NO NO NO NO, Bought a sleeping bag at REI, BEDBUGS?

[zaichev]

I tested out a new sleeping bag today in a tent in my living room. Woke up after five hours or so to six bites around my ankles/feet. Are these bedbug bites?

Holy hell no. I tried this out once on my bed a few nights ago. I do recall having little scabby places that day after that bled when I itched them, but I assumed they were leftovers from a long cat scratch that had healed.

HELP HELP HELP HELP.

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[Don H]

Could be.

If you haven't already I'd get the tent and sleeping bag out of the house ASAP and hope the bugs don't spread. Also any clothing you had on should go in the dryer and run through on the highest setting.

If you bought the bag from REI I'd give them a call too. Maybe someone returned the bag or got in it in the store that had bed bugs.

[zaichev]

I contacted the store and they said they'll replace the sleeping bag for sure and will ship it out from the main headquarters (because I don't want another one from the shop.)

I'd also purchased a backpack from them and had kept the sleeping bag in the backpack. I don't know if I should pressure them to replace that, as well. It's not exactly something I can wash.

I'm more worried about my bed. A few nights ago I put the bag on the bed and slept on top of it.

[Bronk]

Buy some diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it all over your carpets and bedding and upholstered furniture all through the house. Go back in a few days and vacuum it up. Its the cheapest effective method for getting rid of bedbugs.

[slbirdnerd]

I'll preface this with I don't know much about bedbugs, but if the bites were limited to your ankles my first thought is fleas or the like. Could be in your carpet, somewhere you went, the yard, other outdoor spot, etc. If you're really worried I guess do the above suggestions, but if you don't have any fresh bites by now I don't think I would worry about it.

[Sarcasm the elf]

[EDIT: For some reason when I first read this I thought you said that you were sure it was bedbugs. Looking closer at your photos, those bites may be caused by something else, so you might be in luck.]

I've dealt with bedbugs once in my life and hope to never go through the hassle again. Don't mess around, get them treated by a pro who guarantees his work and get rid of them as fast as possible before you have a full blown infestation.

Take your sleeping bag and backpack and seal them tightly into separate garbage bags. Put all of your cloths and bed linens through the dryer cycle in high heat. Then hire a professional inspector to check your entire house as well as look at the sleeping bag and pack. Personally, if the inspector only finds bedbugs in the sleeping bag then I would press REI to pay for the cost of the inspection. Just my two cents.

[johnnybgood]

From those pics the bites look similar to either chigger or flea bites. Those bites also appear localized to ankle/foot region which isn't the standard MO of bed bugs.
If this was a previously unused sleeping bag then the problem is most likely environmental in origin

[PD230SOI]

I rented a house one time and after an hour of moving around we had bites like that. In that case it was fleas.

[Damn Yankee]

Looks like flea bites. Check your animals if you have any. They could have also come from outside if you have sand or mulch around your house.

[TNjed]

Looks like chiggers or fleas dude, y'all have chiggers in Nebraska? If they have spread its chiggers and if it is you should get some nail polish

[QHShowoman]

Hard to tell from the photos, but generally, if you're dealing with bedbugs, there would be a lot more bites in a cluster.

[Odd Man Out]

Looks like chiggers or fleas dude, y'all have chiggers in Nebraska? If they have spread its chiggers and if it is you should get some nail polish

Yes they have chiggers in NE. I grew up in MD and never heard of chiggers until I spent the summer visiting all my relatives in NE (both parents from there). But agree with the flea possibility. We had a terrible flea infestation once. They really go for the ankles. The thing is that some people react to the bites and some don't. I do and spent months with red welts all over my ankles. My wife had nothing. I suspect they were biting her but she didn't react. I think it's just like mosquitoes. The bite isn't what itches. It's our immune system's response that does.

[canoe]

Look like fleas...here is a pic of bed bugs

[canoe]

I am not where you are but I would carefully check every corner of that bag and see what you find. BBs are usually found in creases.

[Wise Old Owl]

Uh not Bed bugs. Bed bugs can bite you for three weeks and there is no way to tell or even have a reaction. The welts are formed are from fleas. How do I know... well that's easy Bed bugs on first exposure can bite for some time and the saliva of the bug has a built in pain killer the welts show up later as the antibodies build up in the blood stream and react to the saliva..
Terminix did a test a year back (I don't work for them) they asked 900 employees to be exsposed to BB housed in a super fine sugar shaker they could not escape from but could feed. Nobody had a welt. The news spread thru the industry.
you would have to be exposed once before this to produce the welts immediately. I do three to thirty bed bug inspections daily... There are three choices here - Fleas, Chiggers, or Carpet Beetles.

I doubt its the bag - grab a bright light and a magnifier - you would be hard pressed to find anything.. please vacuum daily for the next five days.

[canoe]

So WOO why do you think there has been a severe spike in the infestation of bedbugs through out the country? They seem to be everywhere now. I hate to even stay in a hotel any more.

[Wise Old Owl]

Buy some diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it all over your carpets and bedding and upholstered furniture all through the house. Go back in a few days and vacuum it up. Its the cheapest effective method for getting rid of bedbugs.

ya stuck your head into the internet. sort of like being thirsty and drive a hundred miles to get a drink from Niagara Falls - that's OK but DE is bad information. If I break some stemware glass in the middle of the room as a human being you would walk around it... well guess what, the bugs are great hiders and will navigate around it too... I have seen over and over again people buying 5 pounds bags or a one pound plastic shaker of the stuff and toss it unabandoned around a room.

Here is your take away - if you do this and it fails and it will as I have seen science tests in the last two years. I make my clients vacuum it up before exposing my technicians. Why? just like black lung disease - its called silicosis yea white lung disease. Last guy that did it I walked him into the room and used a Firemans flashlight to show the airborne dust in the air... worse than dust. Please do not recommend this stuff - folks DE is natural - just like URANIUM and COAL.

Here is the right answer - BB is not aquatic. They cannot survive a washer and dryer. IF you are ever exposed please do not panic - do the right thing... educate, understand, make absolutely sure that you have the right bug. If you find something put it in a glad bag or ziplock and call a professional and ask for a identification. The company I work for had a positive identification at a KOA two years ago.. I would not be surprised that a shelter may go positive soon.

I hope that helps ... you need blood stains, pooped out blood, skins and eggs for a positive identification, feel free to google images. Bites can be anything, they are not positive identification.

[Franco]

I wanted to add something to that :

[Starchild]

Why? just like black lung disease - its called silicosis yea white lung disease.

That only seems to apply to crystalline form of diatomaceous earth

Many Forms of DE are all, or a very high percentage of, Amorphous silica (You can check for the type you bought, should say so on the bag) which carried a much lower risk.

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/pel88/68855-54.html

And most every insecticide carries some risk, Amorphous silica seems to be very low on the risk scale, requiring 5 years of exposure to maybe cause some issue, or not which may or may not be cause by the exposure (see link)

[pipsissewa]

Re: Diatomaceous earth. I highly recommend it! Get the FRESH WATER, FOOD-GRADE DE which is not heat-treated and not siliconized. The World Health Organization studied fresh water DE (for water treatment in 3rd world countries) and found no inhalation risk. If the fresh water DE is inhaled, it will be absorbed by the body because it's organic not mineral. It will not cause pulmonary fibrosis. It's like the difference between talc (mineral) and corn starch (organic). Treating your house with DE will be safer for you and your cats than treating with pesticides. I think your bites probably came from fleas in your carpet, not your bag. Best of luck to you!