Can’t Find Bed Bugs but Have Bites
If for some time, in your living space, you’ve been thinking that you have bed bugs, there’s a reason why. You can’t find bed bugs but have bites, and this has gone on for quite some time without you knowing for sure what’s going on. However, you should know that thinking you have an infestation doesn’t mean you do. If you can’t find bed bugs but have bites, a lot of other things may be responsible for that.
Check out the possible explanations for any bites you may have.
Are There Small Bugs in the Cracks and Crevices Around Your Home?
You had those bites the previous night. Then you’ve seen several cylindrical-shaped insects all over your living space. Before you freak out, relax a bit. Some other bugs look like bedbugs and are often mistaken. German cockroach nymphs, for instance, look a lot like bedbugs, but in reality, they’re not. Bedbugs have an oval shape and shorter length. In contrast, German cockroach nymphs have a cylindrical shape. Of course, the two insects are active at night. Both are also primarily found in harborages. Except, cockroaches are usually around moisture and food. If you don’t see these insects around your bed or couch, then they’re likely not bedbugs.
Do You Have Bites Around Your Ankles?
Bedbugs hardly bite anyone around their ankles. However, if you can’t find bedbugs but have bites near your feet around your ankles, it may be another insect. If you have pets, it can possibly be a flea infestation giving you problems.
Do the Bugs Around You Have Wings?
If the insects you see have wings, you can relax because they’re not bedbugs. You may be confusing carpet beetles for bedbugs because they’re in your bedroom. However, carpet beetles have noticeable wings.
Is Your Bed Clean?
Bedbugs cause visible damage to mattresses that you’ll easily notice. You probably don’t have bedbugs if you don’t see anything out of place on your sleeping spot. Signs of an infestation include black dots or small blood stains on your bedding. Look for markings behind and around your sheets to see if you have bedbugs. If there aren’t any stains, you have another type of insect biting you.
Are You Itchy?
If your skin’s itchy, you may think you have bedbugs around, but that may not be the case. If you can’t find bedbugs but have bites, it may be other things. Skin irritations can be from medications, detergents, body soap, or an allergic reaction. Specific foods and pollutants can make you itchy.
Do You Have Bites Inside Your Elbows or Lower Body Parts?
If you can’t find bedbugs but have bites all over the lower half of your body, it could be flea bites. A pet may have brought in the fleas, and they’re the ones giving you those bites.
Often, if you can’t find bedbugs but have bites, they’re not your problem. Bedbugs are easily noticed, and if you have them, you’ll definitely see them.
I haven’t seen any bed bugs but I’ve been getting something on me that is stuck to my skin, usually on my arm and hands, sometimes on my chest. It looks like a scab when I pick it off of me and the site where is at starts to bleed. When I take a pic of it I can’t get it identified and it looks like an alien from space, a face and a jaw with teeth..I also see black dots on my skin and have to use alcohol to get it off. What the heck is it???
I see them too/ what are they?
Please reply…
It is probably a Tick ! If it sinks half if it’s body into you..
I work in a nursing home they have an outbreak of bed bugs my husband and I have both been bit but no sign of bugs any where I was my bedding every other day dry my pillows on high heat and still no sign of bugs but we have bitez
I have delt with bed bugs 5 fives over the years unfortunately .. moving ,and friends having them & so on.. and just because you don’t see them don’t mean you don’t have them!! Sometimes it takes till your I infested with alot to see them & cath one..but if you just got them then yes they are hard to find ! I don’t know why they r saying that if you don’t see one you don’t have them..definitely not true..but you will eventually if you have them & do nothing to get rid of them .. again from experience when you first get them it’s hard to spot till they start to lay eggs & have A baby’s.. so as a soon as you think you might have them don’t take any chances amd clean everything and wash & dry everything on high heat the best you can..I learned its.best to throw everything out you can and start over unfortunately..
I have bites all over my body and have been bitten by something, yet never seen a bedbug nor evidence of any bedbugs. No fleas. What could be eating me?
Have these weird bites on my stomach like hives after sleeping on floor by mistake on rug like welts lmk please help
What bit is this small blister like around a black spot in the container I have a picture
I have bites ALL OVER MY UPPER HALF OF MY BODY INCLUDING MY FACE ( I AM SP EMBARRASSED. BUT WEARING A MASK HIDES THEM ) BUT MY APARTMENT HAS BEEN CHECKED AND NO EVIDENCE OF BED BUGS. I HAVE BITES ALL OVER MY BREASTS ,ARMS, AND FACE. HELP ME
I have the same Sharon. And around my neck, under my chin.
