Comments on: Got mysterious bites? Bed bugs? Rat mites? Bird mites? Scabies? Or … ?

By: yvonne

yvonne — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 10:57:56 +0000

Since november of las year bites that look like hives. Been to doctor got cream and antibiotics. He says they’re not bites but allergic reaction. Everyday I have found the bugs kileed them and there was blood. Please help me to understand what these are? My legs and arms are so ugly and scarred.

By: Sherrie Johnson

Sherrie Johnson — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:45:03 +0000

About a month ago, a mouse got into the house. It was very good at hiding, so it took a few days to catch. It avoided all the traps and did not eat the poison. Since that day, I have been getting mysterious bites on my arms and legs. Only myself and my son, and only in one room in the house. The night we caught the mouse, he ran under my chair. I didn’t see him, but began itching intensely. Then he ran under the tv stand and we chased him out. Ever since I have been bitten when I sit in that room. I am the only one. We thought maybe it had fleas, but we never saw them. This morning I sat next to a string of fly paper hoping to catch something crawling toward me so that I can identify what was biting me. None were on the paper, but I recieved a cluster of bites on my elbow. Thank you for your comments, everyone. I’m going to look into possible mites and get some bug bombs. Bug spray and vaccuuming only worked for a few days then they were back.

By: isabel newman

isabel newman — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:11:16 +0000

i got a lot of small bites.can you please help me on nevemeber 20 2012?

By: Nancy - Michigan

Nancy - Michigan — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:11:38 +0000

I have had two different times I have been bitten. The first lasted three years and was only for 3-4 months at a time. A doctor took a biopsy and found out it was just regular household spiders that I was terribly allergic to. I figure out they were in my linen closet and I kept washing the linens and putting them back in and the hatching tiny spiders were in them. Once I stopped using it for anything other than metal things I was fine. This time I killed two mice which I have done before with no problem but this time I am almost positive it is the mites from them. It is getting better now that I am using Ortho Home Defense spray, do not use on furniture and follow directions and also washing with bleach and borox. Also put your clean clothes in sealable plactic bags (boxes wont’ seal bugs out). Use a steamer on your bed and clothes. I was on the Alemada County site4 and they had some good tips. I can’t see the bugs but them my eye sight is not super great but I can feel them. I steam my bed at night before I go to bed, also shower using something rough to get them off me. I wonder what brand of foggers people are using as mine did not work well at all. Good Luck to all of us. I have been treated by the pest people like I am an idiot or crazy, been told that mice don’t have mites only fleas and told that spiders couldn’t have bitten me like I said even though a doctor had proof. Keep trying things and look at invisible bug and bites, also mice or rodents and also the latin name for them and you do find lots of good info. Hope something works for you. I am putting my clean laudnry in sealable bags outside as the cold does help a little bit. If you get them in your car spray with Ortho under the seats and also under the mats.

By: Anna M.

Anna M. — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 07:09:12 +0000

I live in an apartment very near a marshy area in NYC on the ground floor. I have had multipke exterminators in this summer and I do not have bedbugs,scabies or fleas. No one else on my floor claims to have been bitten. The fact is I am being attacked at night by swarms of tiny what appear to be flying insects about the size of a period on a sentence. This started the last week of June when the temps rose and it got humid & also coincided with our landscaper planting the summer plants all over the complex. After much research and people insinuating I was crazy I have narrowd it down to either no see-ums of some kind of biting mite such as bird, rat, straw or chiggers. I am unemployed and spent a small fortune trying to get relief but haven’t. I am praying for the first frost. I can relate to all of you with the sleepless nights and marked skin. These bites are painful and blister up and take weeks to heal. Another landscaper told me the the gardener probably brought the bugs here in the potted plants he planted and I would have to wait for it to get cold to be rid of them. I haven’t slept at night since the end of June and my skin looks horrible. Went to an allergist who didn’t want to deal with the problem who referred me to a dermatologist. The only relief I get is when I am on prednisone which is very bad for you and cannot be used long term.

By: bitesinnc

bitesinnc — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:41:47 +0000

I also had a rash and bites and itching. I couldn’t see anything. I vacumned, bombed, threw furniture out, had my existing exterminator come in. Nothing worked. After reading all the posts about things like this, I had an animal control company come by to check if there were any animals getting into my attic or nesting on the roof,etc. It cost about $150 (they gave me a discount). It isn’t an exterminator, it was an animal control company. They did not find anything. The fireplace was a place a few people they said had had problems with bird’s nests.

