BED BUGS

My job has me in motels/hotels about 10 nights per month, all over Australia. In the 25 years of doing this, I have never had a single encounter with a bed bug.

Having said that, I only know of a handful of reports from work colleagues in that time. Stuff like that gets circulated around our group. There are about 1100 employees in my group, and at least 4000 in our other crew group.

So I reckon your chances of having an encounter are pretty slim.

Hello Begin,
What sized teeth do they have to leave a scar?
Hygiene may help so they are repelled with the smell of soap. If a bad case you can buy insecticide bombs from Aldi etc and release the spray into the enclosed area. Kills everything, don't stay inside though. Always read the instructions.

Hi mountainman,
I too have never experienced bedbugs however I am highly allergic to anything that bites or stings (sandflies, insect bites, sea lice, marine stingers etc). Once I am bitten, I will have swelling that is extreme and itchy with welts that last for up to 3 weeks from a simple sting. You'll only get a scar if you continue to scratch it and it gets infected so you have to stop the itch.

Things I've tried that don't work well enough for someone with severe reactions are:- deodorant, vinegar, ice, Sting-gose spray/creams, Calyamine solution, and mixing up menthol with eucalyptus, and other concoctions to apply to the skin either to avoid being stung or to treat a sting.

I have done everything to find ways to avoid these reactions as I often get stings doing the things I love (hiking, camping, ocean water recreation) so I have experimented with various options over the years and have come to the conclusion that the only thing that is worth doing is taking antihistamines.

Whilst I hate taking any medications or pills, antihistimes are the only solution. Not all antihistimines have the same active ingredient though so do your research and perhaps experiment to find what best suits you. In my experience the ones with Loratadyne (eg. Claratyne) is the most successful - no drowsiness and actually can prevent any reaction if bitten. Best results are when you have antihistamine in your system for 24 hours before being bitten. I have sought specific medical advice about long term use of taking antihistamine daily and it is totally safe to do so, so in summer when I spend more time in the ocean I take a daily antihistamine as a preventative. There are many people with allergies all over Australia that live on a daily antihistamine. Here's a link if you need more info Antihistamines

I've encountered them before . nasty little blood sucking insects that a swell up with your donation of juice.
I found stingose in the tube and rubbed on, the little blood suckers all seemed to be heading off to the poor bugger in the bunk below me.
He reckoned that they were just falling onto him during the night.

Anyway the next day we burned ALL the bedding and got new stuff.

I have had two encounters, both in remote motels, one in WA and the other in QLD.

I had about 5 or 6 bites, they reacted like mossie bites and eventually cleared up after about 3 weeks each time.

I was away from home for weeks after each episode so they never came home with me.

Both times, the mattress was quite a soft mattress, maybe they can get into them better.

I myself have done fifo work.
Not years of it but about 10mnths through different camps..
Motel and donga setups.
As well as maybe 50 different motels in my time and the odd house and flat plus mentioned above caravan park cabins.
No bed bugs...

Where they decided to wash and paint the outside of the cabins..at a certain caravan park...

Well didnt the mould come inside after they pressure washed it off the outside walls..


Anyway.. we had a mice problem and i believe they brought the bed bugs inside.
Quite some time later i had my swag mattress in that room, and had the vic long weekend recently , to drive about 1600kms round trip in two days.
Woke up with very itchy lower legs but slept great and drove back...
Got the trip over and must have got them into my bed..
I have no idea. .
I was soo tired, i had to load and unload 450kg of equipment onto a ute...
And to say i was exhausted for a few days after would not be an exaggeration.
Sadly these suckers got me when i couldnt care less and i just wanted to sleep..
definitely made a meal of my legs with about 10 - 15 bites.
Certainly made me feel pretty out of it..
Not all that hungry.. and slight agitation at any skin sensation let alone tingle on my skin.
Hopefully the wounds dissapear otherwise im going to look like a centrelink heroin / ice junky walking down the street in summer.

Noel
I have not taken any meds
Ive only vacuumed my bed and cleaned up the bedroom a bit.
Looking at buying a hoover steam cleaner thing..
As pest controllers want around $500 to come and throw a heap of insecticide in the house
Where for the same coin
I can do it with the hoover..
And repeat the treatment every month just to be safe without the chemical worries

Will take note of the claratyne option.

Anyone else dealt with them ?

