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Bed bugs can be a huge concern. They hide in your home and drink your blood—what’s there to like? That’s why Empire Pest Defense offers full bed bug control in West Palm Beach. Contact Empire Pest Defense today for all your West Palm Beach pest control needs.
How Do I Know If I Have A Bed Bug Infestation?
One of the most obvious signs of a bed bug infestation is actually seeing a bed bug, so let’s talk about identification. Bed bugs can sometimes be confused for other bloodsucking pests, like ticks and fleas. Effective treatment is dependent on knowing what pest you’re dealing with, so it’s important to be able to recognize a bed bug when you see one.
Adult bed bugs are reddish brown in color, with a slightly redder tinge after feeding. They’re oval-shaped and flat, but become swollen after eating. Adult bed bugs are about a quarter of an inch long. Big enough to see with the naked eye but small enough that they hide easily.
Unlike fleas, bed bugs don’t jump. They can’t fly, either, which means they travel from place to place by crawling or climbing.
Bed bug bites usually appear as small welts, often in clusters or lines. Bed bugs don’t stay attached to their hosts like ticks do, which means bites can go unnoticed for a few days.
Other signs of a bed bug infestation include fecal spots, which look like dark brown specks or smears. You might also see molted skins or eggs. Bed bug eggs are extremely small and pale white.
Bed bugs tend to spread out throughout a home. In addition to bedding and soft furniture, bed bugs can be found behind baseboards or behind electrical switch plates and picture frames. Pay especially attention to the seams of mattresses and cushions, as those make ideal homes for bed bugs.
How Dangerous Is It To Have Bed Bugs In My House?
Bed bugs don’t spread disease through their bites, making them less dangerous than you might think. Their bites are nearly painless and often happen during the night, so you probably wouldn’t feel them. However, many people have an allergic reaction to bed bugs’ saliva, which is what makes the bites itch.
Bed bug infestations are a problem because these pests reproduce extremely quickly. A female bed bug can lay as many as five eggs every day and up to 500 in her lifetime. These eggs only take 21 days to reach adulthood. This means that infestations grow exponentially, becoming a huge problem for your home and your family.
How Can I Prevent Bed Bugs From Coming Into My House?
Because bed bug infestations can be such an issue, it’s important to take steps to prevent infestation from happening in the first place.
Be careful with soft belongings in public spaces: Bed bugs are excellent hitchhikers. If they can move from one suitcase to another, they will. That’s why it’s so important to keep your belongings as separate as possible. Keep your bags close to you on public transit, and avoid placing your suitcase on the floor of a hotel room. If you’re worried that you might have come into contact with bed bugs, carefully inspect your belongings and look for signs of pests.
Carefully examine all secondhand items like furniture and clothing: Who doesn’t love a good secondhand find? They can be great—until you learn that the couch you bought had bed bugs, and now they’re in your house. Before bringing anything home, look for any evidence of bed bugs. Fecal staining, old molted skins, and even the bugs themselves can be present. It’s much better to take the time to perform this inspection before taking anything inside than it is to need bed bug treatment in your home.
Reduce the clutter in your home: Although a tidy home won’t prevent bed bugs on its own, it can help minimize an infestation. The less clutter there is, the fewer hiding places there are for bed bugs to lurk in. Regular cleaning, especially vacuuming tight spaces, can get rid of existing bugs and their eggs, which prevents an infestation from growing.
In conclusion, if you want to avoid bed bugs:
- Watch your luggage while traveling and keep it off the ground
- Examine secondhand items thoroughly before bringing them indoors
- Keep your home neat and tidy
- Vacuum often
Prevention is great. But when it comes to a full-blown bed bug infestation, it may be time to call in a professional pest control company.
How Do I Get Rid Of Bed Bugs For Good
Bed bugs can be difficult pests to get rid of. Because they’re so small, they’re able to spread out through a home and hide in the smallest spaces. That’s why do-it-yourself treatments aren’t always very effective. And you shouldn’t have to take care of a bed bug infestation on your own.
When it comes to bed bug control, Empire Pest Defense is the way to go. After a thorough inspection of your home, we’ll find the treatment option that’s best for you. Bed bug treatment doesn’t need to be difficult. Just leave it to us! For all your pest control needs in West Palm Beach, call Empire Pest Defense today.