I just recently completed the purchase of a used RV. Everything looked good and in working order, and it seemed like a great deal. Until I tried to sleep in it.Bedbugs! No returns! No exceptions! I've been hoodwinked.From what I've read so far, If you're cleaning house and you leave even a single bug alive, it can restart the infection. And the only surefire way to kill them all is fumigation.Problem is I can't find any companies advertizing such a service for motor homes. It seems to me that if you could fumigate a house, you could do the same for an RV, but before I start making blind calls to local pest control companies, I wondered if anyone would have some useful advice or experience to share on this issue.

Do it yourself. A motor home ought to be pretty easy to fumigate. Bruce

Try using a flea bomb!Make sure all propane and pilot lights are off including DSI systems. Best to disconnect shore power and batteries!

What a nightmare! Hopefully, you can keep it confined to your RV and not bring it home with you. Try to do the fumigating yourself. Google is your friend.

Never had experience with bed bugs, but we just spent a week in Florida near Panama City. Woke up with bites on us, very itchy. We figured it had to be sand fleas or something like that. We got some Raid bug killer and sprayed everything down in the bed room area, including inside the pillow cases, sheets, the mattress, the carpet on the floor. Well, the smell was better than the bugs. We did not get any more bites after that.Then, on the ride home, at the end of the first day, I noticed my ankles were all bit up. Where did THAT came from. Figured we had the same critters in the carpet in the truck. You guessed it ... I sprayed every inch on the truck inside and shut the windows. No more bites.So .... if you just spray everything down with a good bug killer, or set off a couple bug foggers (in a small camper 2 foggers will kill the dead flies!) chances are, you'll kill the bed bugs. And save yourself the cost of a fumigater.Remember, after about 2 weeks, you need to repeat it in case there are eggs, to kill the hatchlings before they mature and start reproducing again!$6.00 or less for a couple bug bombs is a lot cheaper than a fumigator!

nomad297 wrote:Do it yourself. A motor home ought to be pretty easy to fumigate. BruceI'm a bit unclear on where to find the supplies for self-fumigation. Specifically, what chemical to use and where I would find it, as well as where to find a fumigation tent this small.Edit: Unfortunately, the most effective fumigation agent for bed bugs (vikane) cannot be purchased privately.enblethen wrote:Try using a flea bomb!Make sure all propane and pilot lights are off including DSI systems. Best to disconnect shore power and batteries!I've read that those are a sham and they can't penetrate the carpet or crevices in the RV effectively, leaving the majority of bedbugs alive and hiding.

Bedbugs! | Good Sam Community

dons2346
Explorer
Mar 17, 2015
Lots of ways. A rv is nothing but a small house

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+get+rid+of+bedbugs
dave17352
Explorer
Mar 17, 2015
I would definitely heat kill them. The best way would be put in a enclosed structure and heat the whole thing. If you heat just the inside some may be living in the extremities. Heat is how many pest control companies eradicate them in houses. They either bring in a generator truck or use propane heat and many fans through out the house to blow the heat around. A RV should be easy but I would still be just as bugged! as you are. If there was not structure available I would drape the whole rig with 4 mill poly and them plug in several space heaters and a few fans. Leave the windows and screens open and heat that baby for twice as long as they recommend. I bet that would kill every last one of those little nasty B@@T@@ds! and their eggs. You sure don't want to take any into your house. The bedbug blood bath would be my number one priority. I would not trust bug bombs. DDT just about got rid of them for good but it killed everything else too.
Dtank
Explorer
Mar 17, 2015
seisatsu wrote:
nomad297 wrote:
Do it yourself. A motor home ought to be pretty easy to fumigate.

Bruce

I'm a bit unclear on where to find the supplies for self-fumigation. Specifically, what chemical to use and where I would find it, as well as where to find a fumigation tent this small.

Edit: Unfortunately, the most effective fumigation agent for bed bugs (vikane) cannot be purchased privately.

enblethen wrote:
Try using a flea bomb!
Make sure all propane and pilot lights are off including DSI systems. Best to disconnect shore power and batteries!

I've read that those are a sham and they can't penetrate the carpet or crevices in the RV effectively, leaving the majority of bedbugs alive and hiding.

Gads! ..:R

A tent???

No need to "tent". Close the windows and vents = "tented".

Forget what you "read" - and get with the program!..:S

Read the Wiki link posted by "smkettner".

Find out if bug bombs work or not - yourself.
Probably less than $20...:R
Available at local hardware stores, etc.

Back to "real" fumigation......
Plan A. Call a fumigation company - ask where they are doing one.
Ask if you brought your RV to the job location, they would tent and fumigate it "on site".

Plan B. Usually the fumigation "crews" are independents who contract to the brand name companies.
Watch for a truck & crew and ask if they would do the above.
(Ability to speak at least High School Spanish will help)..;)

Get as busy "doing" - as you are keyboarding, ROTFL.

.
cardtarget
Explorer
Mar 17, 2015
Also, get some diatomaceous earth at Home Depot and sprinkle it all around your bed. Dries the bastards out. We had bed bugs in our house last year and used a combination of DE and an insecticide called Suspend SC (which is sold online but is technically industrial strength). Haven't seen one since and we managed to keep them confined to a single room.
TimnJo
Explorer
Mar 17, 2015
I guess I don't have to worry about them surviving up here:
http://globalnews.ca/news/1856489/coldest-february-on-record-in-quebec/
2oldman
Explorer II
Mar 17, 2015
google: bedbugs
trailerbikecamp
Explorer
Mar 17, 2015
I am a safety advisor and at one of the camps had bedbugs. A local pest control company came in. They STRIPPED the room. Replaced the mattress and box spring, removed carpeting, took out the baseboards. Anything that could create a crack or crevice had to be dealt with. Either taken completely out or fumigated and returned. The the room was fumigated. After 2weeks it was fumigated again to get any eggs that may have hatched. Any tiny crack can hide a bug. As one person said, a single bug can restart the whole mess again.

IIRC the heat required to kill these bugs can be detrimental to other objects. Things that contain plastic can be damaged for example. These things live all over the world so if we can live there so can they.

Fumigation will not affect any eggs only bugs that are hatched. This was told to me by the pest control company.
Go_Dogs
Explorer
Mar 17, 2015
I have heard that steam can kill them. As mentioned, remove and discard all bedding. I would be cautious of other, 'surprises' that the previous owner has left. Check for leaks, rodents, other insects-and proceed with caution the first time you use the water/sewage system. Sterilize the system. After the bedbug eggs hatch-repeat the steam.
I would use the steam method, rather than setting off a toxic bomb in an RV.

They can hide behind wall socket plates, in the light fixtures. Assume they are everywhere-not just in the bedroom. You have be heavy-handed with the steam. I would imagine it would damage the wall paper.
Janss
Explorer II
Mar 17, 2015
Can you tell me if you've seen evidence of the bugs, like eggs, or actual bugs themselves? I have been thinking I may have bedbugs but haven't seen any evidence...other than occasional bites, which may come from walking around outside at night.

Anyway, I think I can do a heat treatment here in AZ. Just go away and leave the AC off for several hours.
mlts22
Explorer
Mar 17, 2015
That is a good point. When I put my rig up for the summer, I just leave it sealed tightly with the curtains open and the A/C off, and the 100+ degree days will do the heat treatment for free.