Bed Bugs Remedy DiyNatural Remedies For Bed BugsBed Bug Remedies SpraysHome RemediesHome Remedy For Bed BugsIck BedbugsHow To Get Rid Of BedbugsMery BedbugToxic NiceForwardbedbug spray non-toxic, save your money and don't hire an exterminator--you'll have to do all of this anyway!Skin Problems & Treatments Home Related to Skin Conditions Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, however, their bodies swell and are a reddish color. Bedbugs do not fly, but they can move quickly over floors, walls, and ceilings. Female bedbugs may lay hundreds of eggs, each of which is about the size of a speck of dust, over a lifetime. Immature bedbugs, called nymphs, shed their skins five times before reaching maturity and require a meal of blood before each shedding. Under favorable conditions the bugs can develop fully in as little as a month and produce three or more generations per year.
Although they are a nuisance, they do not transmit diseases. Where Bed Bugs Hide Bedbugs may enter your home undetected through luggage, clothing, used beds and couches, and other items. Their flattened bodies make it possible for them to fit into tiny spaces, about the width of a credit card. Bedbugs do not have nests like ants or bees, but tend to live in groups in hiding places. Their initial hiding places are typically in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards where they have easy access to people to bite in the night. Over time, however, they may scatter through the bedroom, moving into any crevice or protected location. They may also spread to nearby rooms or apartments. Because bedbugs live solely on blood, having them in your home is not a sign of dirtiness. You are as likely to find them in immaculate homes and hotel rooms as in filthy ones. Bedbugs are active mainly at night and usually bite people while they are sleeping. They feed by piercing the skin and withdrawing blood through an elongated beak.
The bugs feed from three to 10 minutes to become engorged and then crawl away unnoticed. Most bedbug bites are painless at first, but later turn into itchy welts. Unlike flea bites that are mainly around the ankles, bedbug bites are on any area of skin exposed while sleeping. Also, the bites do not have a red spot in the center like flea bites do. People who don't realize they have a bedbug infestation may attribute the itching and welts to other causes, such as mosquitoes. To confirm bedbug bites, you must find and identify the bugs themselves. If you wake up with itchy areas you didn't have when you went to sleep, you may have bedbugs, particularly if you got a used bed or other used furniture around the time the bites started. Other signs that you have bedbugs include: Blood stains on your sheets or pillowcases Dark or rusty spots of bedbug excrement on sheets and mattresses, bed clothes, and walls Bedbug fecal spots, egg shells, or shed skins in areas where bedbugs hide
An offensive, musty odor from the bugs' scent glands If you suspect an infestation, remove all bedding and check it carefully for signs of the bugs or their excrement. Remove the dust cover over the bottom of the box springs and examine the seams in the wood framing. Peel back the fabric where it is stapled to the wood frame. Also, check the area around the bed, including inside books, telephones or radios, the edge of the carpet, and even in electrical outlets. Check your closet, because bedbugs can attach to clothing. If you are uncertain about signs of bedbugs, call an exterminator, who will know what to look for. If you find signs of infestation, begin steps to get rid of the bugs and prevent their return. Getting rid of bedbugs begins with cleaning up the places where bedbugs live. This should include the following: Clean bedding, linens, curtains, and clothing in hot water and dry them on the highest dryer setting. Place stuffed animals, shoes, and other items that can't be washed in the dryer and run on high for 30 minutes.
Use a stiff brush to scrub mattress seams to remove bedbugs and their eggs before vacuuming. Vacuum your bed and surrounding area frequently. After vacuuming, immediately place the vacuum cleaner bag in a plastic bag and place in garbage can outdoors. Encase mattress and box springs with a tightly woven, zippered cover to keep bedbugs from entering or escaping. Bedbugs may live up to a year without feeding, so keep the cover on your mattress for at least a year to make sure all bugs in the mattress are dead. Repair cracks in plaster and glue down peeling wallpaper to get rid of places bedbugs can hide. Get rid of clutter around the bed. If your mattress is infested, you may want to get rid of it and get a new one, but take care to rid the rest of your home of bedbugs or they will infest your new mattress. While cleaning up infested areas will be helpful in controlling bedbugs, getting rid of them usually requires chemical treatments. Because treating your bed and bedroom with insecticides can be harmful, it is important to use products that can be used safely in bedrooms.
