How Do You Get Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are the fastest growing pest control problem in the Portland Metro area. I am sure that you have heard about them on TV or in the newspaper by now if you have been paying attention at all. They are spreading fast, and nobody knows for sure why they have been making such a comeback. If you are unfortunate enough to be one of the unlucky ones to bring them home with you, there are a couple of essential things that I want you to know. First, you should know that it is nothing to be ashamed of. People get these things all the time, and bed bugs don’t care where you live or how clean your house is.
Anyway, here are four things to avoid if you think you might have bed bugs:
1) Stop bringing them home
You may never know how you brought them home with you, but you should at least try to figure it out. Most people bring them back with them when they are on vacation, and the number one culprit is from hotels. They make their way into the seams of your luggage and hitchhike their way home with you. But, if you didn’t stay at a hotel, you might need to ask yourself the following questions. Did you stay at anyone’s house overnight? Did anyone stay overnight at your house? Did you pick up any used furniture (please don’t tell me you brought home that couch on the street corner with the “free” sign on it!)? If you did do any of these things, you should backtrack to the source so that you do not continue to bring them into your house. If you didn’t do any of these and have no idea where they came from, you can probably stop worrying about it as long as you are not continually bringing them home with you.
2) Don’t sleep in a different bed.
The first that runs through your head when you wake up and find bed bug bites on your body is that you are never going to sleep in that bed again! However, that is probably one of the worst things that you could do. If you move, they will follow you, and then you have bed bugs all over the house. It is best to stay put and take care of them quickly.
3) Don’t keep it a secret
If you have roommates or if you live in an apartment with an adjoining wall, it would be unfair for you not to say something. Bed bugs can spread fast and can become everyone’s problem quickly. Also, it would be good to talk to neighbors, roommates, or people crashing on your couch to find out if they are the ones that brought you the problem! Again, this is nothing to be ashamed of, so it is better to get it out in the open and take care of it.
4) Don’t try and do it yourself.
The longer that you wait to do something about the bed bug situation, the worse the problem is going to get. A female bed bug can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime, so time is of the essence. It might seem self-serving (and well, it is), but it is my opinion that it is nearly impossible to eliminate a bed bug infestation on your own using over the counter products. Some products like “bug bombs” are even counterproductive because they are just a low-grade repellent that rarely kills anything, but pushes them deeper into hiding. I honestly feel that the best way to go about it is to bite the bullet and call a pest control company before it gets out of hand.
Listen, if you do have bed bugs, it is going to be tough to get them under control, and you are going to need some help. Let us be a resource to you. Even if you do not end up using us to take care of them for you, we would gladly give you some advice for free. If interested, please give us a call.