

Answer 6

If you have bed bugs they can easily be seen, usually on the seams of the mattress.
If you do have them, your whole house will have to be exterminated along with getting rid of that mattress.

Answer 7

dont worry about ityou probaly walked outside in shorts or bare foot i would sa and got sdome chigers it will go away go to wall mart or a local store and get some anti itch cream itll help its not bed bugs if so dont let em bite lol jk

Answer 8

I've experienced the same thing before..i suggest keeping clean sheets on the bed, and change them once a week. also don't forget to wash your spread once a month too.

P.S. spray lysol on your mattress

Answer 9

I think they can live in the mattress. I heard it's very difficult to get rid of. Sorry.

Answer 10

You must not be sleeping tight!

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/bedbugs/