As Bed Bug Awareness Week comes to an end, raising awareness about bed bugs does not end. Bed bugs are difficult to control due to their ability to hide and hitchhike from location to location spreading an infestation. As your Schenectady pest control experts, we will educate you on facts about bed bugs – what bed bugs look like, what signs of bed bugs are, how you can get a bed bug infestation and what to do if you have bed bugs.

What do bed bugs look like?

Bed bugs vary in size depending on the life stage, but an adult bed bug is about the size of an apple seed. Bed bugs are oval, flat and become reddish-brown and not as flat after a human blood meal. Bed bug eggs are translucent and difficult to see with the naked eye.

What are signs of bed bugs?

Itch red bumps on your skin: Bed bugs bites are itchy red bumps often in a cluster.

Small spots on bedding: After bed bugs feed on human blood, their fecal matter looks like dark spots which are blood spots on the sheets.

Bed Bugs Skins: After feeding multiple times bed bugs will shed their skin moving on to the next life stage. When this happens, bed bugs shed their skin which is light brown in appearance.

What do you do if you have bed bugs?

Contact your local Albany bed bug removal professional right away. Do not try bed bug do it yourself or over the counter products. These methods often times spread bed bugs and are unsuccessful in solving the problem. Before throwing out any belongings, your Saratoga bed bug control specialists can advise you on the best course of action.

How can you get a bed bug infestation?

Traveling: Bed bugs impact hotel rooms, airplanes, luggage and other modes of transportation.

Colleges/Summer Camps: When your child returns home from college or a summer camp, be aware of bed bugs. Both of these locations house many people in one location allowing a bed bug the ability to hitchhike home easily.

Used Furniture/Belongings: Beware of garage sales and purchasing second hand items. Just as easy as it is for you to bring them home is it for bed bugs to be introduced into your home if the previous owner had a bed bug problem.

The fact about bed bugs is their ability to hitchhike almost anywhere on your clothing and belongings, going unnoticed until there is a severe problem. If you travel often, have out of town guest, a student returning from college or summer camp or just purchased items, keep an eye out for signs of bed bugs or take one of these proactive approaches to bed bugs. If you experience bed bugs in Lake George or elsewhere in the Capital Region, contact Thomas Pest Services for an immediate inspection.