No one wants to learn that they have bed bugs in their home.
Bed bugs are the kind of stuff that horror stories are made of, but they’re 100% real.
You know from all you’ve heard about them that they can be hard to evict. They multiply quickly, and they love to bite.
Perhaps you have a sneaking suspicion that they have infiltrated your house. You sometimes wake up itching a little, but you’re also still in denial.
If you’re wondering how to tell if you have bed bugs, you came to the right place. This informative post will tell you how you can know for sure even before you call an exterminator to further confirm your fears.
Hopefully, you don’t have bed bugs. But if you think you might, you’ll know after reading, and then you can start moving forward on the next steps.
What to Know About Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are little creatures that are trying hard to live. That’s all fine and good, but literally no one wants them living in their home.
However, they enjoy warm, dark spaces, and your luggage fits the bill. As a result, you may pick up a few unwanted hitchhikers when traveling and staying in hotels and then transport them, free of charge, right into your house.
Once they’ve arrived at their new residence (yours), they migrate – under the cover of night – to another warm, dark place: your mattress, headboard, or box springs. That’s not the only place they hide, though. They also may hide in any other dark and protected crevice, like deep in the carpet or even inside picture frames on the wall.
Each night, when you lie down to sleep, they will come out because they’re hungry. They’ll bite you and break the skin, and will hang on for three to ten minutes while drinking your blood. Then they’ll creep back to where they came from with full bellies and with no need to eat for quite a while; they’ll send their friends to bite you instead tomorrow.
If you don’t move to exterminate these little pests, they will settle in and they will begin to reproduce. Many are amazed at how quickly a small bed bug issue can grow into a gigantic problem. If you have bed bugs, you need to move faster than they do and call an exterminator right away.
Bed bugs are fascinating creatures, from a safe distance and anywhere but your home. For more information about them, check out https://www.custombedbug.com/introduction-to-bed-bugs/.
How to Tell If You Have Bed Bugs
You may not be sure that you have bed bugs yet. You’re certainly hoping that you don’t. However, if you searched for this post and made it this far, something may have suggested to you that you do. There are a number of clear signs that can indicate the presence of bed bugs in your home. Learn how to tell if you have bed bugs here.
1. Bites
Insect bites are one of the first and most obvious signs that you may have bed bugs. You may be thinking you have fleas due to a pet or that something bit you on that picnic last weekend. However, if it keeps happening and is most noticeable in the morning, then you may have bed bugs in your bed.
Bed bug bites are small and itchy. Often they appear in clusters or in a straight line of three bites in a row. They can be anywhere on your body that is left exposed at night, but because bed bugs like to hide at the foot of your bed, it’s likely you’ll have some around your ankles or on your feet.
However, some people don’t react to bed bug bites at all and may not experience any even when they lie next to you in bed all night. Don’t assume that you don’t have bed bugs simply because your partner isn’t getting bit.
2. Stains on Your Sheets and Pillowcases
You won’t feel a bed bug bite you. Their bites are painless. However, once they are done drinking your blood, you may bleed a little. This blood will show up on your sheets and will be noticeable in the morning. You may also draw blood when scratching the bites in your sleep.
3. Casings
As bed bugs grow, they shed their exoskeletons and leave casings behind, kind of like a snake shedding its skin. If you find little flakes around your bedroom, in corners where the wall meets the floor and around the edges of your mattress, your bed bug problem may be far bigger than you know. Not only do you have bed bugs, but they have had time to grow and mature as well.
4. Bugs
Bed bugs are small, but they can easily be seen with the naked eye. They are good at hiding, but they can also be found if you know where to look. Lift up your sheets and look under them for movement and dark spots. Check along the mattress seams; they love to hide there. Flip the mattress and look on the other side as well.
They don’t hide only in beds, though. You should also check your other furniture. Pull all of your upholstered furniture away from the wall and check all the seams with a flashlight.
Photograph or capture any bugs you find so you can show them to the exterminator for confirmation.
How to Avoid Bed Bugs
A professional exterminator can help you remove bed bugs from your dream bedroom, but it’s better never to bring them home in the first place.
When you travel, keep your suitcase closed when you are in the hotel room. When you buy secondhand furniture, inspect it thoroughly before buying and leave it in the garage for a while to be safe before bringing it inside. If someone you know says they have bed bugs, offer your sympathy but avoid visiting their home until the infestation is over.
These are all simple ways to avoid bed bugs. None of them take much effort, and all are worth the small amount of time and effort required to keep those bugs out of your home.
Get Rid of Them
Now that you know how to tell if you have bed bugs, the next step is getting them out of there. The only way to do this successfully for the long term is by using an exterminator. Different exterminators use different methods, but you cannot get bed bugs out of your home once and for all without the help of a professional. Good luck, and may your home forever be bed bug free.
Do you want to read more great posts about taking care of your home? Check out our Tools & Home Improvement section for more.
