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I just moved into an apartment in an old house. Everything is sort of crumbing, the windows have cracked that let things in from the outside, there are a million nooks and crannies where bugs can hide.
And they do. Every kind under the sun.
There are horseflys flying around my room. I just killed two, and sat down happy I'd finally gotten all of them when one of them landed on my keyboard. It keeps on flying off and then coming back to land on my computer before disappearing again.
And that's not all, I've killed two of the same type of bug, in exactly the same place 15 minutes apart. Not so odd except there aren't holes or openings nearby that would make it a hot spot.
The more spiders I kill on my window sills, the more appear. I've given up on killing the tiny fruit flys buzzing around my room. I don't even know what most of the bugs I kill are.
I don't keep any food in my room. There shouldn't be anything attracting them. I went home over the weekend and left a bug killing thing in the room, but when I got back things were just as bad.
I can't sleep. I hate bugs, they terrify me. I know I'm getting bitten in my sleep and I'm scared every time I go to bed.
Does anyone have any solutions? Anything at all. I need to sleep sometime in the near future, and I'd like to be able to get into my bed without fear.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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First thing to do, stop killing the spiders. They're helping you with the other bugs, so if you must kill them leave them for last.
Second thing to do, light some incense (and try to place such that the smoke gets in the nooks and crannies). The smoke should help significantly in keeping the bug population down.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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((blacwolve)) I'm not a fan of bugs either. Do you have any raid? I'm not sure how good that is to use inside, but...
I think I read somewhere that bugs don't like mint. Can anyone verify this? So if you can think of someone to extract mint flavoring from things and spread it around the apartment, that might be good.
I know this isn't help for tonight, but call a pesticide company in the morning and see what they can do about fixing you up with regular bug sprayings and possibley drilling tiny holes in your wall and shooting powder up there. It does something that gets to the root of the bug problem. Helped up quite a bit when we had a HUGE carpenter ant fiasco.
Hang in there, you're doing great.
Posts: 879 | Registered: Apr 2005
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You might try talking to your landlord. I'd avoid any pesticide-based solutions, though, as the link between even relatively light exposure to pesticides and the development of Parkinson's Disease is becoming more and more clear.
Things that you can do to minimize the number of bugs getting into your place:
Seal off obvious points of entrance. Taping over those window cracks should help some. Don't leave fruit out (I know, you don't *have* any fruit out. Don't start, at least until the fruit flies die. As fugu said, don't kill the spiders. Sticky pads, tape strips, and the like can be useful for catching bugs, if you don't mind subjecting them to a fairly gruesome fate. Ants dislike cayanne pepper. I expect that other bugs do too. Try pouring a thin line of the stuff in a circle around something that they'd proably like to crawl over to, and see if it keeps them away. If it does, get creative with it. Put mesh screen things over your drains.
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Get a couple of geckos and let them run free. Don't get male and female - you could wind up with a gecko problem. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I DO know how to get rid of fruit flies. They breed in fruit (duh) and in standing water. As in, the water at the bottom of your sink drains. Before you go to bed at night, pour some bleach down the drain in the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, in the bottom of your dishwasher, if you have one, and washing machine, if you have one, and in each toilet. Don't forget the shower and bathtub drains. In a few days, all your fruit flies will be gone.
Oh, and complain to the landlord. That's what landlords are for, complaining to.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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In addition to cayanne pepper, I've heard that ants don't like coffee. Coffee grounds might be worth looking into as well as a deterrent.
Posts: 3852 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Um, about the bleach... Make sure you don't have leftover cleaners down the drains you're pouring bleach into. Someone here will remember which kind... Certain cleaners, when combined with bleach, will cause chlorine gas to form, and you can then kiss this life goodbye if you breathe it in.
Bugs suck. Get yourself a caulk gun (only a few dollars at Home Depot) and some silicon caulk. Now find any crack-- ANY and seal it up with lots of caulk. Get a plastic putty knife and a damp sponge and clean off any excess so that it looks nice. Sealing them out is the most humane way to deal with them. If you have broken screens- tape them up. It may not look great, but it will keep the bugs out.
