Search for their waste

Bed Bug blood smears on bed sheet

Search yourself for bites

Bed Bug Bites Rash

One of the biggest evidences of bed bug infestation is bed bug bites. Bed bug bites symptoms are very hard to identify because it takes a while before you feel the itchy sensation. They are also very hard to compare with other insect bites because they are closely identical. Even though it is usually an itchy bite that we ignore, there are some cases wherein it reaches a large magnitude. There are some cases when bed bugs bite baby infants and transfer diseases like hepatitis b and Chagas disease.

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 click here.

Killing bed bugs yourself can be a daunting task. They can hide under base boards, the back of dresser drawers, behind light switches… just about anywhere. The adult bed bug is about the size of an apple seed and flat, until they feed that is. While bed bugs are not a heath danger (do not carry or transmit diseases), they are enough to keep you awake at night just thinking about them. A single bed bug bite can easily be mistaken for a mosquito bite and written off as such giving them time to multiply. Once you find one you can be assured that there are hundreds if not thousands more.

In the long run, a full blown infestation might require a professional exterminator. After all, how many is to many? Before you decide to take action, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Bed bugs can live a year without feeding on a hosts blood (usually you). An adult female can lay 200 – 500 eggs in her lifetime. It generally takes an egg 50 days to mature. So whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer or hire a pro, it will take several treatments and constant observation. With that said… If the problem has not gotten to far out of control there are several ways to win the fight against bedbugs. The first 3 listed here are required no matter what you do next…

1* Wash everything in site in the hottest water you can find. Begbugs start dying off at around 114 degrees F. Then use a dryer on its hottest setting. Not out on the line to air dry. Temperature is key. In hot, dry climates (Phoenix for example) it is just as effective to out your bedding and cloths in a black garbage bag and set it out in the sun for an afternoon.

2* Vacuum. Vacuum every corner, crook and cranny. Vacuum the drapes, the box springs, the furniture, etc. Vacuum like your life depended on it. Bed bugs are not dirty critters. They don’t care about crumbs or old food like cockroaches. But they need vacuumed up and then take the whole vacuum cleaner outside to change bags… Vacuum again.

3* Steam Clean. Now that you have their attention, combine #1 and #2. Put hot, HOT water in the steam cleaner and go over the room again.

4* Just as effective as heat is, cold works also. Problem is that it needs to stay below freezing for 2 weeks to work.

5* Biological warfare. Prior to WWII beg bugs were all but eliminated. Around that time the government outlawed DDTs. Sense then there numbers have been rising and forced tamer chemicals and traps. There are numerous chemicals on the market but nearly all of them are not intended to touch the skin. These are best meant for non-traffic areas, box springs, drapes, etc.

6* Mattress Bags. Depending on the level of bedbug infestation, your best bet may be to discard the mattress all together. For milder cases, the chemicals from #5 can be sprinkled on and injected into the mattress before you seal it in a waterproof mattress bag. They start at about $60 and go up depending on the size needed.

7* Diatomaceous Earth. This is the alternative to harsh chemicals. It is an all natural powder ground up from little tiny fossils of single-celled algae. They even put it in dog food as a preservative. On a microscopic level it has jagged edges that cut and kill the bedbugs as they crawl across it. Basically it is just dirt.

8* Traps and Tape. This is more for monitoring but flypaper, roach traps and the like will allow you to keep tabs on how effective your efforts have been so far. And then from any shipping supply store you can pickup double sided sticky tape to wrap around the sides of the mattress. Yet another way to trap and monitor bed bug traffic.

9* Thyme and tree leaf oil. These are a repellent more then anything else. It does not kill them. They get a whiff of it and head the other way. But remember that bed bugs can live a year without feeding so they are still reproducing.

10* Neem. Neem oil and neem extract. If you find that you have been attacked by bed bugs, this will sooth the itching and moisturize the skin. Matter of fact it is good for the skin whether you have bed bugs or not. Bonus is that it keeps the bedbugs off of you while sleeping.

There we have 7 ways to kill bed bugs and a few ways to monitor your progress in controlling bed bugs. The more you combine the above recommendations the better luck you will have before the need for an exterminator. Just a work of warning though… if you do break down and need to hire an exterminator, they will ask you to clean up anyway before they even show up. Get rid of clutter. ‘ ziplock ‘ bag all cloths, bedding, sheets, and so on. Vacuum and basically do everything mentioned above in 1 though 3.

In closing, know that before you begin, it will take weeks and months of constant cleaning, washing, monitoring, vacuuming over and over again to successfully kill the bed bugs throughout there whole life cycle. And hopefully you can catch it before it spreads through out the house. All it takes is a couple of stowaways in the laundry, luggage, sleeping bags or any fabric that you tote around to bring bed bugs into your home.

If you want to find a local exterminator read reviews here.

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.

Adult females lay as much as 5 eggs a day or 500 in their entire lifetime. As aforementioned these eggs are whitish in color sometimes they are visible enough to see without the use of magnifying devices. To prevent these eggs from ever spreading and to trap them inside your infested mattress you need to use an effective and proven bedbug mattress cover. These eggs can be found in crevices or cracks in the wall, floor, behind wallpaper, in furniture, baseboards and the like. Their flat characteristic makes it easy for them to find dwelling in tiny crevices. From its namesake bed bugs are often found living in beds, tufts, seams, mattress crevices, box springs the headboard or the bed frame can be itself their sprawling Beverly Hills neighborhood. While it is common for the bed to be their domicile, nightstands, sofas, upholstered chairs, clocks, telephones, wall fixtures, and even ceiling fixtures like your smoke detector is more than enough space to set up camp.

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.

Bed Bugs, Fecal Matter and Casings on Mattress

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.

Image by cuttlefish

Bed bugs are “blood sucking parasites that attack in the dead of night”.

Dr. Oz reported all 50 states have infestations some of epic proportions including every major area.

Dr. Oz said the incidence of bed bugs gone up 500% over the last 5 years

He said they are in schools, hotels, movie theaters, hospitals and homes.

To find professional help for bed bugs click here.

Some people can get bit up to 500 times a night.