Insects and now bed bugs are terrifying when they infests your home. But can you tell the signs of bed bugs infestation in your home. Are you the type that wait until the whole house is infested to do something? Here in this post, learn how to know if you have bed bugs infestation.
The sight of bed bugs in your home can make you paranoid. Whether it is alive, dead or a bite of bed bug it makes you uncomfortable. Bed bugs are just sneaky insect that invade your home silently and in the most unsuspecting ways.
The thought of sleeping and waking up with bed bugs bites, marks on your skin is one of the sign to tell you have an infestation and it is time you do something about it. This article will highlight tips to avoid bed bug infestation.
So, how do you know if you have bed bugs? You can tell you have bed bugs by locating their harborage. It could be somewhere in your mattress, pillows, clothes, curtains, in carpet, couch, cracks, crevices, in walls etc. some of the signs are obvious like having itchy red bites, dark stains on pillows, dead or alive bed bugs and lack of quality sleep.
How to Know if you Have Bed Bugs – Signs
Here are the signs to know if you have bed bugs in your home. The things to look out for include:
a) Itchy Red Bites
You may not see the bed bugs but since these pest attack during the night when you are deep in sleep. The bites to some people, may not be the first sign of bed bugs since there are bugs that bites almost in a similar manner. But if you see some parts of the body having red and itchy bites that in most cases is a clear sign of bed bugs infestation.
The bites are usually itchy but it in some cases this can be mistake for a mosquito, flea or any other pest bite. Bed bugs don’t really bite but they pierce through the skin and drink blood. A single bed bug wouldn’t cause serious damage but think of what ten or twenty would do.
Bed bug bites are usually concentrated in one area appearing like a line or cluster. If you are keen enough, you would notice that the bites are somehow smaller than the mosquito bites. Unlike a mosquito bite that just do it once or twice, bed bug bites tend to be more in one place indicating they are more and all biting the same location at the same time.
b) Lack of Sleep
Lack of sleep or insomnia is a common thing. We all experience for one reason or the other. But bed bug infestation could be one of the reason you are not having quality sleep. It happens because of their itchy bites that would keep you awake at night. It makes you feel tired the following day for not having enough rest.
Bed bugs are small and they bite such that when you wake up in the night to find out what that could have been, they would probably be gone. Imagine every time you wake up scratching the bitten area! This denies you sleep.
c) Dark Stains, Black Spots on Beddings, Sheets or Pillows
A night of bed bug infestation would leave black spots or stains on your sheets, beddings and pillows. Bed bugs tend to leave traces of blood or fecal matter on your bed. This is one of the sure sign that your home is infested with bed bugs.
The dark stains could be fecal matter or dead bed bugs. Although bed bugs are tiny insects, usually the size of an apple seed, it is easy to find a dead bed bug on your bed.
d) Smell
Although bed bugs are so small they produce a certain smell enough to tell you that you have an infestation. If you bring your nose close the clothes or around the bed, you can easily tell that there are bed bugs in your home. The odor is strong and has been described by many as a musty odor that is easy to feel.
e) Getting to Know of Bed bugs from Your Neighbor
A bed bug infestation in your home could be as a result of bed bugs from your neighborhood. You may ask your neighbor if they are having a similar incidence. Bed bugs come from somewhere and you can’t rule out from your neighborhood.
Your neighbor could be having an infestation of bed bugs that keep on re-infesting such that some bed bugs are transferred to your home. This could come out as a result of maybe carelessly discarded clothes, carpet or mattresses.
A carelessly disposed furniture in and around your neighborhood has the potential of spreading bed bugs in your home. So, if you hear of bed bug infestation in your neighborhood be on the lookout.
f) Alive Bed Bugs
You cannot miss out on this one. This one of the obvious sign of bed bugs in your home. If you see crawling bed bugs in their harborage, this is a clear confirmation of bed bug infestation. Carefully inspection of your home can lead you to their hiding place.
Start by removing all the beddings, sheet, pillows and couch. Carefully look underneath. If you mattress is torn, inspect carefully. You may find bed bugs burrowing in there. If there are holes in the bed, look keenly. Don’t also ignore inspecting in shoes, clothes, electrical appliances and holes in the wall. Bed bugs are sneaky. They will hide in small spaces waiting for the opportune time to attack.
Tips on How You Can Avoid Bed Bug Infestation
Here are some of the tips you can avoid an infestation of bed bugs in your home:
Inspect your Furniture Regularly
Your furniture could be the best hiding spots for bed bugs in your home. It doesn’t matter how regular you clean your house. Bed bugs are persistent and they will to every length to harbor in places where you least expect.
You can reduce the risk of infestation of you regularly inspect your furniture. Looking for places where bed bugs are likely to hide such as spaces in between furniture, cracks, crevices and holes.
Avoid using refurbished Furniture
Using refurbished furniture is one of the ways to spread bed bugs into your home. If you can, just buy new furniture to avoid having an infestation of bed bugs. Most of the use furniture could be having bed bugs or spaces, holes and cracks where bed bugs are likely to be hiding.
Take Precaution in the Hotel Rooms you Visit
This goes without saying, hotels are common place to get bed bugs. Don’t assume that the high end and most expensive hotels are exceptional. If you visit a hotel room carefully inspect your room for bed bugs. Also read reviews on what other clients say about hotels otherwise you will end up transferring bed bugs into your home.
Summary
This article focused on detecting and letting you know the signs of bed bugs infestation. It is evident from the post that, it is not hard to know. We have discussed the obvious signs and tips on how to prevent the infestation of bed bugs.