Apparently burning your bedding or mattress isnt needed.
Clothes in dryer at high temp for half hr kills them.
Steam clean your mattress kills the whole life cycle from egg to adult.

So im hoping this option does it once and no more worry.

Pest people say you need to get the chemical sprayed twice in your house.
As the chemical only works on the live pest and not the egg.
About 6wks apart.

They are extremely hard to get rid of, usually the mattress has to be disposed of, sheets etc hot washed at 55* or more. There are sealed covers to put over a mattress.

Any items that aren't to be disposed must be thoroughly vacuumed with a cleaner that has a filter that will stop the eggs being blown back into the cleaned area, then treated with an insecticide approved for bedbugs, usually by a pest controller.

The treated area has to be inspected at regular intervals in case of further activity, there is an Australian Standard for the treatment of Bedbugs.

I hope this helps,
Lloyd Mac

Mountainman
Sorry to be of topic but I thought this might be helpful
Just be aware that often Bed bugs are not the only cause & you asked about scaring, the scabies mite, also known as the human itch or mange mite, causes intense itching, and it is highly contagious. When a person catches scabies, pregnant female mites dig burrows in the skin and lay eggs along the way, Having scabies is not a sign that someone is dirty & is transferred by contact & blankets & bed spreads/doonas etc. (as sheets are normally changed regularly). The mite can normally live about 3 days out of the skin
When I was working in health in remote community’s it was a bigger problem than bed bugs & we all ended up getting them & were medically treated well before we got back to town so that we did not contaminate others & the motel/hotels we stayed at






.

I am now 74 years old and since leaving boarding school at the tender age of 13 to make my way in the big bad world have slept in jackeroos quarters, ringers quarters, shearers quarters, swags, on the ground, under trucks, under cars parked in table drains to try and get warmth and shelter, motels, hotels, boarding houses and an assortment of other dwellings and never once have I encountered a bed bug. I have been bitten by horses, dogs, cats, mosquitoes, sandflies, centipedes, and snakes but no bed bugs, suppose I have just been lucky, but always checking where you're going to lay down sure helps, and beds in hotels and motels always need a extra check, you never know who was laying in it before you put your tired head down, which brings me to pillows which in my opinion are the greatest spreader of disease and vermin known to man. Now that I've had my rant think I'll have a beer and a good lie down for 40 minutes before dinner, nothing to bite me here.

I reckon I'm a magnet for those critters. Must be sweeter than my partner ha ha. Apparently not everyone is susceptible to attack. Most recently got bitten extensively on both lower legs in a budget hotel in Pt Augusta. They left large dark patches on my skin for months. I learned how to check for their presence in bedding and now I always check before accepting a room. So far had to walk away twice because I found tell tale signs and didn't want to take the risk.

My only encounters was in a backpackers in Fremantle and a flash motel in Vegas.

Both times I was bitten on the wrists and ankles, I'm putting that down to how I sleep and my arms/feet would have been close to the edges of the mattress and I read that they live in the seams of the mattress so wouldn't have had to go far for a feed.

I came up in itchy welts and both times needed a couple of days on antihistamines to stop the itching.

By all accounts they have adapted to be highly resistant to insecticides, so leave your bags on the luggage racks, rather than on the carpet so they don't hitch a ride back home.

A true Mountainman doesn't experience or know anything about "Bed Bugs". A true Mountainman would be ashamed to bring up the topic even if there were a bed bug.! A True Mountainman carries his own bed bugs with him and ????thus__________________________________________________

From reading all the replies I'm so glad that I've never had an encounter with these things. It also adds to the joy of dragging around a caravan and having control of sleeping, toileting and showering quality.

In my working life I spent a lot of years living in Motels/Hotels in SA & the NT and the only times bedding has caused me an issue was from inadequate washing due to water hardness and washing powder not rinsing out fully. I've had itching and rashes from this. I know it was from this as it happened from doing my own clothes until I started adding a softener additive.

There is definitely a variation in Accommodation quality though and one location in particular that I will never try again as it needs being condemned by the authorities. The water is so brown that there's no need to add tea/coffee for colouring and forget showering and brushing your teeth. I wouldn't dare name and shame, even though they need it, as that can lead to being sued these days.

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Tell me, Is it any protection against bed bugs to carry your own sheet-bag (all-a-same sleeping bag liner) and slip that into the suspect bed between the existing sheets? Also carry own pillow.

How about some info from SA Health?

Bed Bugs - SA Health