One effective method to detect and confirm the presence of bed bugs in your home is through visual inspection. This method can become a tiring and time-consuming task if you are dealing with low-level infestations. It might take several inspections just to find actual bed bugs, exoskeletons, eggs, and even their fecal matter.
To make the process less emotionally stressful, you can use light coloured or white bedding to make it easier to see the stains made and left by these bugs. You can also consider using interception and detection devices to help you in confirming the infestation. With these devices, you are able to determine the possible levels of bed bug infestation in your home.
Knowing that you have an infestation only means that you have to pick a treatment to resolve the issue. Upon treatment, you should know how to prevent bed bugs and avoid the same situation where you have to go through the entire nightmare again.
Inspecting Your Home for Bed Bugs
Before you proceed to treatments, it is advisable that you do an initial inspection and detection in your home. In addition to pest control devices, the following are some of the things that you should look for as you inspect your home for bed bugs:
Dead or Live Bed Bugs
One of the signs of bed bugs confirming their presence is finding live or dead bed bugs. They can either be in clusters or find them individually. You can easily spot adults simply because they have a rusty brown colour and are slightly bigger that is at least ¼ inch long. One way to find them is by using a flashlight and an old credit card and using it through cracks and crevices.
Cast Exoskeletons or Egg Shells
Another way to detect bed bugs is by finding cast exoskeletons or eggshells. Whether you find eggshells or exoskeletons, these are proofs that the bugs are present in your home and several are going through a full life cycle to adulthood.
Fecal or Blood Spotting
You will never spot any fecal matter of there’s no bug feeding on you. This means that as bed bugs feed off your blood, they will digest what they have eaten and excrete them. If you find fresh ones, you can find them either in streaks or spots. They are shiny, smooth, and a bit raised. You can find them either on areas where they travelled or where they are hiding or building their colony.
Aside from fecal matter, you might also see blood stains as a result of excess blood spilled as bed bug bites or from some getting crushed as you move while they are feeding.
Doing a Thorough Inspection
If you found a few of the abovementioned signs of these bugs’ presence, you should also proceed to do a thorough inspection. Some of the things you can do for this process are the following:
Inspect Your Sleeping Areas
Though you may have been sleeping in your bedroom alone, you have to admit that there are times when you just feel like spending the night in your comfy couch in the living room. This can attract the bugs to transfer in the couch or sofa. So, make sure that you inspect all areas where you tend to sleep.
Check and strip off the beddings from your mattress and box spring. Carefully check the sides and undersides of the box springs and mattress before removing them from the bed frame. Make sure that you also check around the frames and the legs.
Check the Furniture near Your Sleeping Spots
Aside from the bed, make sure that you also check the chair or sofa near your sleeping spots. Check the backside of everything, turn them over, check the seams of covers, and also the joints of every piece of furniture.
Don’t Forget the Small Areas
It might seem like your electrical outlets, picture frames, and hanging wallpapers are off limits to your bed bug problems, but you are wrong. Make sure that you also check these areas, as you will never know if they were able to access these areas. Worst, they can be hiding in their somewhere.
You should also check clothing racks or a coat closet, as these areas can also be a breeding ground for bed bugs that you brought home.
