Your first indication will probably be bites; bed bug bites usually come in groups of threes. People react differently to the bites. Some people have the bites swell up badly and others hardly get any kind of reaction.

Bed Bugs don’t like hair so the bites will be in places on your body where there is less hair.

Bed really are nocturnal and you will likely only see them between 2 AM and 4 AM, but if the infestation is large you may see them at other times.

Bed bugs themselves are wingless insects with reddish brown tint, larvae and younger bed bugs are usually translucent becoming white or gold till they feed. (After all bed bugs feed they will have a more reddish appearance).Adults are small in size 4-5 mm in length and 1.5 mm in width and are oval and flat.

However, they are expert at hiding. You are much more likely to see blood smears on the sheets, their fecal matter(looks like a pepper spray) or the bed bug casings and skin that they have shedded. They shed their skin 5 times before reaching full size. Bed bug eggs are pretty much invisible to the human eye but very sticky and help explain why bed bugs spread so efficiently.

The fecal matter spray, shedded skin and blood smears are the signs you must focus on. Peel back the sheets on your bed and look in the crevices of your mattress at the head of bed, specifically the crevice between the box spring and the mattress. This is a primary hiding place as bed bugs like to be close to their food source.

Also check around the head board, it cannot be repeated enough how adept they are a hiding in notches of the head board and bed frame. You almost have to conclude that to find them you will need to disassemble the head board and frame as they almost intrinsically know what needs to be unscrewed to see them.

Bed Bugs can hide almost anywhere under baseboards and carpets, behind the plastic of electrical outlets and picture frames, underneath loose wall paper, inside clocks, phones, televisions.

Also don’t assume you have only one colony.

It is highly recommended that you get bed bug certified mattress and box spring covers which prevent the bed bugs from getting out or in of your mattress and box spring, thus saving your bed and protecting you.

The best way to find them is with a highly trained bed bug dog. A properly trained dog and their superb sense of smell can detect bed bug eggs which the human eye can barely see and bed bugs.

Defining the scope and location of the bed bug infestation quickly will save you time, money and mental trauma. Bed bug trained detection dogs do this better than anything else.

Another great way to expose bed bugs is the Bed Bug Beacon Active CO2 Monitor And Trap. The beacon is popular for individuals and pest control operators wanting to know if bed bugs are present.

We also highly recommend bed bug interceptors. These are the first line of defense from bed bugs getting to your bed. This can be a great way to stop bed bug bites, or just a way to detect the bed bugs.

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Search for their waste

Bed Bug blood smears on bed sheet

Search yourself for bites

Bed Bug Bites Rash

Search for their lairs

If there are bugs, then they must be hiding somewhere. Their hiding places include crevices in the mattress, holes, the folds in the linens, nearby carpets and furniture, curtains and many more. Seeing a live one may be unlikely but seeing a dead one is a first sign that bed bugs are really present in the area.

Catch them red handed

If you still want solid proof that there are bed bugs around, then you may want to stay up late and see them for yourself. Bed bugs are nocturnal creatures, so have a flashlight with you in your sleep. Turn the lights off and wake up at around dawn. With the flashlight, watch the bedbugs slowly creep through your sheets. This, however, does not guarantee a 100% sighting especially if you only have a few.

Climb Up Detectors

If you really want solid evidence that there are bed bugs around then you may want to try the climb up interceptors/detectors.   Deceptively simple these devices with their two capture areas can protect you but in some ways more importantly will give you samples to confirm that you have bed bugs.   And secondly determine if the bed bugs are coming from areas away from or off the bed or on the bed and attempting to leave the bed.  One capture area is for bed bugs coming from a nest off the bed and the other  capture receptacle from bed bugs on the bed.  This will  givie valuable information to find their lair and if they are off the bed protect you at night as  you weight the decision to opt for pest extermination. These climb up interceptors are a good investment.

Bed Bug Dogs

Dogs ability to smell is 10,000 times superior to humans.  Specially trained dogs that have completed a 6 month course are the best  way to determine if you have bed bugs and where they are hiding.  These dogs can also smell and detect bed bug eggs.  They are in the high 90% of accuracy.  Many pest control companies have them available and although they are expensive; the peace of mind if they do not find them is often worth it and conversely the pest control companies will frequently apply at least a portion of the dog inspection charge against the cost of treatment.   I have seen pest control dog handlers come in first and do a visual inspection themselves and not charge you for the dog inspection in cases where the bed bug infestation is obvious.  Find local pest control companies with bed bug dogs.

Bed Bug Feeding on Human Being

A flat, oval reddish brown, wingless bug covered in microscopic hair is what the average adult bed bug looks like. They grow from 4 to 5 mm in length. While the bug itself is visible their eggs are whitish and merely specs that are not always visible to the human eye without the aid of a magnifying device. Newly hatched or nymphs are more translucent in appearance and grow darker once they age. You can trap these nymphs from ever growing or feeding by using a Bed Bug Mattress Cover. They are not strictly nocturnal though they are much more active at night with a peak attack period an hour or two before dawn. Their bites catch you off guard as the marks, bumps or welts are are not necessarily apparent immediately. Different people have different reactions to bites, indeed, some people have a negligible reaction while others flare up. These are just some bed bug signs.

Allergic reactions to bites have been apparent in most people as the repeated bites have caused the skin to be sensitized to their saliva. The bite signs are misleading and can resemble the appearance of other blood seeking insects like fleas and mosquitoes. People bitten the first time sometimes even mistake the bites as poison ivy or spider bites. The distinguishing characteristic is the small red dot in the center of each bed bug bite.

Bed Bugs, Fecal Matter and Casings on Mattress

Initially they will usually be close to their meal, you, so the nest may start out in the crevices of the the mattress, box spring or behind the head board. Don’t let this happen and protect the spreading of bedbugs by using a mattress cover to lock in these nests. Look for little black spots. The black spots are their fecal matter. As the colony grows in size they will branch out to multiple nests. The best method to determine if you have them or not for certain is specially trained bed bug sniffer dogs.

Do not delay you have to learn how to deal with bed bugs before the problem explodes totally out of control. For example people often retreat to their couches to escape the bed bugs, but they will follow their food by your heat and carbon dioxide so you will soon have bites on your couch too.

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