Dealing with a bed bug infestation is tough, and you need to know what they look like if you wish to check for bed bugs in your home. Bed bugs are oval reddish insects that crawl their way into furniture and people’s belongings. Bed bugs have six legs, no wings, and are about the same size as an apple seed. A beg bug female can reproduce 300-500 eggs. That’s why bed bug infestation ought to be curbed at the early stage.
They have a proboscis, which they use to inject into their victims. After every feeding, their appearance becomes swollen and turns a deeper shade of red. Bed bugs love being close to people – their favorite meal, and they are primarily found in hotels, schools, and movie theaters. Bed bugs can come into your home through used mattresses and wooden furniture.
Bed bugs are nocturnal insects that attack at night and hide in tight cracks during the day. On few occasions, they come out to feed during the day if they are hungry. Their feeding time is about two minutes to ten minutes, depending on the size. Usually, adult bed bugs drop feces from previous blood meals when they are feeding. Bed bugs don’t just feed on human blood (that’s their preference); they feed on other mammals like dogs and cats. After they have consumed a substantial amount of food, they always crawl back into their hiding spots. Common spots where you might see bed bugs are under wooden furniture, under piles of dirty clothes, and behind baseboards.
Lifespan of Bed Bugs: How Long Do Bed Bugs Live?
Bed bugs have six life stages, and to progress to each of these stages, they must engage in one full-blood meal. Also, just like snakes, bed bugs shed their skins at every stage. Female bed bugs lay about three eggs every day, and they need to feed at least once every fortnight to keep producing eggs; the same goes for male bed bugs.
Bed bugs survive almost anywhere their hosts can survive. However, they tend to die when their body temperature rises above 45°C. This is the reason why heat used when treating bed bug infestation.
What Are the Warning Signs of Bed Bug Infestation?
Rather than waiting until you get bitten by bed bugs, why not check for bed bugs in your home. Take extra care and look out for signs that may indicate bed bug infestation. Always carry out a regular visual inspection in your home so you can detect early signs of bed bugs.
A few bed bug signs to look out for:
When changing your bedspreads, check to make sure that there are no eggshells, ting eggs, or skin peels on the beddings. The skin peels of nymphs are usually pale yellow, so watch out for that. You should also look out for a cluster of fecal matter that forms dark spots when you try to clean it away. These are usually the already digested blood of bed bugs expelled during feeding.
If you notice little spots of red stain on your bedding, then it’s most likely from a bed bug you crushed while sleeping. When you detect these early signs, immediately call a professional exterminator to inspect your home for bed bugs.
Why is it Difficult to Check for Bed Bugs?
Checking and detecting bed bugs in your home can be a challenging task, one you might not be able to handle properly. In addition, a visual inspection can be helpful only if you get the opportunity to see them crawl out of their hideouts. You can easily mistake bed bugs for other types of bugs like carpet bugs, so you need an expert exterminator for this.
Suppose you suspect that you have a bed bug infestation. In that case, you can inspect certain areas like edges of walls, under screw heads, under loose wallpapers, inside receptacles, between cushions, and cracks in wooden drawers.
What Does Bed Bug Bites Look Like?
How do you know a bed bug has bitten you? Bed bug bites don’t have a specific look because sometimes they can look like mosquito bites, rashes, or even a skin condition. There is no change in their skin for some unique individuals when bitten by bed bugs, even if they have a bed bug infestation.
However, if, for any reason, you feel you might have been exposed to bed bug bites, then you should consult your doctor for treatment.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs
To treat bed bugs effectively, you have to detect them on time. Always conduct a visual inspection, and when you notice anything off, call the attention of a bed bug exterminator. Getting rid of bed bugs isn’t child’s play and can only be appropriately treated by a professional.
How to Prevent A Bed Bug Infestation
Knowing the possible ways of bed bugs invading your home would help you be more precise in preventing it from happening. Where do bed bugs come from? How can they get into your home? From used mattresses, nearby properties, wiring and plumbing, they can sometimes latch onto your clothes or shoes when you go for a vacation.
To avoid bed bugs, you need to be careful not to bring any used items or clothing into your home. However, if you must, carry out a proper visual inspection before using it. As an added precaution, you can keep second-hand furniture under the sun because beg bugs find heat unpleasant. If you notice any cracks on your walls or pipes, call a professional to fix them up.
After shopping, don’t dump shopping bags directly on your bed, as you never know what might have latched on to the bags. Inspect the beddings of any foreign place you are staying – hotel, friend’s apartment, or office – to make sure it’s free from bed bugs. Keep a close watch on your home after professionals have done bed bug treatments to make sure it doesn’t return.
Conclusion
The easy way to detect bed bugs is through their smell – musty odor. Although cleaning up infested areas would help curb bed bug infestation, getting rid of them ultimately would need chemical treatments.
So, in general, the safest way to get rid of bed bugs is to call an experienced exterminator.
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