Any homeowner who has had a bed bug infestation knows just how stressful and difficult it can be to get rid of them. They are very resilient creatures that hide in tough to reach areas around the home. Worst of all, they multiply at alarming rates, with females laying up to 6 eggs per day allowing a small infestation to quickly go out of control. With increasing amount of bed bug infestations in Mississauga in recent years, your best bet with combatting them is to have a good prevention strategy in place. Even by taking these measures there is still a chance of having a bed bug infestation so understanding some early warning signs is also crucial to stop an infestation in its early stage. The longer it takes you to realize an infestation in your home, the more costly it will be when hiring a bed bug control company.
Here you will learn how to reduce your risk of having a bed bug infestation in your home and some early signs of infestation to catch them before it becomes a big problem. Even if you notice an infestation in it’s early stages, contact a professional bed bug exterminator like Pestend Pest Control Mississauga right away. These are very difficult pests to exterminate and if the right methods aren’t used the infestation can become much worse.
How To Prevent A Bed Bug Infestation
How do they get into your home
The first step in reducing your risk of a bed bug infestation is to understand how they get into new homes in the first place and diminish their chances of getting into your home. Bed bugs are notorious for hitching rides on people’s clothing, luggage and furniture, going relatively unnoticed. Once they enter your home, they will find a hiding spot near your bed and begin multiplying, spreading through your home quickly. Bed bugs are often picked up by unsuspecting hosts in areas that have many people passing by. These are like transit stations for bed bugs that can transfer easily from one person to another.. Some of the common areas that bed bugs are found lurking include:
- Public transportation vehicles and stations
- Hotels, guesthouses and any other short term accommodations
- Restaurants and bars
Aside from having bed bugs latch onto your belongings in one of the common areas listed above, they can also enter your home through pipes and wall cracks in multi family dwellings if one of your neighbors has an infestation. To minimize this chance, check for bed bug reports on a bed bug registry before moving into a new place and ask the landlord what types of precautions are taken toward bed bugs and other pests.
Preventing a bed bug infestation
Since bed bugs have so many different ways of entering your home unnoticed, there is really no way to completely avoid an infestation; however, there are ways to minimize the risk of an infestation. Even if your home is spotless, bed bugs do not discriminate based on cleanliness, as long as there is a blood meal nearby. Having a tidy home does, however, help reduce the places they can hide, effectively making it easier to see them and more difficult for them to spread quickly. To reduce your risk of having an infestation spread through your home, there are several things you can do such as:
- Reduce clutter, especially in sleeping areas of the home
- Thoroughly inspect any second hand furniture or clothing that enters your home
- Carefully examine your clothing and luggage when returning from any of the common bed bug places listed above
- Use encasements on your mattress and box spring to eliminate any potential hiding spots
- Examine your bed sheets, bed frame and mattresses often to look for signs of bed bug activity
By doing these simple tasks you will significantly reduce the likelihood of having a bed bug infestation in your home or, at the very least, make it difficult for them to spread and easy for you to notice if an infestation is beginning.
Early Bed Bug Warning Signs
Even following the advice listed above, there will still always be a slight chance of bed bugs invading your home. They can also enter your home through ways you can’t control like on the clothing of visiting family and friends. Identifying an infestation in it’s early stages is crucial in having a quick and seamless extermination effort. The longer you wait to get rid of them, the further they will make their way into your home, making it much more difficult to treat every area that they are hiding in. Some of the most common early warning signs of a bed bug infestation include:
- Multiple small red bite marks on your skin
- Fecal matter or small blood stains on your bed sheets
- Shedded skin from young bed bugs
- Visually seeing a live bed bug in your home
For more information on bed bug warning signs, check out this article. If you notice any of these around the home, call an experienced bed bug control company immediately to asses the full extent of infestation in your home so a precise plan can be put togther right away.
