You wake up one morning, and before your very eyes, you see it: the shed skin of a bed bug. Suddenly, all of the itchy bumps you keep waking up with make perfect sense: you don’t have allergies, you have bed bugs.
Bed bugs are one of the quietest home infestations you can have, but they pose a serious threat to your wellbeing. San Jose, CA is a hotspot for bed bug infestations, as these critters prefer dark, cool places, and prefer homes like yours. Let’s talk about what bed bugs are, how they get in, and what you can do to avoid them.
Bed Bug Identification Guide
Bed bugs, scientifically known as Cimex lectularius, are brown, apple seed-sized insects that rarely grow larger than 0.2 inches. Unlike most pests, they’re not interested in your food stores. That’s because you are their food – bed bugs feast on mammal blood.
Bed bugs don’t fly, jump, or run, so how did they make it to your home? Most likely, they hitched a ride with you somewhere that you accidentally picked them up. These pests are hitchhikers: they move slowly on their own, but you can find them in certain hubs and carry them back home with you.
Where Did My Bed Bugs Come From?
Common places that bed bugs latch onto you include transportation hubs (subways, bus stops, train stations, etc.), commercial housing units (hotels, apartments, etc.), schools, public lounge spaces, and other highly populated areas.
You can also pick them up from second-hand furniture and appliances, and they occasionally hitchhike on deliveries as well. If the furniture you want to buy has small brown stains on it, or if you can find coffee ground-sized droppings, it likely has bed bugs hiding somewhere beneath the cushions.
Simply put: where there are people, there are bed bugs.
The good news is, bed bugs aren’t known to spread any kind of disease. They also don’t cause home damage. The bad news is, these pests are notoriously difficult to remove. No matter how often you clean your sheets, vacuum your carpets, and spray down your furniture, it’s possible for these bugs to keep showing up, giving you itchy spots, skin rashes, and even psychological stress.
Bed Bug-Prevention Tips
What can you do to prevent an infestation from occurring? For starters, you can try to avoid picking them up in the first place. If you’re going anywhere with a bag or luggage, including your purse or backpack, make sure these carry-ons are properly sealed. And, if you notice bed bugs in your bags when you return, place the bag in a plastic bag and put a no-pest strip inside, so that you lock the bed bugs in a controlled, fumigated environment.
Other things you can do:
- Reduce clutter – dark, cool spaces are what bed bugs like best.
- Vacuum regularly – bed bugs are less likely to cause problems if your vacuum sucks them up.
- Buy a bed encasement – an encasement zips over your mattress so that, in the event that you do get bed bugs, you can carefully take the encasement off and wash it.
Since bed bugs are so small and pervasive, these prevention and treatment tips don’t always work. When bed bugs invade, contact San Jose’s bed bug experts at Bay Pest Solutions and we’ll exterminate these pests and win back your quality night’s rest.