How To Spot A Bed Bug Infestation In Sacramento Homes and Businesses
Almost undetectable with the naked eye. A vampire furtively gazing at you as you sleep, slowly crawling across your skin. Beware of bed bugs! Bed bugs are the proverbial nocturnal pests for a reason. They are ubiquitous. Bites are often the first sign of a bed bug infestation. Before you realize you’re dealing with bed bugs, they have likely already laid claim to your bed. Large numbers of people travel every year to a hotel and back home, unwittingly carrying with them bed bugs. Fortunately, there are many ways to prevent a bed bug infestation before it becomes an extreme nuisance.
Where Bed Bugs Hide In Your Sacramento Home
Bed bugs prefer to hide in places where they can access their next blood meal. Therefore, once they get inside a building, they rest near areas where people often sit or sleep.
- As the name suggests, you can find bed bugs crawling on mattresses, box springs, and bed frames.
- But you can also find them beneath wallpaper and framed pictures.
- You can find them underneath carpet and wood floors.
- In short, they mostly gravitate toward your bed, but you can also find them hidden in other areas of your home.
Signs Of A Bed Bug Problem
At first, a bed bug problem may be hard to spot unless you know what to look for. Over time, it will be hard to miss bed bugs because of the bites they will leave behind on you and your family members. Here are some signs of infestation:
- Bed bugs leave digested blood or fecal matter on your sheets. This fecal matter is typically dark red or brown.
- Bed bugs also leave shed skin on and around your mattress. This skin is transparent and predictably shaped like the bed bug itself.
- With more severe infestations, you will most likely see a bed bug crawling across your mattress. Bed bugs are often mistaken for ticks, but they always possess a light brown color and smaller legs. Most ticks, on the other hand, have larger legs than a bed bug. After bed bugs feed, their body will retain a red color.
Harm Associated With A Bed Bug Problem
Bed bugs are harmful for obvious reasons. They feed on human flesh. It is difficult to distinguish bed bug bites from that of a spider or flea. Their bites are in no way distinct, but their parasitic procedure is. Bed bugs extend their mouths to pierce your skin and siphon your blood. A bed bug can consume almost six times its blood. To render you docile, they inject a natural anesthetic into your skin while they feed on your blood. This takes approximately 3 to 10 minutes. Bed bugs will never transmit human disease; however, their bites do cause allergic reactions in the form of swelling and, in some cases, infection.
Tips To Prevent Bed Bugs From Getting Into Your Sacramento Home Or Business
With all pests, the best offense is a good defense. Here are some tips to keep bed bugs out of your building
- If you bring second-hand furniture, especially a second-hand mattress, examine it before bringing it into your home. Make sure to clean the item thoroughly.
- As mentioned before, many travelers unknowingly bring bed bugs back to their homes. For this reason, examine your luggage before leaving the hotel. Once you arrive home, immediately wash and dry your clothes.
- Use a protective cover for mattresses and box springs to strip them of their allure. Handle the cover with care so as not to add any holes to it.
- Reduce the amount of clutter in your home as a deterrent.
Methods For Eliminating Bed Bugs
If you suspect you've been in a place that's infested with bed bugs, there are some do-it-yourself strategies you can use to eliminate the problem before it gets out of hand. However, to solve your bed bug problem, you must get rid of every last bug, which is practically impossible without professional assistance. If you suspect bed bugs, start by implementing the following:
- Consider using a portable heating chamber to kill any bed bugs on your clothes.
- Place infested items in the freezer in plastic bags at 0 degrees Fahrenheit for four days to remove all bed bugs.
- Simply trash all the infested items if you believe they are permanently infested.
- Keep any untreatable items in a plastic bag for up to a year.
The success of these non-chemical treatments varies from case to case. You may find that all your efforts to remove your bed bug infestation have been in vain. Generally, people find much more success in eliminating the problem with professional assistance. The next time you have a bed bug infestation, call the pros at Proserv Pest Management. If your pest problem has become insurmountable, let the professionals handle it. We have the tools and experience to get the job done right! Reach out to us today to learn more about our bed bug control methods.
Where Bed Bugs Hide In Your Sacramento Home
Bed bugs prefer to hide in places where they can access their next blood meal. Therefore, once they get inside a building, they rest near areas where people often sit or sleep.
- As the name suggests, you can find bed bugs crawling on mattresses, box springs, and bed frames.
- But you can also find them beneath wallpaper and framed pictures.
- You can find them underneath carpet and wood floors.
- In short, they mostly gravitate toward your bed, but you can also find them hidden in other areas of your home.
Signs Of A Bed Bug Problem
At first, a bed bug problem may be hard to spot unless you know what to look for. Over time, it will be hard to miss bed bugs because of the bites they will leave behind on you and your family members. Here are some signs of infestation:
- Bed bugs leave digested blood or fecal matter on your sheets. This fecal matter is typically dark red or brown.
- Bed bugs also leave shed skin on and around your mattress. This skin is transparent and predictably shaped like the bed bug itself.
- With more severe infestations, you will most likely see a bed bug crawling across your mattress. Bed bugs are often mistaken for ticks, but they always possess a light brown color and smaller legs. Most ticks, on the other hand, have larger legs than a bed bug. After bed bugs feed, their body will retain a red color.
Harm Associated With A Bed Bug Problem
Bed bugs are harmful for obvious reasons. They feed on human flesh. It is difficult to distinguish bed bug bites from that of a spider or flea. Their bites are in no way distinct, but their parasitic procedure is. Bed bugs extend their mouths to pierce your skin and siphon your blood. A bed bug can consume almost six times its blood. To render you docile, they inject a natural anesthetic into your skin while they feed on your blood. This takes approximately 3 to 10 minutes. Bed bugs will never transmit human disease; however, their bites do cause allergic reactions in the form of swelling and, in some cases, infection.
Tips To Prevent Bed Bugs From Getting Into Your Sacramento Home Or Business
With all pests, the best offense is a good defense. Here are some tips to keep bed bugs out of your building
- If you bring second-hand furniture, especially a second-hand mattress, examine it before bringing it into your home. Make sure to clean the item thoroughly.
- As mentioned before, many travelers unknowingly bring bed bugs back to their homes. For this reason, examine your luggage before leaving the hotel. Once you arrive home, immediately wash and dry your clothes.
- Use a protective cover for mattresses and box springs to strip them of their allure. Handle the cover with care so as not to add any holes to it.
- Reduce the amount of clutter in your home as a deterrent.
Methods For Eliminating Bed Bugs
If you suspect you've been in a place that's infested with bed bugs, there are some do-it-yourself strategies you can use to eliminate the problem before it gets out of hand. However, to solve your bed bug problem, you must get rid of every last bug, which is practically impossible without professional assistance. If you suspect bed bugs, start by implementing the following:
- Consider using a portable heating chamber to kill any bed bugs on your clothes.
- Place infested items in the freezer in plastic bags at 0 degrees Fahrenheit for four days to remove all bed bugs.
- Simply trash all the infested items if you believe they are permanently infested.
- Keep any untreatable items in a plastic bag for up to a year.
The success of these non-chemical treatments varies from case to case. You may find that all your efforts to remove your bed bug infestation have been in vain. Generally, people find much more success in eliminating the problem with professional assistance. The next time you have a bed bug infestation, call the pros at Proserv Pest Management. If your pest problem has become insurmountable, let the professionals handle it. We have the tools and experience to get the job done right! Reach out to us today to learn more about our bed bug control methods.