We all wish to sleep tight and not let the bed bugs bite, so in this post, we cover the top warning signs for bed bugs in your house so you can take action before it’s too late.
Itchy bumps develop from bed bug bites
This isn’t always the first sign you might notice, but it is a pretty clear warning sign for bed bugs in your home. Bed bugs suck blood and when they do that on humans, it can end up leaving itchy, red, bumpy bite marks.
Unfortunately, it may take time for these bite marks to develop because when bed bugs feed on humans, they also inject an anesthetic which numbs the pain associated with their feeding. People can react differently to this. In some cases, people experience dramatic itching and red bumps all over their body, while other people don’t react to the bites at all.
Blood stains from bed bug bites and bite wounds
Blood stains on your bedding, bed, and even pillow cases can be another big warning sign for bed bugs in your house. Since they feed on blood, some blood from the bite or from squished bugs may end up getting on your bed during the feeding process.
In addition to blood stains coming from feasting bed bugs, there can also be blood stains from prior wounds from bed bug bites. Often, bed bug bite wounds can become very itchy, so through scratching or just rubbing the wounds on your bed, they can start to bleed.
This can cause blood stains as well from open sores caused by bed bug bites. Typically blood stains alone isn’t always a solid warning sign by itself, but when combined with the other warning signs for bed bugs, it should lead you to seek out a treatment for bed bugs.
Feces and crushed bugs stains
While bed bugs can sometimes go for weeks and even months without a blood meal, they defecate often during feeding times and can cause a lot of fecal stains on your furniture and bedding. Since their diet consists of blood, their feces and fecal stains tend to be a reddish brown color.
Bed bugs usually come out at night and then go into hiding in cracks and crevices around beds and furniture when they aren’t feeding. These hiding spots and seams, cracks, and crevices of your bed and furniture is the first place you should look for feces stains from bed bugs. Don’t forget to look up as well when inspecting. In many cases, bugs will squeeze between the wall and ceiling squeezing out little fecal marks as they go.
As you roll around in your sleep, you may sometimes crush bed bugs as well causing stains from that as well. You may notice blood from a full bug or just the crushed bug.
Eggs, egg shells, and skin casings
Bed bugs also go through multiple stages of development throughout their life span. This can happen 5 different times following a blood meal.
When bed bugs go through their next development stage (called instars), they shed their skin and leave hollow casings behind. You’ll want to look for these cast skins in a variety of areas typically around your bedding as well as potentially near feces and blood stains as well.
Another warning sign of bed bugs in your house is finding their eggs or egg casings. These unfortunately can be very hard to spot as most bed bug eggs are only about a millimeter in length, but if found, they can be a clear warning sign of bed bugs.
A Funky smell is another warning sign of bed bugs in your house
The last major warning sign you have bed bugs in your house is that you’ll start to smell them. Imagine you left an old wet sweaty towel laying around in your bedroom, that’s the sort of smell you’ll find coming from a bed bug infestation.
This smell may start off mild, but the more the bed bug population increases, the more intense the smell will become. As bed bugs release pheromones in the room they are infesting, it can start to smell like a dirty gym locker room.
Pay attention and be on the look out for these top warning signs for bed bugs to keep them out of your home and to get rid of them quickly before it’s too late. Bed bugs are extremely hardy and many over-the-counter pest control products have little to no effect.
We recommend if you are experiencing any of the above warning signs for bed bugs to reach out to a pest control service like us at Rove Pest Control, to have your home inspected and treated for bed bugs.
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