What You Need To Know About Bed Bug Infestation
They’re poppy seed to apple seed size. They’re oval-shaped with no wings. Prior to feeding, they are about 1/4 inches long and flat as paper. After feeding, they turn dark red and bloated.
They have a one-year life span.
They prefer to feed on human blood but will also bite mammals and birds. Bed bugs typically bite at night but come out during the day if they need feeding. They can survive for up to six months without feeding. They’re attracted to breath and can detect carbon dioxide exhaled by the host(s). So, as long as you’re breathing, you can get bitten. Both male and female bed bugs bite.
A single bed bug can produce more than 20 nymphs every 90 days. A female can lay 200-400 eggs depending on food supply and temperature. Eggs hatch in about 10 days.
It only takes one trip to a friend’s house, in a rental car, on any public transportation—and a little bugger has hitched a ride to your home and belongings.
Wrong! This is a misconception. Bed bugs will inhabit anywhere a host is found. Buying furniture, used clothes, or picking up used items by a curbside can bring them into your home. If you do buy used furniture, have it inspected by a canine scent team first. Then, vacuum and steam it before bringing it inside your home.
Any used clothing should be sealed in a plastic bag and taken to a commercial laundromat to dry on high heat for 20 minutes before bringing it home in a clean plastic bag (not a reused bag). Washing is secondary to drying on high heat before bringing it home.
It’s not advisable that you unpack your belongings into hotel drawers. Use precaution when traveling and inspect the following places for bugs and clusters of eggs before you unpack:
• Seams, creases, tufts, and folds of mattresses and box springs
• Cracks in the bed frame and headboard
• Under chairs, couches, beds, dust covers
• Between the cushions of couches and chairs
• Under area rugs and the edges of carpets
• Between the folds of curtains
• In drawers
• Behind baseboards and around window and door casings
• Behind electrical plates and under loose wallpaper, paintings, and posters
• In cracks in plaster
• In telephones, radios, and clocks
Keep luggage on luggage racks and off the floor. Keep luggage in the bathroom if possible, as bed bugs are less likely to be found there. Bed bugs are attracted to breath, so they’ll seek their host(s) within a 10-foot radius, which is typically in bed or in a chair.
Since the bugs are less likely to be in the bath area, hang clothing onto the shower rod when possible.
Bed bug bites most commonly occur on exposed areas of the body, including the face, neck, hands, arms, lower legs, or all over the body. Different skin reactions can occur: red and itchy flat lesions, small raised swelling lesions, large raised itchy welts, and lumps filled with blood or fluid.
Bed bugs are not known to transmit disease, but their bites can cause great discomfort, and excessive scratching can lead to a skin infection.
Treatment for most people is as simple as treating any itch and letting the body heal itself. In severe cases, the bugs cause hives and welts. Reactions can appear days after you are bitten.
If you suspect that you may have a bed bug infestation, contact us today to book a confidential inspection.