5 Mistakes People Make When Dealing With Bed Bugs

07 Apr 5 Mistakes People Make When Dealing With Bed Bugs

The sight of bed bugs causes panic in most people, and you may try DIY control and make the problem worse. Instead, approach the situation with the proper treatment methods to eliminate the pest problem for good. Discover the most common mistakes during bed bug removal.

1. Ignoring the Problem

If you suspect you have bed bugs, deal with them immediately since they reproduce rapidly. A female bed bug lays up to 500 eggs in her life, and the offspring start reproducing in a few months. 

A few bugs in your home are enough to produce colonies in different parts of the house. The longer you wait to control bed bugs, the more difficult it is to eliminate them because they grow in population every day.

2. Overusing Pesticides

If the thought of bugs crawling on your skin is daunting, you may be tempted to apply insect repellents like those for mosquitoes. However, contact pesticides don’t work for bugs because they dry out in a few hours. 

Bed bugs usually feed between 3 am to 5 am, by which time the insect repellent is all over your sheets instead of on your skin. Some pesticides also contain hazardous ingredients that cause more health problems than benefits for your family.

3. Moving From the Sleep-Infested Bed

No one wants to sleep in a bed bug-infested bed. However, don’t take your bedding and move to the couch or spare room. 

Bed bugs are notorious hitchhikers, and they latch on to linens, clothes, and other items, following you into other areas and creating new breeding grounds. Dealing with bed bugs in a confined area is easier than multiple infestations across the house. Moreover, bed bugs are attracted to the carbon dioxide you exhale and find you even if you change your sleeping arrangements. 

Another mistake people make when they discover bed bugs is sleeping at a relative’s or friend’s place. Since bed bugs spread fast, you will likely take them to other people’s houses and leave them dealing with infestations as well. The best strategy is to stay in your home and deal with the issue until the bugs are gone. 

4. Not Informing Your Landlord

If you reside in an apartment complex, bed bugs may have come from your neighbor or infested the whole building. So the infestation will recur even if you eliminate them from your house.

Inform your landlord immediately after you confirm you have bed bugs so they can treat the entire building. The property owner may also be liable for the removal costs, depending on the provisions of your lease agreement.

5. Treating the Problem Yourself 

Bed bugs are difficult to eliminate on your own, and some DIY methods worsen the problem. For instance, sprays and bombs aren’t powerful enough to kill bed bugs and only scatter the pests to other areas of the home or apartment complex. 

Bed bugs have also grown resistant to some pesticides, and the solutions you get from the hardware store won’t do the job. The bugs can stay dormant for a long time, and you may assume that your eradication efforts have worked for them to re-emerge.

Pest control experts are your best bet for bed bug elimination because they identify their hiding places and use heat treatments, fumigation, chemical treatments, and other techniques to eliminate live pests and eggs. 

The chemical treatments used by pest control companies are unavailable over the counter because they are potent and need expert handling. A reliable pest control firm also returns to your house if you notice further pest activity until the bed bugs are eliminated. 

If you suspect your residence has bed bugs, stay calm and contact us at Eary Termite & Pest Services. These pests hide in tiny cracks and crevices, which is why they recur even after you try various DIY methods. Our professional exterminators destroy bed bug nests and eliminate them from your house.