Bed Bug Treatment
Schedule Bed Bug Treatment Service
Bed bugs are nomadic insects and serve as nature’s hitchhikers. They spread quickly and are hard to control without the help from a professional bed bug treatment company. If you notice even one bed bug in your home, call 707 Pest Solutions right away before you experience an infestation. It will happen sooner than you think.
Bed Bug Basics: An Overview
Let’s go over the basics. Bed bugs are small insects that require a blood host to survive. They do not fly, but can move quickly on floors, walls and ceilings. Controlling bed bugs is not easy without professional help. One bed bug can turn into hundreds within days of first arrival. A female bed bug can lay 5-7 eggs every day. As the population grows, so too does the multiplying effect. What starts as one or two bed bugs in your home can transform into a full blown bed bug infestation in as little as a month.
What Do Bed Bugs Look Like?
Bed bugs look like brown, flat, oval-shaped insects with six legs. They are about the size of a sunflower seed, at roughly a quarter of an inch long. After feeding, bed bugs look like a fatter, more red version of themselves.
Do Bed Bugs Have Peak Seasons?
Yes. We see a spike in bed bug treatment between June and October. These are the months when families travel on vacation more often. Humidity is also higher and the weather is warmer. Both are ideal conditions for bed bugs to start finding their homes and blood hosts to feed on. While bed bugs are more common in these months, they can still be a problem any month of the year. 707 Pest Solutions offers year-round bed bug treatment service for your home or office.
Signs Of Bed Bugs In Your Home
Despite their name, bed bugs can be found in any room of your house. They are small enough to fit between cracks and even within electrical outlets. You’ll soon notice bed bugs once they have made their way into your home. Pay attention to the information below on what to look for if you think you have bed bugs in your home.
Bed Bug Bite Marks
Bed bugs will often feed while you sleep at night. To feed, a bed bug will pierce your skin and suck your blood with its elongated beak, similar to a mosquito. This creepy fact makes getting rid of bed bugs even more imperative. Feeding times average between three to 10 minutes before they crawl back into hiding.
Bed bug bite marks look like small, red bumps. At first, bed bug bites are painless but can become itchy with time. There’s no specific location where bed bug bites tend to appear on the body. Any skin that’s exposed while sleeping is free game to bed bugs.
Blood or Black Stains
Look for blood or black stains on sheets and your couch fabric. Bed bugs will leave behind blood as they feed and black stains as they produce feces. If you notice bed bug bites on your skin, look on your furniture for these stains.
You See Bed Bugs or Eggs
Bed bugs are easier to find than their eggs. Bed bug eggs are white and roughly 1mm in length. Think the size of a pinhead. Bed bugs are larger than their eggs, about a quarter of an inch long. Remember, one bed bug in your home is too many, as they will multiply quickly. This makes bed bug control an uphill battle from your first contact with them. Contact 707 Pest Solutions for bed bug treatment as soon as you see these signs of bed bugs in your home.
Why Are Bed Bugs In Your Home?
Contrary to popular belief, bed bugs can be a problem in even the cleanest of homes. In fact, bed bugs aren’t even attracted to filth! As long as there is access to a food source (blood), bed bugs can thrive in any environment. Since they require blood to breed and feed, it makes sense that bed bugs will live closeby to humans. They’ll come out when it’s safe to feed, which is why you’ll generally find bed bugs living in closets, cabinets, and of course bedrooms and mattresses.
How Do You Get Bed Bugs?
The most common cause for bed bugs is lack of awareness. Bed bugs are often referred to as “hitchhiking bugs,” because they will latch onto your belongings and follow you home. This goes back to why June thru October are peak months for bed bug treatment. Some common areas bed bugs like to hitch a ride from include: hotels, resorts, public transportation, office buildings, nursing homes, schools, day cares, theaters and even the homes of friends and family.
How To Avoid Bringing Bed Bugs Home
You’ve likely heard horror stories of someone who stayed a few nights in a hotel, only to come back home to a bed bug infestation. The fact of the matter is that the infestation probably started with just a few bed bugs hitching a ride back from the hotel (or any of the locations listed above).
One way to help avoid bringing these pests back from vacation is to keep your clothes in your suitcase, rather than using the bed, floor or provided dressers. Be sure to also keep your belongings away from walls or furniture, if possible. Wash your clothes soon after returning from your trip and put them in a hot dryer.
Are Bed Bug Bites Harmful?
Bed bugs are not known to transmit harmful diseases. This makes them different from other species of blood feeders in Eureka, McKinleyville and the other areas across Humboldt County. Bed bugs are still considered to be a health risk by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA).
