There are many things that cause people to experience poor sleep. You might have neighbors that play loud music during all hours of the night. You could have a roommate whose snoring sounds like a diesel truck starting up. Or maybe the neighbor’s dog won’t stop barking. Whatever it is, you want it to stop, right? According to medical professionals, a good night’s sleep is one of the most important factors for a healthy life. If anything threatens your beauty rest, something needs to be done about it. Today we will be helping you figure out if bed bugs are keeping you up at night and sharing some practical ways you can stop them.
How Bed Bug Infestations Start
Bed bug infestations do not start as other pest infestations do. Bed bugs are not fast, they cannot fly, and they are unable to jump. This limits their ability to get from place to place on their own. Bed bugs can also not live in the wild for a long period of time. So to get into our homes, they have to get creative. The way they do this is by never living too far away from humans. And they use us to get around. How do they do this? By hitchhiking rides on items we carry. This could be anything from a pile of clothing to a used couch. All it takes is one bed bug entering your Collierville home for a problem to arise. One thing you should know is that it doesn’t matter how dirty or clean your home is. All bed bugs care about is whether or not they can find a blood meal.
Can You See Bed Bugs?
Rumor has it that bed bugs cannot be seen by the naked eye. This is just a myth. Bed bugs are the size of apple seeds and are 5 times that size when filled with a blood meal. The reason it might seem they are impossible to see is that they hide when you are awake, and only come out when you are sleeping. With larger infestations, you should be able to inspect your room and find live bed bugs or at least the signs they leave behind.
How To Spot Bed Bugs
Obviously, if you spot bed bugs crawling around your room, you have a bed bug problem, however, as we just mentioned, spotting bed bugs is not always an easy task. What you need to know are some signs bed bugs leave behind to show you they are there. Here is a shortlist of the most common signs you can look for to identify a bed bug infestation.
- Bloodstains on bed linens. These small reddish-brown spots are the result of bed bugs dribbling blood after feeding at night.
- Small red bites on skin. These will appear in a straight line or a zig-zag pattern. Not everyone reacts the same way to bed bug bites; many people do not react at all.
- Tiny black specks of reddish-black fecal matter. These will appear most often in or around cracks and crevices around bedrooms, and around the seams of mattresses.
- White almost see-through eggs inside cracks throughout the room.
When doing a search for bed bugs, use a flashlight and a credit card, instead of your hands, to check cracks. When lifting up your mattress or boxspring, keep them at arm’s length from your body to avoid bed bugs falling onto you.
One thing to keep in mind is that bed bugs do not always stick to just bedrooms. They can be found in any room of the home. They are just more likely to be around where people sleep.
The Best Way To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs
No matter what you might read about bed bug control, you should not try to deal with bed bugs on your own. Without the proper training or knowledge of bed bug behavior, trying to solve the problem on your own will most likely be a waste of time, money, and effort. Instead, start by reaching out to the professionals here at Proven Pest Management. We have been successfully getting homes bed bug-free for a long time.
If you are losing valuable sleep at night, we are here to help. Give us a call today to learn more about how we treat for bed bugs or to schedule services for your Collierville home.