Next, I called 7 different exterminators who tested my house for free for bugs. Sounds like they all do this. Many have etymologists on staff or send out to another location to test. The only cost to me was buying some paper gluetraps at Lowes. You can even cut them up to make it more efficient and I placed this in almost every room and after about a week they picked them up. Not every company found something so definitely call as many as possible to come out. They found no see ums and thrips coming in from outside. I signed a yearly contract and they sprayed the ENTIRE yard and all through the house along all the baseboards, pipes, etc. They had to come back 2 weeks later and do the house again and along the sides of the house.

I should have done this first instead of enduring all the agony. I also prayed a lot. Anyway, it’s been fine now for 3 months. I also make sure we take our shoes off when coming in the house and if my son is out in the yard for while where the woods are and there are no see ums a lot of times I put his clothes right in the laundry room so we aren’t bringing a bunch of new things in. Sometimes it just takes getting a bunch of experts to come in and look around and figure out what is wrong. A lot of time they do it for free to try to get your business. I also made appointment times in the morning so they weren’t bringing in bugs from their last job! Hope this helps

By: Trudy

Trudy — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 18:18:22 +0000

I knew it!!! I am not crazy! We had an infestation of mice and roof rats after we cut down a large non bearing avocado tree in our backyard. My husband and I started getting itchy bites at night. Started out with 2-3 bites then became so bad I started sleeping covered neck to toe with buttoned up pj’s, socks with pant legs tucked in,ace wraps around my wrists in an effort to keep the bugs from crawling under my clothes. Looked valiently for any sign of bed bugs,none,steamed, cleaned, washed all bedding, tore apart bed frame, baseboards no signs of bedbugs. I told my husband it has to be a tiny mite, maybe rats carry them. I finally found some bedbug/flea fogger at Walmart. This helped and I again washed all bedding. I think we have finally trapped all the rats. My husband still occasionaly gets bit, me not as much. Hint to others let your sleeping partner go to bed hours before you do and the mites finish feeding before you come to bed, LOL! I am a night owl and he is not. Glad to know the cycle goes away after the source is taken care of. Read the link posted before the responses. here it is again. http://www.ccmvcd.dst.ca.us/pdf/Mites prevention and conrol.pdf

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:21:59 +0000

Didn’t realize there were that many people out there dealing with the same problem, getting bit,not sure by what. First let me say that about 3 months ago we found bedbugs in my daughters room, had the house sprayed 3 times,finally no more bedbugs. Now on to issue at hand, I am getting eaten alive by some kind of parasite. Crawling on the skin, face and head especially, have a lesion on the head that I have to get off. Nobody understands this, not my doctor, not even my husband. Everyone thinks I’m delusional. You try to explain that here are bites, but know one understands. Nobody else in my house is getting bit, this is why my husband doesn’t understand this situation. It seems at night is when I am under a fierce attack by this creatures. It seems like it is worse in my bedroom. Was showering one night, and it looked like a little sliver of wood came out of hair, and another evening a little red worm went across me. Been keeping my house as clean as possible, after I vaccuum, it seems like I am under attack again. Any ideas. God bless to all that are going to these horrible situations

By: Melana

Melana — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 19:29:46 +0000

I have had this problem for years… Intense itching,small pin prick bites especially knees and lower indicating to me I was walking some where and picking this up. It can get all over your floors and into your bedding if your not aware. It Is invisible so far. I believe it is a form of mite. It causes red bumps that itch, do not pop and are similar to cysts,extremely itchy and uncomfortable. I have brought this issue up with family ,friends, and doctors , every one thinks your crazy. I on the other hand have taken matters into my own hands. I find hat mopping the house with clorox, spraying with perimycithin and using rubbing alcohol on my skin helps to eliminate this problem,and believe me. This is a very tenacious problem and very real.It is extremely uncomfortable and unless your dealing with it will not understand.Also highly contagious. My belief is it originates from rats because both places I feel this was aquired from has a history of them.Remove your shoes before entering hour own home.I thought I was the only one dealing with this ,apparently not.

By: tammy

tammy — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:33:19 +0000

My situation started several months ago. My son and i kept getting bit mainly at night. I thought it was bed bugs and paid 500.00 to have my house exterminated. Also spent another 200.00 on bed covers. Still we got bit. The exterminator thought i was nut. I had washed all of our clothes 5 times. try doing 20 loads of laundry a week. Slept with a flashlight at times. Even had a lint roller, the sticky tape type that i used on my skin. It was the invisible bug. Finally i read somewhere about rat mites. my son has a gerbil. Finally i have some answers. the bites would last 3 weeks sometimes. they itch like crazy. I am hoping this will be it. I have gotten rid of the gerbil, who did have mites. I gave him to a nice home. Told her what she was getting into. She works at a pet store and knows how to handle this. I never knew having a gerbil could be so frustrating. Monday the exterminator is coming again I hope for the last time.