Bed Bug Identification & Prevention

Bed bugs are insects whose sole source of nutrition comes from the blood of their warm-blooded hosts. Some of their preferred hosts include bats, birds, rodents, dogs, cats, and of course, their favorite host — people!

Adults are reddish-brown and have flattened oval-shaped bodies. They lack wings and, like other insects, have six legs. Bed bugs in San Diego primarily live indoors, so their main mode of transportation is hitchhiking. Bed bugs crawl onto people's clothing or personal belongings and go wherever we take them, including into our San Diego area homes!

Bed bugs live for around 12 to 18 months. If food is not readily available, they can survive for about a year without feeding. When hosts are available, these insects feed every five to ten days. Their ability to go without food makes them tricky to control. They could be in an unoccupied home for months; then, when people move into it, unaware of the infestation, the bed bugs become active again, feeding and breeding and causing the new occupants to want to find somewhere else to live!

Bed bugs bite people, which, in many people, results in an itchy red rash. Bed bug bites are most often on areas of the body exposed while sleeping. While bed bugs do feed on our blood, there is some relief in knowing that they aren't currently known to spread diseases to people.

Having bed bugs feed on you is problematic and should never be ignored. Scratching at the bite sites can lead to a secondary infection in addition to scabbing and scars.

Another problem bed bugs cause when they get into our homes is a lack of sleep or interrupted sleep. It is hard to sleep soundly knowing that bed bugs are crawling on you and biting you as you sleep.

Bed bugs live where people live or spend a lot of time in large groups. The following places are where you are most likely to come into contact with bed bugs in airports, hotels, motels, and resorts, rental cars, libraries and movie theaters, shopping centers, schools, dormitories, and laundry mats.

After coming into contact with bed bugs in a public location, it is extremely easy to unknowingly introduce them into your home. Bed bugs have flat, dark-colored bodies, which means they can hide in or on clothing, bags, luggage, and secondhand furniture. Once they are brought into your house, they make quick work of making themselves comfortable!

Bed bugs have made a big comeback throughout the entire United States. They can be found living in homes, apartments, hotels, healthcare facilities, dormitories, airports, shelters, schools, movie theaters, laundry facilities, office buildings, and modes of public transportation such as planes, buses, taxis, etc.

Inside homes, bed bugs first take up residence in sleeping areas, hiding in the seams of mattresses and box springs. If the infestation is allowed to continue, those bed bugs will spread throughout the home, hiding out in the cracks of walls and floors, in the seams of upholstered furniture, inside outlets and electronics, and under piles of dirty laundry.

Trust Bite Away Termite & Pest Control with your bed bug control needs. Our professionals have a deep understanding of bed bugs and can accurately identify them. They know where they like to hide and how to eliminate them from any San Diego area home or business. We understand how stressful a bed bug infestation is and will act quickly to rid them from your home, allowing you and your family to sleep soundly once again! 

Our home bed bug treatments ensure we tackle all the bed bugs in your home so that a reinfestation won't occur. Call today for a quote and learn the benefits of our bed bug treatment program!

Some useful tips and strategies to keep bed bugs from taking over your home include thoroughly inspecting any newly purchased used furniture for bed bugs and cleaning and sanitizing it before bringing it into your home, encasing your mattresses with bed bug-proof mattress covers, regularly inspecting your family's upholstered furniture for hiding bed bugs, routinely vacuuming your home's floors and upholstered furniture to remove stray bed bugs, reducing the clutter in your home that can both mask a bed bug infestation and provide them with a place to establish themselves.

In addition to the above tips, at first sight of these blood-feeding pests in your house, reach out to us for help. The sooner reach out to us for bed bug control in San Diego, the sooner these pests will be eliminated, and you and your family can sleep soundly!