True or False? Bed Bugs are only found in messy or cluttered homes. False! If you have guests in your home, travel and stay at other places, shop second hand, have kids in schools or ride public transit your home has opportunities for exposure. Letting items pile up around your home can definitely provide more hiding places for parasitic insects like bed bugs. It can make finding and treating an infestation more difficult, but even the tidiest of homes can fall victim to these unwanted vampires. Learning how to properly identify bed bugs will help protect your home and your health.
Bed Bugs need to feed on blood to survive and will hide along any corners or cracks where a meal source (you or your pets) will frequent. Seeing as how the bites can often be overlooked and mislabeled it is helpful to know where, other than a bed, to find signs of bed bugs. The diagram below shows other common areas bed bugs can be found in an infested room.
Tips to Help Prevent Bed Bugs While Traveling
Bed Bug Treatment Options
The good news is that you’re one step closer to being a bed bug expert with this new knowledge. The bad news is that if you’re seeing signs of bed bugs, you may have a presence or even an undetected infestation. One bed bug isn’t worth panicking, but if you have discovered all the identifying signs, you’ll want to act immediately by calling a professional that’s been specifically trained in bed bug eradication. Bed bugs mostly feed at night, reproduce quickly, and can survive long periods without feeding which makes them capable of multiplying quickly without being noticed.
There are several options professionals use to treat for bed bugs. It all begins with a thorough inspection to identify the presence of bed bugs. Once confirmed, the pest management specialist will recommend any of the following: conventional treatment of affected rooms with EPA approved products specifically engineered to kill bed bugs, thermal remediation which is killing bed bugs with heat, a biological treatment which can provide prevention over time, or other methods like cryogenic freezing, canine detection, fumigation, etc. Be diligent. Do your research. In order to eliminate bed bugs, the live adults need to be treated, but also the nymphs (younger unfed stages), and the eggs. Don’t be alarmed if multiple treatments are recommended by your pest management professional. This is necessary to control various life stages of bed bugs.
To learn more about bed bugs or ask your own questions about bed bugs, visit us online at franklinpestsolutions.com or search Franklin Pest Solutions on Facebook to connect with our team of experts.
By: Erin Anthony
Marketing Coordinator, Franklin Pest Solutions
Tips to Help Prevent Bed Bugs While Traveling
- Bedding- pull back the sheets and inspect the mattress seams, particularly at the corners, for the telltale stains or spots.
- If you do need to change rooms, be sure that you do not move to a room adjacent and/or directly above/below the suspected infestation. Bed bugs can easily hitchhike via housekeeping carts, luggage ad even through wall sockets. If an infestation is spreading, it typically does so in the rooms closest to the origin.
- Consider placing your suitcase in a plastic trash bag or protective cover during the duration of your trip to ensure that bed bugs cannot take up residence there prior to departure.
- Wash all of your clothes-even those that have not been worn-in hot water to ensure that any bed bugs that may have made it that far are not placed into your drawers/closet.
Bed Bug Treatment Options
The good news is that you’re one step closer to being a bed bug expert with this new knowledge. The bad news is that if you’re seeing signs of bed bugs, you may have a presence or even an undetected infestation. One bed bug isn’t worth panicking, but if you have discovered all the identifying signs, you’ll want to act immediately by calling a professional that’s been specifically trained in bed bug eradication. Bed bugs mostly feed at night, reproduce quickly, and can survive long periods without feeding which makes them capable of multiplying quickly without being noticed.
There are several options professionals use to treat for bed bugs. It all begins with a thorough inspection to identify the presence of bed bugs. Once confirmed, the pest management specialist will recommend any of the following: conventional treatment of affected rooms with EPA approved products specifically engineered to kill bed bugs, thermal remediation which is killing bed bugs with heat, a biological treatment which can provide prevention over time, or other methods like cryogenic freezing, canine detection, fumigation, etc. Be diligent. Do your research. In order to eliminate bed bugs, the live adults need to be treated, but also the nymphs (younger unfed stages), and the eggs. Don’t be alarmed if multiple treatments are recommended by your pest management professional. This is necessary to control various life stages of bed bugs.
To learn more about bed bugs or ask your own questions about bed bugs, visit us online at franklinpestsolutions.com or search Franklin Pest Solutions on Facebook to connect with our team of experts.
By: Erin Anthony
Marketing Coordinator, Franklin Pest Solutions
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