Bed Bugs

Bed bugs have adopted a well-earned and vicious reputation in the past few years. It’s nearly impossible to go a few days without seeing some kind of professional advertisement for bed bug eradication services. That alone should give you a general idea of just how big a threat this little nuisance bug has become. What makes matters even worse is that this threat is everywhere. It isn’t just limited to the States, third-world countries, or even dirty areas.

Bed bugs are running rampant nearly everywhere. You’d be truly surprised to learn about some of the homes these pests have been found in. They certainly do not discriminate. While there is obliviously no shortage of pest specialists available, choosing the right one isn’t as simple as choosing the one with the biggest and brightest advertisement. To successfully battle an enemy like the bed bug, you need to learn as much as you possibly can about the predator and the true threat they pose.

What Exactly Is A Bed Bug?

Just because you know bed bugs are spreading rampantly, it doesn’t necessarily mean you know everything you need to know about the pest. Honestly, most people know nothing much more than they are an insect that feeds on blood, generally human blood. In addition to this, the predator’s name makes it pretty obvious as to its choice of residence. Most bed bugs will opt to live and take up residence in the bed when possible.

The simplest explanation of a bed bug is a small, oval brownish insect that lives on the blood of warm-blooded mammals. Although they will feed on common house pets whenever necessary, they always prefer human blood above all else. A full-grown insect only measures out to the size of an apple seed, which only contributes to its ever-elusive nature. That said, their body and coloring do change during and after feeding. After feeding, their bodies will swell a bit and take on a more traditional reddish tint.

This elusive predator doesn’t fly or jump but can move with extreme haste over floors, walls, and ceilings. Younger or immature bugs are oftentimes referred to as nymphs and shed their skin five times before reaching full maturity. This generally requires a month. After birth, they will require immediate feeding. While they can be mentally imposing and penetrate human skin, they don’t pose much of a physical threat.

On the upside, there have never been any severe medical-related issues reported with bed bug bites. No transmission of diseases or anything similar. Some individuals have experienced allergic reactions to the bug’s saliva and complete mental breakdown. Other than this, there are no real threats related to this troubling parasite. Most people don’t even realize they are being fed on because the bug’s saliva contains a numbing agent that is injected during the feeding process.

Confirmation Of The Infestation

Just because you are waking up in the middle of the night with an itching sensation around your neck or ankles, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have a bed bug problem. Just because you wake up with mosquito-like bites, it doesn’t mean your property is infested with bed bugs. It could be entirely possible that you are dealing with fleas, ticks, or another related insect.

Simply put, you can’t start treating your home for a bed bug infestation until you are 100% sure that you are dealing with a bed bug infestation. Short of procuring a live specimen, there aren’t many ways to confirm the infestation.

Of course, this is something we will be more than glad to assist with. Our highly trained and certified teams of pest specialists use cutting-edge technology combined with tried and tested pest detection methods. Schedule your free in-home consultation today, and we’ll deliver definitive proof of a bed bug infestation or non-infestation. Whatever the situation, it sounds like you likely have some insect problem on your hands. Let us get to the bottom of it for you.

Avoid Panic

It is right at the very beginning of the infestation that most homeowners make their first and most crucial mistake. Unfortunately, it only goes downhill from here. It can be extremely troubling to think you might have a possible infestation on your hands. It’s also only natural to want to react swiftly. That is exactly what the situation calls for, but you must be very strategic in the way in which you approach the potential problem.

Completely eliminating bed bugs from your property with or without professional assistance is going to be a long-term project. It’s not literally something that’ll happen overnight. You want to buckle in, put on your thinking cap, and approach the situation most effectively and productively as possible. Most homeowners immediately make the mistake of switching rooms or running out and spending hundreds on over-the-counter smoke bombs.

If you still haven’t 100% confirmed the infestation, you can’t even say that you are dealing with bed bugs. Do you have indoor pets? How do you know it’s not flea bites you are experiencing? The main thing here is to avoid switching sleeping quarters or habits. This is only going to spread the infestation to other rooms.

Bombs and similar products only offer the same results. Confirm the infestation by scouring the sleeping quarters from top to bottom. Check the drapes, disassemble the bed frame, remove pillowcases, rearrange furniture pieces, check behind baseboards, or maybe even pull off your electrical outlet covers.

You are looking for bed bugs, eggs, nymphs, or fecal matter. You can acquire definitive pictures of this detritus online to compare. Confirm the infestation above all else!

Weigh Your Treatment Options

When and only when you know you are dealing with bed bugs will you be ready to think about treatment. Things will only get more complicated from this point because there is no shortage of options available these days. That said, we can help you devise and lay out a customized, strategic plan of attack that will guarantee successful elimination. Each infestation is different and might require different approaches or means of treatment.

With our in-home consultation, we can provide you with a list of your best available options. Whether it is confirming an infestation or removing it, we have a wide range of tools in our arsenal. Some of the more popular, well-known, and effective options will be listed below.

Conventional Bed Bug Treatment

Conventional pesticides and insecticides are a tried and tested means of pest control. We’ve been using these methods with great success for years. However, there are limits to their bounds and such treatments do come with downsides.

Treatments usually require evacuating the property and leaving it vacant for hours, maybe days. There is hazardous nature of the chemicals to consider. In addition to this, these treatments aren’t always the most effective when it comes to large, widespread infestations. Traditional chemicals and pesticides also require multiple visits and follow-up consultations.

Cryonite Treatment

Our cryonite treatments are a specialized mixture of carbon dioxide that freezes and kills insects on contact. It’s administered in much of the same way that liquid chemicals are dispersed around the property. This treatment is a much more effective and environmentally-friendly option. It freezes and kills all stages of bugs on contact.

It doesn’t leave behind lingering, residual aftereffects that will keep you out of the home for days at a time, and it can be emitted into areas where conventional dust and liquid chemicals cannot reach.

Stream Treatment

Steam treatments, although much different in theory, are best described as being the opposite of cryonite treatments. Instead of utilizing freezing temperatures, we utilize specialized steam machines to produce a highly potent mixture of high heat/high-pressure steam. The mixture is nothing more than heated water, so if you are seeking greener alternatives, you simply won’t find a safer, more effective treatment.

Steam also offers the benefit of contact-killing. Steam can, however, reach further into cracks and crevices that our carbon dioxide mixtures cannot.

Thermal Heat Treatments

Our more expensive and drastic means of bed bug heat treatment come in the form of thermal heat. Like steam, it utilizes extremely high temperatures to dehydrate and kill off insects. This treatment doesn’t offer on-contact killing, but when applied correctly at the right time, it will completely eradicate all stages of insect life.

Thermal treatments are much more in-depth, as they required strategically placing heaters and monitors around the infected areas to raise core temperatures. Temperatures usually end up ranging anywhere from 120 degrees F to 140 degrees F, so heat-sensitive items may need to be removed from the treated areas.

Conclusion

To learn more about bed bugs or our list of treatment options, you can contact our offices. We also have someone standing by and are usually just a few hours right away from the job. We do provide emergency pest control services for those in dire need. Maybe it’s just a simple question or concern you have. Not a problem, that’s what we are here for!

If you have any other pest control issues please check out other services.