Fleas?

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Ok, my gf is convinced we have them, but we don't own any animals, nor are we ever really around any. We're a little messy, but we do bathe daily and clean the house fairly regularly. And I don't think we've brought in any used furniture or clothing recently that could have introduced them. Is it possible? She's covered in bites - I seem to have been spared, though I do itch a little at night lately (maybe psychological?) She also thought she saw one, but I thought maybe it could just been a baby fly.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:16 (twenty years ago)

are you in an apartment? they can get in from your neighbors'.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:20 (twenty years ago)

We live in a loft and there's only one other guy on our floor - no pets there either. No apartments in the rest of our building.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:21 (twenty years ago)

a baby fly is a maggot

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:21 (twenty years ago)

Could they come from birds? We have a lot of pigeons on the rooftop area outside our window.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:22 (twenty years ago)

a baby fly is a maggot

-- RJG (RJ...), September 28th, 2005.

No but there's that stage after maggot when they're like little tiny flies.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

could be baby pigeons

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

or flying android fetuses

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:30 (twenty years ago)

do you have rodent problems?

it's weird that you're not getting bitten, but that could have to do with perfume/cologne I guess. Is there a possibility that she's getting bitten in another building or outdoors?

I had a house once with fleas, it had hardwood floors and I guess their eggs can lie dormant for up to a year, just waiting for warm blood to come into their range. We had the landlord bomb the place good--maybe twice--and no problems after that, but it was awful while it was going on.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:35 (twenty years ago)

Obviously, you are biting her in your sleep.

― M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:40 (twenty years ago)

could be some variation on fleas, like tics or whatever it is that lives in mattresses etc. from having fleas my feeling is that if you had them you'd know it

― scout (scout), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:49 (twenty years ago)

ts:

http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/bugquest/flea.jpg

vs.

http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper344/stills/mk6r2z82.jpg

who would you rather have in your bed?

― AaronK (AaronK), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:50 (twenty years ago)

Are all of her bites sort of linear, as if something was calmly traveling along, biting at it's convenience? If so, I'll bet on spider bites. For a while I was getting bitten at night and my lady-friend wasn't, which sort of destroyed my flea hypothesis. Lo and behold, I awoke one night to angry spider on my neck...killed...problem solved.

― John Justen (johnjusten), Thursday, 29 September 2005 00:58 (twenty years ago)

Hmm. Could it be bedbugs?

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 29 September 2005 01:01 (twenty years ago)

Fleas are bugs, man. They can be anywhere and everywhere. Which sorta reminds me I once bought a used mattress (it looked clean) and then got crabs. Pissed me off because I wasn't getting any action at the time.

― jim wentworth (wench), Thursday, 29 September 2005 01:12 (twenty years ago)

yeah, bedbugs can also come in from your neighbors. Check along the baseboard in the area around your bed for cracks with little reddish-brown dots near them.

― dan i. (Dan I.), Thursday, 29 September 2005 01:31 (twenty years ago)

Crap, NOW I'm getting itchy.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 29 September 2005 01:37 (twenty years ago)

Apparently bedbugs are rampant these days, even in expensive hotels.
It's a flea if it's practically impossible to squash between your fingers, and when you look to see if it's dead it jumps about thirty feet like an insane alien microsuperball.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Thursday, 29 September 2005 02:13 (twenty years ago)

28.6 was the best they could muster around here.

― jim wentworth (wench), Thursday, 29 September 2005 02:20 (twenty years ago)

So if it is fleas, or if it is bedbugs, or whatever, what can we do about it?

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 29 September 2005 02:27 (twenty years ago)

http://www.fleasbegone.com/Prevent/td01.gif

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Thursday, 29 September 2005 03:33 (twenty years ago)

That spider story made me scream out loud. Fuck.
At least having cats keeps the spider problem away, usually.
I once had fleas in an apartment b/c the next door neighbour managed to get them (and had two cats). I sprayed and powdered the baseboards on the walls adjoining his and bathed my own (once flea-free) cats - this got rid of the problem. I did have a couple sadistic flea-killing episodes though - die between my thumbnails, bitches! Yeah, you would probably know if you had fleas.

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Thursday, 29 September 2005 04:18 (twenty years ago)

It's a flea if it's practically impossible to squash between your fingers,

so true! you need to catch them between your nails and smash them in twain

― jimmy glass (electricsound), Thursday, 29 September 2005 04:20 (twenty years ago)

if it is bedbugs you can use borax to get rid of them. It dries them up, and it's basically non-toxic to you.

― dan i. (Dan I.), Thursday, 29 September 2005 04:24 (twenty years ago)

My cat, sadly, is uninterested in protecting me from spiders. She is made entirely out of lazy.

