HELP!! I'm at my wits end with household bugs!

JCD_Capulet

Hopefully someone around theese here parts can help me, becuause there's rarely a day goes by where I'm not wanting to vom

When I moved into this flat four years ago I used to get alot of black beetles, at the time I didn't realise they could fly! Anyway, I sprayed all the skirtings in the house with crawling insect killer and that seemed to help....for a while. Ever since then I've found the odd one pretty much every other week, BUT (and this is what freaks me out) I've been finding wiggly bugs. This is becoming more and more frequent theese days in the case of both wiggly ones and beetles. But the reason for me starting this thread is because I am now at my wits end with them. I found a black beetle........ON MY PILLOW! AAAARGH!! *VOMS*

PLEASE tell me someone out there knows how to get rid of the things, I really can't take much more of it. It's not as though I live in a dirty house. i hoover, dust, clean ect ect. I DO have two cats and clean up after them fanaticly to avoid any nasty twangs of cat poop in the air (as soon as one has used her box, I'm in there with the scooper to bag and bin it. I don't want to smell their poop, I'm sure they feel the same).

Anyway, any advice is wecome. I'm away to shake down and inspect my bed before sleeping, just incase. !

chardonnay_2

no idea how to help your specific prob- sorry, but you might be interested that anthea turner is starting a new series on bbc 3 on wed 'help me anthea -i'm infested' wenesday 9 pm

JCD_Capulet

Ooh, I'll need to find a way to watch it online.....I don't have a TV (typical, just when I need one!) :rotfl: Thanks for letting me know hon x

chardonnay_2

if you go to the bbc three website you can watch clips of the first two episodes

JCD_Capulet

Brilliant! Thanks for letting me know

sandy2_2

Try ringing your local council (pest control) and asking for advice and trap one of the wriggly bugs so it can be identified

vanilla

Hi sorry to hear your having such a problem with these bugs. We get alot of black beetles and earywigs and a wiggle thing with loads of legs. It took us a while to figure out that they were getting in under our front door (there was something missing) anyway the only way i can keep them out is blocking it with an old towel at from the evening on. They only seem to appear from the evening through till morning.
Do you know how there getting in???

helping_hubby

Hi, a long shot, but the wriggly bugs, they aren't silver fish are they?
http://images.google.com/images?source=ig&hl=en&q=silverfish&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Lizbetty

They're not carpet bettle are they? They are like ugly ladybirds and their babies are wiggly like little grubs which burrow into the carpet. We had these so we got a new carpet (the old one was minging anyway) and then I FOUND SOME IN THE NEW CARPET a bit ago! Aaaargh! We have two kids, one crawling, so I was mortified.

If it is these, the council will spray for you and apparently the spray won't harm you and you won't need to move out, etc (so they say). They can come in from outside and set up anywhere in your house, so don't think it's because you're mucky or anything if it is these you have. They eat carpet and clothes. The grubs are really hairy. see http://www.scambs.gov.uk/Environment/Pestsandnuisance/InsectPests/carpetbeetles.htm

Anyway, the council told us they would come out for about £38 if I found any more, they managed to convince me that two weren't an infestation (childbirth has sent me rather neurotic).

I hope you figure out what they are. We have a problem at the mo of a snail hidden in the house which comes out and leave strails all over then hides before we get up, woodlice, and even more worrying, spiders which keep wrapping up the woodlice and leaving them all over the place! The price you pay for living near fields I guess...:eek:

Good luck!
Luce

conradmum

It sounds as though they're coming in from somewhere else if you're cleaning up regularly. Do you rent? Have you spoken to your landlord about the problem?
Personally, with a problem as entrenched as this I would get a pest control company in, but make sure that they tell you what the source of the problem is, rather than just spray pesticide everywhere.
Is your flat on the ground floor? Ground beetles could be getting in from outside. You could try clearing any vegetation from around the outside of the flat. The wriggly bugs could be maggots, which means you have something decomposing nearby.
The thing to remember with bugs is that they need something to eat and they need somewhere to live. Eliminate either of these and they won't come back. If they aren't getting these things in your flat they're getting them somewhere else.
Could you describe the size, shape, colour and behaviour of the bugs?

JCD_Capulet

sandy2 wrote: »

Try ringing your local council (pest control) and asking for advice and trap one of the wriggly bugs so it can be identified

Will do, now I just need to wait for one to turn up Thanks x

vanilla wrote: »

Hi sorry to hear your having such a problem with these bugs. We get alot of black beetles and earywigs and a wiggle thing with loads of legs. It took us a while to figure out that they were getting in under our front door (there was something missing) anyway the only way i can keep them out is blocking it with an old towel at from the evening on. They only seem to appear from the evening through till morning.
Do you know how there getting in???

They could be getting in everywhere really Not long after I moved in here and found theese things were a problem the housing did come up to spray the house. But it wasn't even a number of months before they started showing up again. When I called to complain, again, they told me there might be a problem with them within the structure of the close, but with the other residents not giving their permission to go in and spray their houses I just keep on getting them. There's about a 1" gap at my front door, all my skirting boards have gaps (or had gaps before the carpet was laid) and there are gaps in the floor too. thanks x

helping_hubby wrote: »

Hi, a long shot, but the wriggly bugs, they aren't silver fish are they?
http://images.google.com/images?source=ig&hl=en&q=silverfish&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Holy moly! No, they aren't thoose. I'd probably be stick thin and bald with stress if thoose were jotting around my flat all the time! Eeek. But now I know what silver fish are, cheers hon x.