You’ve been noticing a few bite marks on your arms or legs, but thought they were mosquitoes or some other bug. Now you just found a small brown, tick-like bug in your bed. You do a little research and realize it’s a bed bug. What now!?!?! The first thing you need to do is call an expert. Don’t try bed bug treatment on your own. They are not like other bugs, they are much harder to kill and harder to contain.
Don’t Throw Away Your Furniture!!!!
Often people just start throwing away any infested furniture in the house. There goes the bed, out the window. There goes the couch, your favorite chair, your daughter’s end table. Don’t do it! This is just wasting money, and it most likely will not solve the problem. Getting rid of bed bugs is expensive; don’t add to the expense by throwing away your furnishings. You can kill the bugs right where they are and save your stuff.
Don’t Try to Kill Them Yourself
There are a lot of things about bed bugs that make them hard to kill. They don’t groom themselves, so you have to use special chemicals with residuals. They can survive heat up to 113 degrees, and they don’t mind the cold, even below freezing (You can put them in your freezer for a week, pull them out, and they would start walking around again). So you can’t get your house cold enough to kill them (unless you happen to live in outer space…), and to get it hot enough requires special equipment (Like the kind we use to kill bugs, here at Rock Pest).
Bed bugs don’t need to eat that often. Amazingly, they can live over a year without feeding on anyone and still be alive to munch on you. So even if you move out of your house, wait a year, and move back in, you will still have bed bugs. So, this is not a problem you can wait out. I had one customer say he would simply go to sleep every night wrapped in plastic, just his face showing until he starved them out. That was not going to work, I’m sorry to say, but I admired his dedication! One pregnant female bed bug coming home with you can result in over 180,000 bed bugs in six months. Not a pretty picture. I’ve been in houses where the floor is moving with bed bugs. Don’t wait to get treatment!
What Should I do?
Call an expert. Here at Rock Pest we use heat to kill the bugs. Our special heaters slowly heat the infested area to at least 125 degrees, and then we hold it there. This allows the heat to saturate into every corner, nook, cranny, and crease. When you come home, your house is bed bug free. Even if you don’t use us, please call an expert. Don’t try to treat it on your own. Many times before they call me, customers have spent hundreds of dollars on treatments that don’t work. I implore you; don’t let that be your story! Get help quickly, don’t try to do it on your own, and you will save yourself time, money, and stress.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can bed bugs feed off animals?
Yes, bed bugs can feed off animals. While their preferred host is human, bed bugs can also feed on pets such as dogs and cats if they are in close proximity. However, it’s important to note that they do not live or travel on the bodies of our pets like fleas or ticks do.
How do you kill bed bug eggs?
Killing bed bug eggs can be a challenging task, as they are resistant to many common pesticides. The most effective method is heat treatment, which involves raising the temperature in the infested area to a level that’s lethal for the bugs and their eggs. Professional pest control services often use this method. Another option is using specific insecticides that are designed to kill bed bug eggs.
How long do bed bugs live?
Bed bugs are surprisingly resilient creatures. Without a blood meal, a bed bug can live between two to six months depending on the conditions. If they have access to a host, adult bed bugs can live up to a year. This long lifespan, coupled with their rapid reproduction rate, makes them a persistent pest once they’ve infested an area.
