My first post here was all over the map so…… http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/fraud-exterminators-said-it-was-a-bed-bug-it-wasnt#post-247699
Let’s try this again….3 weeks ago I woke up scratching the hell out of a couple or a few spots on my hand. Not sure why but I started looking online about it. About my apartment: it is sparsely furnished. A queen size raised air mattress which is covered in “flocking”, except for the bottom of it, a small upholstered chair, 2 non-fabric foot stools on casters and basically my “tables” are boxes as this was supposed to be a short term rental in the beginning but I’ve been here for 2 years. All of the above is in one room, the living room, which is between the kitchen and the bedroom. The bedroom has only 2 metal racks that hold folded and hanging clothes. This is an old building and has wood floors with some major gaps between floorboards and some of the baseboards in the living room. I had only 2 carpet runners in the living room with the bed and chair. Also, in the bedroom (where the bed ISN’T, the exterior wall is old brick with many cracks and crevices but that area is a pathway to the bathroom and used a lot)
Once I read about BBs, I looked under the comforter I sleep on top of and found some live bugs, shed skins and what looked like eggs. I immediately put the comforter in a bag and set it outside. I caught one bug and killed maybe 2 others and picked up the skins and eggs on tape.
Exterminator came 4 days later, did NO inspection whatsoever (found out later he was the ‘salesman”) he had no interest in all my samples except the live bug I had squished a little and a cast skin----he said it was a bed bug for sure, gave me a checklist and left. I tired to find out what chemical they’d use or treatment plan and all he had said was they would treat once with chemicals—I could get no other answers and I tried more than several times.
Samples used to ID my having bed bugs by pest control "salesman" -note: the cast skin was hard to photograph the colors were more black and yellow
[img]http://i63.tinypic.com/20po7c5.jpg b[/img]
In all of my cleaning and searching all I was finding were carpet beetle larvae- LOTS of it and CB cast skins…NO fecal matter and nothing that looked like BBs at all. I had even gone out and pulled out the comforter to search it for signs because I thought since it’s an air bed maybe they harbored in the comforter….no signs, no bugs that I could see----bagged it back up and double bagged it and tossed it into courtyard as I had planned on trying to get a REAL inspection and someone may want to look at it.
In the meantime, a lot of work a lot more carpet beetle larvae and found the larvae on the bed many times as well as either cigarette or drugstore beetles---was also finding spider beetles in glue traps. Found some ruined clothes, holes, but still no bed bugs or bites. The boxes I used as a night stand had a rubber backed curtain as a cover---on that backing I found some dark streaks and what I thought were a couple of fecal spots but literally just a couple and on one sat a beetle larvae skin, I bagged and tossed all.
All this time, an entomologist with another company was kind enough to talk to me and have me send him photos and I had finally gotten a close enough pic of the original live bug I squished and saved, the one that was used to ID bed bugs, and he stated that it was a carpet beetle larvae. After ALL THAT—almost 2 weeks of thinking I had bed bugs, it was CBs----I had one night of joy thinking it wasn’t bed bugs…..then, the next day, almost 2 weeks after I had thrown out the comforter, I went down to photograph it as a loss (as no one else was coming to inspect). I opened the bags, pulled a corner of comforter out and there stood a BED BUG. So much for my joy.
Bed bug found after 2 weeks in a bag outside- 2 views (had nothing to put it in)
[img]http://i65.tinypic.com/25f0tpj.jpg [/img]
In all that time, I had not found signs of bb’s- had only been “bitten” on one occasion and had only found beetle larvae. Just after finding the BB that seemed to be in a bag outside for 2 weeks, I developed what looked like bites behind my ear but that also followed having found a CB larvae at the head of my bed the night before. I had felt that if I had BBs, they had to have come from neighbors in this building as most have moved out due to it being sold and will also be gutted for a remodel next month. As soon as I saw the BB for real, I sealed the floorboards and baseboards and the bottom of front door.
I asked owner repeatedly to have adjacent units checked since treating my place without doing so would not solve my problem. Also I found the units on other side of me left trashed which would invite roaches, rats etc and was told no to inspection, that no cleaning or anything will be done until the rest of us move out and they gut the place. I've tried to educate owners to no avail.
I have health issues so I was worried about the chemicals anyway and since they wouldn’t tell me what they’d use and had identified a CB larvae as a BB, I didn’t want any part of all that anyway. In the end, I am left with no treatment and at this point, 3 weeks of obsessive stress and back breaking work- for 3 weeks, when I haven’t been working on this apt, I’ve been obsessively online and missing work- and reinjuring my neck.
When all of this started, I didn’t have the time or inclination to go through a large “briefcase” full of files and paperwork but it is sealed in a XL Ziploc I have contained or gotten rid of anything that could have harbored BBs, but really I have found carpet beetle larvae at every turn. My chair is a dark color but the underneath of it is pristine and no signs in or under cushion, although I cannot wait to throw it away.
I have absolutely no signs on the blanket I sleep on top of now or the pillowcase (they are both now light in color) The raised air bed sits on top of where the huge gaps in the floor were before I sealed them and I feel that since it isn’t a real bed with all the great places to hide near me, they may have made the floor/baseboards their harborage (??) which I sealed with duct tape for easy removal in case of treatment and or less work for me, although that was still a tough job. Could I have sealed them in? At this point, driving them somewhere else is nor irresponsible as no one lives near me anymore and the owners are going to have one helluva problem on their hands when they remodel this place anyway.
I know there are many people plagued by BBs for long periods and they never see them but this is just too weird. My apologies to the amazing PCO’s here who take the time to help us all. My original post of a fraud exterminator, well….one bad apple….so, sorry guys. It truly was an irresponsible ID and with no inspection of any kind or telling me the chemicals or plan and a one time treatment based on beetle larvae and I was furious…..but then the real bed bug….which is the only one I’ve seen….outside….I’m at a loss here. I will say that carpet beetles are pretty damn bad all by themselves, just trying to figure out what the deal is with that bed bug. Thanks for reading.