How do I know if I have Bed Bugs?
What do Bed Bugs look like?
- Bed bugs are oval with no wings.
- Before feeding they are brown and about ¼ inch long. After feeding they turn dark red and look much bigger.
- Bed bugs usually live for about 1 year, with or without feeding.
- They can lay about 200-400 eggs during a year. Their eggs are whitish in color and are about the size of a pinhead. They will hatch in about 10 days.
Do Bed Bugs Bite?
- Bed bugs bite and feed on human blood.
- Bed bugs bite at night especially around the upper body, face, neck, arms and hands.
- You may not know that you have been bitten.
- If you are sensitive to the bite you may have an allergic reaction.
- If you scratch the bite you may cause an infection.
How do Bed Bugs get into my home?
- Bed bugs can be carried into your home on furniture, clothing, bags, and luggage.
- Do not pick up any furniture or items from the street and bring them into your home.
- You might pick up bed bugs while staying in other people’s homes and/or hotels.
- Bed bugs can also come from your neighbor’s home. They can travel along pipes, wires or cracks in the walls.
How do Bed Bugs get into my home?
- Blood stains, spots, streaks on your sheets from crushed bed bugs.
- Rusty or tiny black spots on sheets, mattresses, bed clothes or walls.
- Eggs – when ready to hatch are the size of a piece of rice.
- A sweet musty smell when you are infested.
What to do if I have Bed Bugs in my home?
It’s not your fault – Bed Bugs spread very easily
- Talk to someone in your community, perhaps a friend or worker form a community agency, if you need support.
- If you live in an apartment building, bed bugs easily travel from one unit to the next.
- Anyone can get bed bugs.
- It doesn’t matter how clean your place is you can still get them.
Take action right away
- Take a look at your mattress and bed frame especially underneath and in the folds where bed bugs like to hide.
- Vacuum all areas of your mattress everyday.
- Empty the vacuum bag right away and dispose of vacuum bags in a plastic bag. Make sure the bag is sealed well and throw the bags away in the outside garbage.
- Scrub your mattress seams to get rid of the eggs and the bugs.
- Seal your pillows and mattresses with a plastic cover and/or an actual bed bug encasement.
- Remove clutter from your home and discard them in sealed plastic bags and discard in the outside garbage.
- Wash all your clothes and bedding in hot water and dry on high heat for at least 40 minutes.
- Put all your washed clothes in sealed bags and keep them there until spraying is completed.
On the day of the spreading
- Do not return the clean clothing and bedding back into your unit until your apartment treatment is finished.
- Bathe yourself and wash the clothes that you are wearing and wear only the clothes you have just washed.
- Empty the vacuum bag right away and dispose of vacuum bags in a plastic bag. Make sure the bag is sealed well and throw the bags away in the outside garbage.
- Bathe your pets with pet shampoo and take them out of your home until spraying is over. To bathe your cat, sponge bath would be the easiest.
- Do not go back into your unit until you are told it is safe to do so.
After the spraying has taken place
- Continue to vacuum your mattress and home everyday to get rid of any bed bugs and/or eggs that may still be there.
- You may continue to see some live bed bugs for up to ten days, this is normal.
- Closely examine any items that you are bringing into your home to make sure they don’t have any bugs on them.
- Put out glue boards or double-sided tape around your bed and other furniture to catch the bed bugs.
- Arrange with your landlord to caulk cracks and crevices between baseboards, wooden bed frames, floors and walls; tighten loose light switch covers; seal any openings where pipes or
wires come into your home.. - If you still see bed bugs after 3 weeks, notify the Housing Services Department for further spraying and/or treatment.