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Pest Management

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.