Bed Bug Identification & Prevention

Bed bugs are small reddish-brown insects that feed solely on the blood of warm-blooded animals. Before consuming a blood meal, they are similar in shape and size to an apple seed. After eating, their body swells into a more capsule-like shape, and they turn a deep purplish-red color.

Bed bugs feed from their hosts using specialized mouthparts that pierce through the skin. Bed bug saliva contains an anesthetic and anti-clotting chemical that helps ensure the feeding process is pain-free for their hosts.

Our homes and businesses are where these invading pests thrive. The reason is that human blood is their favorite source of nutrition. While they can feed on the blood of cats, dogs, rodents, and birds, people are their preferred hosts.

Bed bugs are not a pest that is considered a danger to people. However, there are still many reasons why we should never allow these pests to establish themselves in our homes:

• Bed bug bites can cause allergic reactions in some people.
• Bed bugs can stain mattresses, bedding, walls, and other surfaces with excrement and drops of blood.
• A large number of bed bugs living in a home will produce a musty sweet smell.
• The presence of bed bugs in a home causes interrupted sleep. 

While bed bugs are currently not known to spread diseases to people, they are unwanted pests that multiply quickly, take over our homes, and are challenging to eliminate. By implementing regular pest control services, you can ensure that a problem with bed bugs will be identified and treated before they take over your home and use your family as a food source.

Because the bed bug’s preferred host is people, it makes sense that these pests gather where people live and spend time. Houses, apartment buildings, dormitories, movie theaters, hotels, airports, and laundromats are common bed bug hot spots.

These pests can move easily from structure to structure by crawling into boxes, furniture, mattresses, bedding, luggage, and bags. Once inside a new structure, they quickly find a daytime hiding spot. Being small, nocturnal, and hiding in dark, tight cracks and crevices mean that a problem with these pests can be quite tricky to identify.

Bed bugs thrive in our houses' stable temperatures and controlled humidity levels. Despite their name, bed bugs don’t only hang out in our beds. Bed bugs received their name because they feed on their hosts as they sleep, and most people sleep in beds.

These insects are efficient crawlers and can move through a home and invade multiple rooms. Wherever you and your family spend a lot of time are places in your house where bed bugs will eventually gather. Some of their favorite hiding spots include cracks in wooden furniture, the seams of mattresses and upholstered furniture, and behind wall hangings, baseboards, trim, and loose wallpaper.

At the first sign of bed bugs in your Fort Lauderdale, Florida home, immediately reach out to Mitchell Pest. We are local pest control experts you can trust. Mitchell Pest understands that fast action is necessary for bed bugs and offers same or next-day services to remove them as quickly as possible. Call us today for the most effective pest control in Fort Lauderdale. We are always here to meet your pest control needs.

Bed bugs can invade any home; use the following tips to prevent these pests from taking over your Fort Lauderdale home:

• Keep the mattresses covered in bed bug-proof mattress covers.
• Upon returning home from traveling, immediately wash and dry all clothing that was taken, not just the clothing you wore. 
• After traveling, clean out and sanitize luggage before storing it away. 
• Before bringing pre-owned items into your home, thoroughly clean them and inspect them for signs of bed bugs.
• Avoid purchasing secondhand mattresses.
• Instead of using cardboard boxes, store items in your home inside vacuum-sealed bags or plastic totes with locking lids. 

Eradicate bed bugs from your home with the help of a professional. For local bed bug control, partner with Mitchell Pest; we are here to keep unwanted pests out of Fort Lauderdale homes.