― John Justen (johnjusten), Thursday, 29 September 2005 04:48 (twenty years ago)

one time my cat caught a fly in midair with her paw, it was awesome!

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Thursday, 29 September 2005 05:03 (twenty years ago)

Crap, actually I think I do have them. I have bites on me. So what is this stuff I'm supposed to buy?

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 29 September 2005 13:04 (twenty years ago)

I think I know the culprit too. Gf's sister's place had a rat problem. She's keeping a bunch of her stuff here while she's in France. Fleas seem to have appeared around when she brought the stuff.

― Hurting (Hurting), Thursday, 29 September 2005 13:05 (twenty years ago)

If you don't care about Mother Earth, just go to the chemist and tell them you need to fleabomb your house. They'll sell you a big scary can of stuff. Get all foodstuffs, plants and any other living thing out of the apartment. Close all the windows. Walk from room to room, spraying the stuff along the floors, across the furniture, everywhere you possibly can. Close doors behind you as you move through the apartment. Then leave the apartment for a couple of hours. Come back, open doors and windows until the air is breathable again. Voila, you're flea free for a year.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Thursday, 29 September 2005 16:57 (twenty years ago)

Congratulations, you have crabs!

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 29 September 2005 18:36 (twenty years ago)

oh golly Hurting, You mentioned birds nesting nearby... it sounds like you may have the dreaded "bird mites". Normally mites live on birds but if the birds leave a nest empty the mites search out another warm blooded creature to live on - like PEOPLE! We had a bird nest outside our window and watched the birds nest, lay eggs and they hatched and we watched with wonder and excitement as the baby birds grew and flew the nest. Next thing we knew....little tiny bumps (lots in a grouped area on arms, legs, asses.) They mites are so small you nearly can't see them but they are horrible and you need a professional exterminator to get rid of them. Sometimes one treatment doesn't do the trick either! I hope that's not it, they are horrid things.

― Wiggy (Wiggy), Thursday, 29 September 2005 18:47 (twenty years ago)

I would seriously spring for a professional if you can afford it; I think you might be wasting your money otherwise.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 29 September 2005 21:16 (twenty years ago)

fleas can attach themselves to your clothing and come in that way. yep and you need to flea bomb the house.

― bingo (Chris V), Friday, 30 September 2005 11:20 (twenty years ago)

It doesn't sound like scabies if that's a help.

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 30 September 2005 11:39 (twenty years ago)

flea bomb your choad

― bingo (Chris V), Friday, 30 September 2005 11:55 (twenty years ago)

Any chance the drop in temperature could be settling them down a bit? I haven't noticed them as much in the last day or so.

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 1 October 2005 02:31 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

they jump on my ankles - i let the cat's poison lapse - aargh

― Maria :D, Thursday, 9 August 2007 05:56 (eighteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

so i live in a building in which the other tenants all have pets. this must be the cause of the ever-increasing number of FLEAS in my apartment. they keep biting me and flying around.

what should i do? i guess firstly what i should i do in my own place, and second should i ask the landlord to de-flea the whole building? should i ask other tenants to de-flea their pets? (i'm not too friendly with other tenants, f.w.i.w.)

― amateurist, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 02:15 (seventeen years ago)

four years pass...

My sister's dog has visited and left us with a proto-infestation. According to her vet teh fleas are RAMPANT in the UK this year and developing poison resistance. Just hopped onto the bed with my laptop and crossed my legs and had 5 on my feet and ankles ohohohoh my skin is crawling, I only caught 2 of them. I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE YOU LITTLE FUCKERS JUST WAIT TIL I GET BACK WITH THE LETHAL SPRAYS. One can for each hand.

― Confused Turtle (Zora), Thursday, 6 September 2012 17:06 (thirteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

FLEAS

THEY FLY @ U FEET

― clouds, Thursday, 5 September 2013 19:13 (twelve years ago)

An exterminator once told me that they're much trickier to et rid of than bedbugs. Though I'd say bedbugs remain much creepier.

― Evan, Thursday, 5 September 2013 19:16 (twelve years ago)

the lot next door is completely covered in ivy, and there are about 5 feral or semi-feral cats who regularly wander through the yard, so i suspect that's the source. it's nice to be surrounded by greenery, but...

bedbugs are way creepier. i haven't had to deal with that yet, and the thought of them has kept me from taking plenty of decent alley furniture.

― clouds, Thursday, 5 September 2013 19:19 (twelve years ago)

I wouldn't even sit down in anything but a plastic chair anywhere near the city during the height of the mass paranoia. I hate swarms of things. especially swarms of things that are out to get you.

― Evan, Thursday, 5 September 2013 19:32 (twelve years ago)

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