Bugs also don't like bay leaves.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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Yeah, that's it. I knew it was easy, but my brain refused to give me the correct answer. I guess I'm getting old. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Pouring boiling water down the drains works as well, and no chlorine worries. I'm not sure it would work in toilets, though.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Oh! Oh! Oh! </Vinnie Barbarino> You can also put salt into the drains. The bugs can't grow in saltwater.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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That said -- I mostly agree with Fugu. The spiders are only there because there is such an ample supply of food (other bugs) around. Let them do their work as much as possible. KNOW your spiders - only kill ones that are known poisonous (like recluses). Leave all others alone.
Is this ground floor - or even partially below-ground apartment? That will make keeping bugs out more difficult...
Your best defense is knowledge. You said you don't know what they area -- Figure out what kinds of bugs are the ones you are having the most problems with, and try to find out what could be attracting them.
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I have spread cayenne pepper and borax all over my room, especially on my window sills. We do have a cat, so I only put borax in the places I know she can't reach. Mostly really high ledges. I've taped up the windows and other obvious points of entry. But if I taped up all of the possible points of entry my room would be wallpapered with duct tape. And I'm not speaking figuratively.
So far I think these measures might be giving pause to the creepy crawlies, although the flying insects aren't much inconvienced. Of course, we also killed a lot of bugs in the course of spreading the cayenne pepper about.
The spiders are the bugs biting me, so they're at the top of my list for extermination. The other bugs are (I think) mostly harmless, other than being annoying, they can't much hurt me. The spiders can bite, and as my body can attest, have. Also, I'm very scared of them. My first reaction when I see a spider is to kill it, not stick around trying to figure out if it can kill me or not. On the bright side, I just looked up brown recluses, and I don't have any spiders nearly that big. I don't think anything that large could have escaped my panic.
I'm going to buy incense tomorrow and call the apartment people over my lunch break.
Thank you to everyone for your great suggestions.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Diatomaceous earth can be helpful for carpet-dwelling creepie-crawlies like fleas and some beetles. Relatively non-toxic (though you wouldn't want to breathe large amounts of the dust) and cuts through their exoskeletons on a very fine level, causing them to dehydrate and die. Also relatively pet-safe.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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I use the roach baits, hidden in inaccessible corners. The ones called "Max Force" are good, and they have sticky backs so they stay where you put them. This will get the crawling bugs, though it takes a few weeks to get rid of them all.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Javert: And, if all else fails, send some super-smart children into space and train them to kill the bugs for you.
It worked once before...
this is possibly the funniest thing i've read all day.
i'm with blacwolve on the spiders though. stupid things are terrifying and they BITE. my suggestion, other than sending super-smart children into space, is just move out. don't even stop to pack your stuff, there might be hidden bugs or eggs in there. just f*k it and leave it all behind.
i should mention that my phobia does cause all reason to leave the brain.
Posts: 58 | Registered: Jul 2006
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Are you sure it's the spiders biting you? Have you seen them bite you? Many people accuse spiders of biting them, but it's actually quite rare for a spider to seek out a sleeping person to bite. More likely you've got mosquitoes, biting flies, or bedbugs.
Consider getting yourself some mosquito netting, and make a tent around your sleeping area.
Posts: 3141 | Registered: Apr 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Jenny Gardener: Are you sure it's the spiders biting you? Have you seen them bite you? Many people accuse spiders of biting them, but it's actually quite rare for a spider to seek out a sleeping person to bite. More likely you've got mosquitoes, biting flies, or bedbugs.
That's what our pediatrician says too.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I have a huge rash on my leg. I've never gotten a rash before in my life. I have incredibly tolerant skin. Do any of those things cause rashes?
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Don't get male and female - you could wind up with a gecko problem. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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I guess I'm getting old. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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