I also have bites on face , arms, hands. Back. Even on breasts, no sign of bed bugs. Had pest control service come check. Had friend tear room apart. Nothing. This has been going on for 8 months. Now almost continually. Red, swollen , itchy. Think I’m going crazy from itching.
I have the bites of bed bugs, no sign of the bugs yet. Hoping I catch it early maybe only a few bugs… Going on a few days now still no sign. I have covered my bedroom in Diatomaceous Earth. I would think hives too except my dog has the same bites just as itchy the poor baby is so miserable. Bites are on her back and tummy, mine on my arms and neck. Bites are 2-4 in a straight line. They are so itchy that I have dug my skin open. Please help me, I’m freaking out!!! Tell me where to look to get this nipped in the bud. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!
I have the same problem, but it is my whole body except my head.
My dog does not seem to have a problem.
If the bites are in a line or zigzagged line, then it’s probably bedbugs !
Good post! It can be somewhat easy to confused bedbug bites with other pests. Bird and poultry lice can leave similar bit marks and as you mention fleas as well.
Bites in ALL
different places on my arms and legs
I get bites in my arms. They just come out from time to time during the day. I don’t see any bugs. We do have bedbugs but I have not seen them on my body.
I had bed bugs and a carpet beetles infestation at the same time, my apt has been fogged 3 times, and treated 6 times, now I’m all ate up over my entire body, all I see are insect eggs all over my entire apartment, so what’s biting me?
Hey so I for sure have carpet beetles can you help me identify the difference in bites or allergic reaction I no everyone is different but I no we have fleas and I no we have carpet beetles but I’m praying no bed bugs I asked. Inspection guy to come said no sign of bb so I don’t no what to think
I’m getting bit all over my body – legs, arms, hands, back and NO SIGN OF ANY BUG OF ANY SORT. A sigh of relief but I’m tired of getting bite and not know how to fix the problem. And they’re not rashes or clusters it’s one bite on different parts of my body.
SAME Mimi!! Did you figure it out I’m going crazy!
This same thing is happening to me and my partner. The bites are also worsening in severity and are 4 inches wide.
i’ve been dealing with many infestations in my house for months now, including bed bugs. living like this is unbearable and i’ve developed paranoia because of the bugs. i can’t sleep without covering any entrance points to my skin, i have to cover myself with clothes. i’ve been too scared to go downstairs or into the kitchen or eat any food in there because of a new, different infestation (thanks drugstore beetles). i can’t stand still on the floor for more than five seconds, and i can’t go without cleaning on impulse with i find any bug anymore. i’ve stopped letting my cat into my room, let alone on the bed, for fears that she may be carrying some bugs. any time i get bit, i immediately have to thoroughly check the area and i cannot stop myself from cleaning. i had to stop sleeping in my room for months at a time because the paranoia got so bad. even now, the sight of any bug is enough to send me into a panic attack. i cover myself in various products like perfumes and lotions to try and deter bugs from biting. it’s gotten so bad that i’ve begun to hallucinate bugs that aren’t even there, and i check every spick or spot that looks like it could be a bug. it has completely taken over my life. i struggle to go to school, to sleep, to eat normally, and i struggle to interact with my family and friends normally anymore. it’s extremely isolating. my family would rather make fun of me for the issue than help out and clean, because they don’t experience the mental turmoil i go through each day themselves. it is a literal, crawling, biting, hell.
recently, i’ve been dealing with a new issue. it’s been awhile since i have gotten bit in my sleep, and i’ve been sleeping in my own room for about a month or two without any issue. but now, i keep waking up around 2:30-5:30, and finding one singular bite on my leg. the first day, i slept alone in my room, which is quite clean, and got bit on an area exposed by my ripped jeans. the second day, i slept in someone else’s room (definitely dirtier, but a safe room for me because there’s somehow only ever gnats in there) and with the cat on the bed, and i got bit on the same leg but more into the hairy part of my calf. the windows were open in each room, so i’m thinking it could possibly be a mosquito? fleas aren’t completely out of the picture- it’s been something we’ve dealt with on many occasions, but i haven’t seen many signs from my cat that would show a flea infestation. each day, i thoroughly checked the area, but to no avail. i usually even check around the cat, because the bed bugs LOVE her heat, and won’t bite her because of her fur. i’m turning up with nothing, and it’s driving me crazy. i haven’t felt safe in my own house for months.
what could this be? it’s there anything i can do? im picking up coconut oil to try a new product on my skin, but i can only do so much for my mental state. if anyone has any tips, they would be greatly appreciated. i just want my life back. no kid, no teen, no adult, should ever have to be put through this hell. there are hours of sleep i will never get back because of this. i don’t think i’ll be able to go throughout my days without this affecting me in the future.
thank you for the help. put yourself in other’s shoes before you judge. have a bug free night and day <3