Bed bug bites, however, will may be itchy and are a telltale sign of an infestation. Please note that our team of technicians at 707 Pest Solutions are experts in bed bug treatment and exterminating bed bug infestations. We are not trained doctors. If your suspected pest bite is painful, or if you are looking to learn more about what actually caused the bite mark, we’d recommend seeking the help of a medical professional.
Are Bed Bugs Dangerous To My Pets?
Bed bugs are more of a nuisance than they are a threat to the health of your pets. However, since bed bugs do feed on blood, your pets are at risk of being bitten by bed bugs. A pet who has fell victim to bed bug bites will exhibit similar behavior to having fleas. For more information on bed bugs and their effect on your pets, we recommend checking out this article from the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Bed Bug Treatment Plan
1. Inspect For Bed Bugs
Our team of experienced bed bug exterminators will identify whether or not bed bugs are present in your home. We will also locate the source of activity and any possible breeding hotspots. Bed bugs multiply quickly, with each female bed bug laying 5-7 eggs a day. An infestation will typically take only a couple of weeks to form, making bed bug control even more important at first sight of the pest or it's signs. The only truly effective way to get rid of bed bugs is to call a professional exterminator for a customized bed bug treatment plan.
2. Recommendation
Following our inspection, we will provide a recommended bed bug treatment plan for your Humboldt County home or office building. We often include a shotgun approach in our bed bug control, covering all areas of the home thoroughly in order to ensure the most success.
3. Bed Bug Treatment & Control
Wall cavities are treated with an insecticidal dust through small incisions in drywall. We may also access wall areas around electrical fixtures, like outlets or sconces. Secondly, a perimeter crack and crevice liquid treatment is performed on window trims, door jambs and crown molding to kill any bed bugs that may be hiding in these areas. Lastly, we'll invert your furniture to cover all sides with the liquid treatment. This three-step process provides complete bed bug control for your building without needing to use excessive heat.
4. Ongoing Monitoring & Prevention
The gestation period for bed bugs is 7-10 days. For this reason, we will return to your home or office after a 10-14 day period. At the time of the second visit, our exterminators will apply a fresh barrier of liquid bed bug treatment to kill off any unhatched eggs. After this two week period, your building should be completely free from bed bugs.
Get Rid Of Bed Bugs With 707 Pest Solutions
It’s best to leave bed bug treatment to the professionals. There are DIY at home bed bug treatments available, but they are only effective under specific circumstances. Bed bug control is difficult to obtain on your own. Often times those DIY methods aren’t equipped to kill an entire infestation of bed bugs. One bed bug will boom into hundreds within weeks.
We urge you to CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY when you first suspect bed bugs in your home to completely get rid of bed bugs. We can even put a preventative bed bug treatment in place for your home or office to help get rid of bed bugs before they have a chance to make your home their home. These treatments are, of course, safe for your family and pets.
Blood Feeder Species In Humboldt County
FAQ About Bed Bug Treatment
High heat and chemical treatments are the most effective methods for killing bed bugs immediately. Placing infested items in a clothes dryer at high heat for at least 30 minutes or using steamers on infested areas can kill bed bugs. Insecticides containing pyrethroids or neonicotinoids can also be effective in eliminating bed bugs.
To permanently get rid of bed bugs, combine thorough cleaning, high heat treatments, and chemical treatments. Vacuuming, washing bedding, and steaming infested areas are essential. In severe infestations, professional extermination services may be necessary for a comprehensive and permanent solution.
Bed bugs are attracted to warmth, carbon dioxide, and the scent of human hosts. Placing interceptor traps near sleeping areas or using heat sources and CO2-emitting devices can draw bed bugs out of hiding and help with their detection and removal.
Rubbing alcohol can kill bed bugs on contact by dissolving their outer shells and causing dehydration. However, it’s not a reliable long-term solution, as it evaporates quickly and doesn’t provide residual protection against future infestations.
Bed bugs will not go away on their own. They reproduce quickly and can survive for extended periods without feeding. Active intervention, such as heat treatments, chemical treatments, or professional extermination, is required to eliminate bed bugs.
Bed bugs typically do not hide on the human body. They are more likely to hide in nearby crevices, such as in bedding, mattresses, box springs, headboards, and furniture.
The top 3 hiding spots for bed bugs are: 1) seams, folds, and crevices in mattresses and box springs, 2) cracks and joints in bed frames and headboards, and 3) seams and crevices in nearby furniture, such as nightstands and dressers.
Signs of bed bugs include small, reddish-brown bugs, tiny white eggs, shed exoskeletons, and small black or brown fecal spots on bedding or furniture.