Do not treat mattresses and bedding unless the label specifically says you can use them on bedding. Generally it is safest and most effective to hire an experienced pest control professional for bedbug extermination.How Do I Know I Have Bed Bugs? The only way to know for sure if you have bed bugs is to produce an actual sample of the bug itself (methods for doing this are discussed below). Do not automatically assume that any bite-like mark is a bed bug bite. Also it is important to realize that medical professionals cannot give a positive diagnosis simply by examining bite symptoms, they can only suggest some possible explanations for what may have caused the bites/symptoms to occur. If you are experiencing bites but have not seen any bugs, you should consider the circumstances in which the bites are occurring. For example, there is a very good chance that you have bed bugs if you waking up each morning with bite symptoms on your body that were not present when you went to sleep.
A situation like this would be a good reason to investigate the possibility that bed bugs are present. in the car, at work, etc. are much less likely to be caused by bed bugs. It is also important to realize that just because you have looked for bed bugs and could not find them, does not mean that they are not there. These insects lead a very cryptic and secretive lifestyle and will often go undetected. It is best to have a highly trained professional conduct the inspection for you. Occasionally you may see evidence of a bed bug infestation without actually seeing any bed bugs. Bed bugs leave fecal stains in the areas they inhabit. These stains are actually partially digested blood but remember that it will not be red unless you crush a bed bug that has just recently fed. As the blood is digested it turns black and therefore the bed bug droppings usually consist of several black spots in one area. The fecal spots will not flake off if rubbed and will smear if wiped with a wet rag.
Remember the key to knowing if you have an active bed bug infestation is to produce a live sample of a bed bug and there are several ways that you can easily do this including: Visual inspection of sleeping and resting areas such as beds and upholstered furniture. Carefully examine the areas beneath fitted sheets, along the edges of mattress piping, if no bugs or evidence of bugs are found, remove the mattress and continue with inspection of the box spring paying close attention to the four corners under the plastic corner guards and the on the underside of the box spring where the dust cover is stapled into the frame. Keep in mind that bed bugs can easily be missed during a visual inspection so using one or more of the other methods below is recommended if no bugs are found during a visual inspection. Installation of interception devices or active monitors. Installing interception devices under the legs of beds and couches is one of the most effective and economical methods to detect low level bed bug infestations that are missed during a visual inspection.
Interception devices can be placed directly under or immediately adjacent to the legs of sleeping and resting areas such as beds and sofas. Bed bugs will naturally move around in an infested environment and these devices will trap them as they travel to and from beds and furniture. It is best to leave interceptors in place for up to 2-4 weeks inspecting them once every few days to once per week for activity. University based research has demonstrated this method to be a highly effective method for the detection of bed bug activity. Active monitors are traps that use attractants (usually CO2 and/or chemical lures) to detect the presence of bed bugs. These types of monitors can be effective but tend to be more costly than the interception devices. For more information on passive and active monitors see sections on Early Detection and/or Early Detection Tools and Methods Installation of mattress and box spring encasements Mattress and box spring encasements are more expensive but are an invaluable tool for anyone who is concerned about bed bugs.
Encasements not only aid in the early detection of bed bugs but they also protect the bed and are an important part of bed bug management. Encasements aid in early detection by restricting them to the exterior of the encasement where they are easily detected through visual inspection. Use of encasements coupled with the use of interception devices is a very effective combination. For more information on encasements see sections on Mattress and Box Spring Encasements, Early Detection and/or Early Detection Tools and Methods Contracting a pest management professional to conduct a thorough inspection. While you can certainly conduct you own inspection, qualified pest management professional know exactly where to look and what to look for and thus are more likely to discover a low level infestation compared to an individual who lacks such training. Still, low level bed bug infestations can be difficult to detect and no matter how good the visual inspection performed is, bed bug infestations can remain undetected even though bugs may be present so it is wise to monitor for activity over a period of time to identify very low level infestations.