Getting a good night’s sleep is almost impossible if you are worried about the presence of bed bugs in your home. Bed bugs are becoming more and more common for homeowners in Utah and across the country to deal with and they can be extremely difficult to remove without the assistance of a professional pest control service. Bed bugs often go unnoticed for quite some time in a home due to their small size and their ability to hide during the day time. They are small insects shaped like an oval and are usually brown in color. Bed bugs that are inside of your home survive and feed off of the blood of humans and household pets.

Bed Bugs Hide During the Day

There are many different avenues in which a bed bug can take to gain access to your home. Bed bugs can enter into your home undetected through luggage, used furniture, clothing and other items that you bring into your home. The body of a bed bug is extremely flat, making it almost impossible to notice them at all. Bed bugs are known to hide in areas like the mattress of your bed, box springs, bed frames, headboards, sheets, and pillowcases. These areas are the most popular for bed bugs to hide because they can easily feed on humans at night.

How Long do Bed Bug Bites Last

Bed bugs typically bite humans at night time when humans are sleeping. Bed bugs feed on human blood by piercing the skin of a human and withdrawing the blood through an elongated beak. A bed bug will feed on a human anywhere from three to ten minutes at a time. The bed bug will stop feeding on human blood once it becomes engorged on the blood and crawls away back into its hiding place until it becomes hungry once again. The bite of a bed bug will not typically wake up a human, as it is not very painful or noticeable. It does become painful after the fact when it turns into an annoying welt that is extremely itchy. Bed bug bites are typically found on areas of the skin that are exposed when you are asleep.

Signs that Bed Bugs Are on Your Mattress & in Your Home

There are common signs that bed bugs leave behind that can alert you that you may have a bed bug problem. If you wake up in the morning with small welts on your skin that were not there when you went to bed, then you may have a bed bug issue. Bed bugs will also leave bloodstains on your sheets and pillowcases. Inspect your mattress for rust-colored spots, this is a stain left behind from bed bug excrement. Bed bugs are also known to leave behind an offensive, musty odor from the bug’s sweat glands. If you suspect that you have bed bugs inside of your home, contact Rentokil today.