Birdmites/ratmites starting coming last May. I had a lot of hair and they first found a nest in my hair, then bed, house etc. They bit and bit hard sometimes.
I thought they were mosquitos and moved my to sister’s house twice and found they hitchhiked and stayed on me there, but got on no one else, thank God.
I moved home and finally diagnosed them myself, thru sites like these, Pest Control Cos. seem confused or couldn’t offer help. One gave me Catchmaster glue traps which confirmed.
- First decluttered, threw out old furniture, area rugs, lots of clothes, shoes, paperwork, put clothes and files in sealable totes and starting spraying my body w/ Kleen Free Naturally and putting it in my laundry, got top of line Miele Hepa Vacuum. Put bags in zip lock, then freezer.
- Emptied garage and got house and property rodent proofed and delta dust in attic,
- Had some rats in garage so could have been source, but never knew where they came from.
- Started using essential oils on hair and body (tea tree, peppermint, cedarwood) sometimes neem oil and also olive oil on scalp really drowned them. (I shaved my head, best thing ever and never went out during covid so didn’t matter).
- Read Tony’s Mustard Powder – Delusionalinsects.com, her recipe was a turning point for me and seemed to keep them off my body, but she had another mite which is only on body, birdmites are also in my environment w/ house and yard, I started spraying house and yard w/ Onslaught residual and Nyguard insect growth regulator, all this went on for 5 months and cut down most of vegetation and now they are here but much less and very small and get bit lightly 2 or 3 times a day.
- I’m back to swimming and chlorine seems to dry them up.
- So we’ll see, I live in Los Angeles and colder, dryer winter helped so praying summer and humidity won’t bring them back.
- I also spray my car w/ Precore 2000 Plus and have it vacuumed a lot.
- Started spraying Premo Guard Mite killer on everything including clothes, bed, chairs, it’s fairly natural so can spray more things.
- Diligence is the key but it’s a routine now and I’m happy again. This is a horrible thing to go thru but we can each find our own way out thru sharing. good luck and hope this helps.
Lisa
