Bed bugs!

[Sims]

This past week and a half has been super hell for anyone who has ever gotten these things. I live in a apartment complex that I, assume, got them from since I suddenly noticed mattresses in dumpsters and people moving out and whatnot. As such, they have decided to migrate into my apartment . My question here is does anyone know if they will come after my ball python? I've gotten both yes and no from the internet, so I'm not 100% sure. I do know they enjoy wood and warmish places to hide and CO2. I use cypress mulch as bedding and I feel if I switch off to newspaper or something, they would still hide underneath it since that puts them even closer to the UTH. I'm in the process of getting out of here myself, but in case he/she is under attack I'd like to know. If it means anything, I have a cat with me as well, yet I seem to be the only one the bugs have taken a liking to. I started using Diatomaseous Earth to keep them at bay and it kept me bite free for the first night in a while yesterday. No irritant to me or my cat, just dusty.

[3skulls]

I have never even thought of them going after a reptile.
I don't know enough about them to give you a yes or no.

It seems like they might be to big to get under the scales to draw blood?

I hope this is something I never have to look into. Even if you move, you might want to look into getting your place treated.

Good luck.

[Tannerrrtx]

Find a friend with a Kirby vaccum.
Vaccum the HELL out of your bed.
I own a Kirby. And it works wonders. I have HAD bed bugs. But this thing sucks em straight out of your mattress.

they feed off of skin cells. I doubt they would go for a reptile

[Sims]

Actually, bed bugs are tiny things. Even, the adults. I don't know anyone with a vacuum and ended up throwing my mattress/box spring and couch out which really really sucked (this was yesterday night and in less than 12 hours, someone came and swiped them up!). I know it could've been prevented, but I don't have the tools/equipment, and would rather sleep on the ground in my circle of DE than spend the money on fixing the bed which may or may not work thoroughly. The infestation, to my knowledge, was not bad in my apartment since I looked high and low for days and only discovered two bugs, but I have over 20 bites now. Maybe that was because I was by myself in checking that or maybe I overlooked some. They are really small.

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they feed off of skin cells. I doubt they would go for a reptile

It is my understanding they feed off of blood? Hence the bites, red smears from smashing them, and them growing in size after a feed?

[4theSNAKElady]

That totally sux. However, please be VERY careful with the Diatomaceous Earth. I worked in a pool store for a few years and had to wear a mask when handling ripped bags or sweeping it up, because it is a CARCINOGEN in the dry dusty form. I couldnt stand the stuff...more and more pool customers switched to another filter media because of that.

Sent from my H866C using Tapatalk 2

[Tannerrrtx]

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Nope. They feed off of dead skin cells. Im 100%sure of that. And there's no available Non toxic bedbug treatment that actually works. The only "solution" is to remove them. Ie Kirby.
I worked for Kirby for 2 years. And it is the only thing on the market that actually gets them out.
And they aren't "visible" unless in large quantities. They look like dust. It's not a bug you can just see with the regular eye. You may have fleas from cats?

If you were close I'd let you use mine!

after re reading I am almost positive that you are dealing with fleas. They do feed on blood, they are visible, and they do grow in size when they have a good source of food.

youtube the opera show on bedbugs.

[Pythonfriend]

sorry but bedbugs really do feed on blood, not dead skin cells. They suck blood thats a fact.

And no, of all vacuum cleaners on the market, most do a good job, and "kirby" is NOT the best vaccum cleaner out there, it also is NOT the only vaccum cleaner that works.

Also, bedbugs dont look like dust, they are very visible, they look like bedbugs. They are larger than fleas, and not as you imply orders of magnitude smaller.

And no, this thread is about bedbugs, not cat fleas. They look different, bedbugs look very much like bedbugs. Not like fleas, and not like dust particles.

[Tannerrrtx]

Haha right. Because 13 conferences all over the US are wrong.

and where are you at? Ill set you up a Kirby demo just to show you how wrong you actually are.

[Raven01]

Find a friend with a Kirby vaccum.
Vaccum the HELL out of your bed.
I own a Kirby. And it works wonders. I have HAD bed bugs. But this thing sucks em straight out of your mattress.

they feed off of skin cells. I doubt they would go for a reptile

They feed off of blood not skin cells.
There are mites that feed on dead skin.
A vacuum will not cure a bedbug problem.

With world travel(and the realisation that DDT is some seriously bad juju) these pests have made a comeback.
You need to contact an exterminator pronto. And, the building managers as treating your living space in an apartment without treating the building is going to be ineffective.

[Raven01]

Haha right. Because 13 conferences all over the US are wrong.

and where are you at? Ill set you up a Kirby demo just to show you how wrong you actually are.

Okay giving bad info out of ignorance is one thing and understandable.
But, seriously trying to sell fricken vacuums that won't help?

Tell ya what I'll order some bedbugs to be shipped to your home and you can release them and then in 1 week use your "Magic Kirby Vacuum" and come back to report that you are still being bitten.