Bed Bugs - How Do You Know If You Have Them
Bedbugs do not feed on waste food like cockroaches or mice and rats do, they feed on the blood of a warm-blooded host. The signs that you have bed bugs are itchy welts, commonly in groups of three. You should see tiny red or brown marks on your linens were you have rolled over them at night and killed them.
Bed Bugs - How Do You Know If You Have Them
Bed Bugs - How Do You Know If You Have Them
Bed Bugs - How Do You Know If You Have Them
Bed Bugs - How Do You Know If You Have Them
If you think you have bed bugs check the carpet, linens and the entire bed frame, bed bugs are never far from there host (you). Check everything within a 30ft radius of your bed.
Look for nymphs and shed skin remember though that you are looking for something that is 1mm total in length and is probably translucent. The bugs go through many different stages before they become adults and are very hard to see before that.
If you cannot find them by visual inspection, you can use the old tape trick to find them. Take a roll of packing tape and tape the bottom of your bedpost and frame rails and all along your baseboards around your bed. You will find nymphs and eggs if you have an infestation. If you find anything that looks like dirt or smudges on the tape after a few nights you need another trick to catch them in action.
Bring a flashlight to bed with you. Wait until it has been dark for at least 30 minutes. Then slowly get the flashlight and shine it under the covers where you have been getting marks on your body. These bugs are very small but you will see what looks like dirt running away from you.
Bed bugs are very robust creatures and have been known to go over 500 days without a meal. If you have them, getting rid of them is another article I will cover later. Trust me when I tell you that you are out of your league in exterminating them.
Bed Bugs - How Do You Know If You Have Them