Bed Bug Control In San Diego County: Essential Steps For Elimination

Examining Your Home: Where To Look For Bed Bugs

Finding bed bugs is essential for elimination, particularly if you hope to remove them yourself. You need to uncover them and use a vacuum to suck them up immediately. So, as you look for bed bugs, keep a vacuum (with a crack and crevice attachment) close at hand.

Where do bed bugs hide?

There are two factors to consider when looking for bed bugs in San Diego. These insects don't prefer the light and are attracted to confined spaces – the more confining, the better. Here are the most common hiding places you can check to quickly suck these insects up and dispose of them.

• Between your mattress and box spring. Lift quickly and be ready with your vacuum. Bed bugs can go into hiding surprisingly fast.
• Drag along your mattress seams. If you detect bed bugs, shed skins, or eggs, use your vacuum with the crack and crevice attachment.
• Check other hiding places in your bed, such as under mattress labels, around the grommets of mattress vents, inside frame gaps, and within the void of your box spring.
• Lift your bed and bed stand and check under the feet. If bed bugs are in this location, you should easily get them.
• Look in the tight spaces of gaming chairs, desks, computers, and other furniture in your bedroom.
• Inspect your couch, living room chairs, piano bench, and other places where you sit or lounge.
• Inspect luggage and other bags. Bed bugs often get into homes by riding in these items.
• Check the frames of wall paintings and photos.

These are the places you can clean bed bugs up with a vacuum. But there are several places that aren't easy to treat. Here are a few of those to consider:

• Inside your box spring, mattress, or upholstered furniture cushions. Bed bugs can enter through rips or tears.
• Inside an alarm clock or other appliances. 
• Behind baseboards or crown molding and inside electrical outlets. 
• Under carpet edges.
• In the lining of luggage.

If you uncover bed bug activity and remove them quickly, the next step is to watch for evidence of continued infestation. It is possible to have more than one spot where bed bugs are hiding. Keep in mind that it is less likely for bed bugs to spread if you catch them early.

Bed Bug Infestations: The Problems These Pests Cause

When bed bugs live in your home, the problems they cause are related to the bites they inflict. They are often itchy, irritating, and numerous. Ongoing bites can lead to issues such as insomnia, sleep deprivation, infections, and anemia. It isn't fun to have bed bugs biting you, but at least you won't have to wonder if you have an infestation. All you have to do is watch for the bites and properly identify them.

What do bed bug bites look like?

At first, they may not look like anything at all. Early bites can cause little or no allergic reaction. It is the allergic reaction that makes bed bug bites swell, develop a rash, and start to itch.

• Early bites can look like tiny bumps in a significant rash. You may even mistake a bed bug rash for an allergic reaction to clothing, food, or something else. The key difference is that bed bug bites don't appear randomly on your skin. Bites are more likely to appear in a line or cluster. The reason they look like this is that the bugs move across your skin and bite repeatedly.
• Bed bug bites do not have an ulcer or pustule in the center.
• Bed bug bites tend to appear close to the head. The reason for this is that they are attracted to carbon dioxide emissions. So, it is common to find bites on the neck, chin, and cheeks. 
• Bed bug bites are typically found on skin that is exposed during the night. While this is not always the case, knowing this can help to differentiate bed bug bites from other insect bites.

Along with bites, there are a few other signs to tell that you still have bed bugs in your home. Look for these out in the open and also in concealed locations.

• Feces. Bed bugs leave black feces on surfaces and cause fecal spotting on fabrics and upholstery.
• Blood. The black feces left by bed bugs are usually accompanied by brown stains. These stains are caused by dried blood.
• Shed skins. Bed bugs climb right out of their skins as they develop. They'll do this once during each of their five growth stages.
• Eggs. If you clean an area and find eggs in that spot later, you still have bed bugs. These eggs will be tiny and entirely white.
• Nymphs. You might see a bed bug nymph in the evening before bed. These little insects, like their eggs, will be hard to spot. At this stage of development, bed bugs are transparent. Therefore, an unfed nymph will be clear, while one that has had a blood meal will appear bright red. As nymphs grow, they become darker – and may have black feces or red blood in their abdomens.

If you continue to see bed bug signs, contact HomeShield Pest Control for a bed bug treatment in San Diego County. If you don't, you're going to want to keep it that way. Let's look at some of the ways these pests can get into your home, so you can take steps to prevent the bed bugs in your home.

Unwanted Guests: Common Causes Of Bed Bug Infestations

Most San Diego County residents know you can get bed bugs from a hotel or motel. They hitch a ride home in luggage, clothing, pocketbooks, etc. But this is far from the only way to get a bed bug infestation. Here are the most common causes of bed bug infestations.

• Spending the night anywhere. It doesn't matter if it is a hotel, motel, 5-star resort, or a sleepover at a friend's house. Bed bug infestations aren't obvious at first. Bed bugs can spread long before they're detected.
• You can get bed bugs when you go to work, even if you work in an office space.
• You or your kids can get bed bugs at school.
• Your college-age kids can bring them home while on vacation.
• You can get a bed bug infestation when you pick up used furniture and electronics. Always inspect used items before bringing them into your home.
• You can get bed bugs from your neighbor. Bed bugs get into wall voids and can pass from one living area to another.
• You may get bed bugs when you pick your child up from daycare.
• You can get bed bugs from the library. Bed bugs are known to lay eggs in the binding of hardcover books.
• You can get bed bugs from a movie theater. Bed bugs can survive in the darkness of a movie theater and feed during the day because bites are often painless.

If you're trying to remove bed bugs from your home, take steps to prevent continued infestations. The last thing you want is new bugs to replace the bugs you've caught and removed. As you work on the problem, remember that you're not alone. Don't hesitate to call us for assistance.