Best Your Bug Problem: Here’s How to Identify and Get Rid of Bed Bugs

Are you waking up with mysterious little bites on your arms and legs?

If you’ve never had bed bugs before, they can be tough to spot. It’s tough to know if the little sore on your arm is from an ant, mosquito, or something far more sinister.

Bed bugs are always a cause for concern in your home or apartment. They’re tiny, and they feed on the blood of humans and house pets. Contrary to their name, they don’t only live in your mattress; your suitcase, furniture, shoes, and clothes are all at risk of housing and transporting them.

Because of this, a bed bug problem can spread rather quickly. The sooner you can identify them and where they’re hiding, the better chance you’ll have of eradicating this problem before it takes over your whole home.

In this post, we’re going to tell you how to recognize bed bugs in your home and how to get rid of them. They may be small, but these little pests can take a toll on you, so you have to get rid of them quickly.

How to Spot Bed Bugs

What makes bed bugs so annoying is that you’ll start to notice bites without actually seeing the culprit. Often, you’ll have to seek out the bed bugs after you’ve noticed them biting you. Luckily, bed bugs are more annoying than harmful, since they aren’t really known to carry any disease.

What They Look Like

Bed bugs are small, but not undetectably so. They’re oval-shaped and about the thickness of a credit card. Babies are the size of poppy seeds and adults are the size of apple seeds, but they may be larger after eating.

They can also be identified by their wing-less rust-colored bodies. They have six legs, two antennae, and beady little eyes that you probably won’t be able to see without a microscope or magnifying glass. While you’ve got that out, search your mattress for small elongated grains of salt; those are likely eggs.

Where You’ll Find Them

Other than on your mattress and in your clothes, bed bugs enjoy being near piping and electrical appliances. When you’re checking fabric, look near the seams and tags of mattresses, box springs, chairs, and cushions. You may also find them on headboards and bed frames, as well as drawer joints.

Other than the small red bumps on your skin, the best way to identify a mass of bed bugs is by the marks they leave on your things. Reddish stains on your bedding might indicate crushed bed bugs and small brown spots the size of a pencil head may be a result of bed bug excrement, which would mean an active infestation.

They’re so small that they can hide in any nook and cranny that they find, which makes this kind of infestation so difficult to deal with. Once multiple signs are apparent, you’ll have to deal with the problem quickly or it’ll get worse. Your box spring and mattress might already need to be tossed.

Now That You’ve Found Them

Obviously, the first thing you’ll want to do is call the best bed bug exterminator in your area. At Watts Pest Prevention, we’ve been eradicating the Phoenix area of bed bugs for over a decade. It’s important to hire an experienced exterminator that you trust to handle this serious issue.

Prepping

Before the exterminator shows up, however, you’ll need to prepare your rooms for them. Try to find as many of the infected areas as you can, but the trained eye of the exterminator will be able to spot them fairly easily.

You’ll want to remove any items from the rooms that you don’t want to be treated, like paintings, art, ammunition, etc… Securely cover these items with plastic before you move them so you don’t infect another room.

Pick up everything on your floor that might be a hiding spot for them, then clean or toss your drapes, rugs, and clothing that might be infected.

DIY

Before you get the pros over, you can try some DIY methods. For instance, bed bugs can’t survive in heat above 122 degrees and cold below 0 degrees, so wash your bedding and put it in the dryer at the highest heat.

Another thing you can do is use a steamer on the mattress and any other infected furniture. Also, try taking the smaller items that have been infected and putting them in bags and in the freezer to kill them.

You Can Only Do So Much

It’s more likely (especially if it’s a bad infestation) that you’re going to need professional help. The DIY methods might kill some of them, but the chances that you can keep them from laying more eggs and spreading again is high.

Companies like Watts Pest Prevention have specific chemical and treatment methods designed with the sole purpose of killing bed bugs.

When you contact them, you’ll be given more specific instructions on how to prepare your home. You may want to remove yourself from the vicinity for a few hours while they do their work so you aren’t exposed to the treatment process.

Once they’re gone, do your best to keep them away by diligently cleaning the areas that were infected. Remember to check for bed bugs in other houses and hotels because they can and will travel home with you.

Don’t Let Bed Bugs Take Over

Don’t let those pesky bed bugs take over. As soon as you notice a bite, start searching for them. They’re small and hard to see, but you should always confirm their presence before you call in the pros. Once you’re sure, call Watts Pest Prevention to have your bed bug problem solved immediately.

Watts Pest Prevention can save your house from bed bugs, bees, gophers, and other pests so you can enjoy the comforts of your home without the annoyance of these critters and crawlers. If you’ve got a pest problem in the Phoenix area, you know who to call.