Bed bugs are often mistaken for ticks, cockroaches, carpet beetles or other household insects. These bugs are about the size of an apple seed when fully grown. Bed bugs are parasites who need blood to grow. They can range from a brown color to reddish brown depending on when they have eaten.

Bed Bug Bites

Over 30 percent of people have no reaction to bed bug bites. Older adults have even less sensitivity. You are most likely to be bitten at night while you are sleeping. Bed bugs pierce your skin with an elongated beak and draw blood. The bite is painless so you are unlikely to wake up. If you do have a reaction to a bite, you may develop an itchy red welt within a couple of days. Sometimes, your reaction may be delayed days and even weeks. It’s hard to figure out where or when you were bitten.

It takes a professional to find and identify bed bugs, their shed skins and fecal spots. While bed bugs don’t carry diseases, you’re sure to lose sleep, experience discomfort, anxiety, and embarrassment!

How Did I Bring Bed Bugs Home?

Bed bugs can infest even the cleanest homes. You might bring these hitchhikers home on your luggage, clothing, beds, furniture, and other stuff. Bed bugs are tiny and can hide in the smallest crevices. Once the bed bugs are in your home, they can crawl between rooms and floors.

When not feeding, bed bugs hide in a variety of places. Around the bed, they can be found near the piping, seams and tags of the mattress and box spring, and in cracks on the bed frame and headboard.