Bed bug treatment and removal is essential if these pesky critters have been keeping you awake in your Oregon home. While initially painless, bed bug bites can turn into itchy, reddish welts that can cause you to lose precious sleep. Bed bugs are hard to find as they typically hide in mattresses, bed frames, box springs, and headboards. You will need a professional pest control expert to get rid of bed bugs fast and quick!

Effective bed bug treatment starts with proper identification.

To get rid of bed bugs successfully, you first need to identify them correctly. Bed bugs can easily be mistaken for other household pests like ticks, fleas, booklice, mites, spider and carpet beetles, as well as cockroach nymphs. Bed bugs are brown, wingless insects with flat bodies and segmented abdomens. They are oval in shape and measure about 4-5mm when they reach adulthood. Bed bug nymphs are a bit smaller and are more translucent in color.

Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation

Look out for these telltale signs that clearly indicate the presence of bed bugs in your Oregon home.

• Blood stains on your sheets, bed covers and curtains can mean bed bugs have taken residence. Bed bugs feed on human blood and may get crushed, leaving tiny, rust-colored patches.
• Bed bug bites in exposed skin areas are also a clear indication that you have a bed bug infestation as these critters are known to bite humans.
• Bed bug shells or casings are left behind when bed bugs molt into their next life stage. They are papery in texture and range in color from yellow to light brown.
• A musty or pungent smell often likened to overripe berries are released by bed bugs, especially when they are disturbed. These are called alarm pheromones.

You aren’t likely to spot bed bugs during the day as they’re more active during nighttime. Their peak feeding time is just a few hours before daybreak, although a hungry bed bug won’t hesitate to come out any time during the day. Because they don’t have wings, bed bugs can’t fly or jump—instead, they crawl to move around at a speed of one meter per minute. They can easily navigate fabric, wood, and concrete but have difficulty climbing slick surfaces like hard plastic, stainless steel, and other shiny metals.

Why you should get bed bug treatment FAST!

When it comes to bed bugs in your Oregon home, you can’t simply just wait it out until they die a natural death. You have to act quickly to get rid of bed bugs in order to prevent a full-blown infestation. Bed bugs know no season when found indoors and can survive without food for up to a year. They can even go longer in cooler temperatures and the longest bed bugs are known to have survived without food is 400 days!

Under favorable conditions, bed bugs can mature in less than a month, especially when they have a steady supply of blood to feed on. That could be your blood because humans are their preferred hosts over pet cats or dogs. Each female bed bug can then begin to produce multiple generations throughout the year, laying about 200-250 eggs in her lifetime. Do the numbers and think of how this can progress into a full-blown bed bug infestation if no action is taken. For this reason, it is important to get rid of bed bugs quickly the moment you spot them in your home.

Getting rid of bed bugs: Prevention is KEY

Contrary to popular belief, bed bugs can invade sparkling clean homes just as much as they are known to infest dingy, cluttered, and messy environments. Of course, reducing your clutter will make it easier to get rid of bed bugs but extra care should be exercised to prevent these sneaky pests from entering your property.

So how do bed bugs make their way into your homes, really? Well, you might be surprised at how many ways you can unconsciously bring bed bugs home with you. If you’re a frequent traveler, bed bugs can easily stow away in luggage and travel bags so you may have given some a free ride from hotel rooms which are notorious for harboring bed bugs. Also, bed bugs can sneak into folds or pockets of clothing and in the daily hustle and bustle of life, you may have unknowingly sat on something where bed bugs reside—an office sofa, bus or train seats, in cinemas, restaurants, beauty parlors, or any other public space. They can even hitch a ride on library books or plush toys your kids may be bringing home.

Do not despair though! There are safe and effective ways to get rid of bed bugs so you can reclaim your sleeping space and enjoy a good night’s rest, every single night.

How to get rid of bed bugs naturally

First, let me tell you that it is never advisable to use commercial insect sprays or repellents to get rid of bed bugs. Remember, you spend at least six to eight hours sleeping on your bed so think of how much of those harmful chemical residues you could be inhaling each night! Moreover, bed bugs love to nestle deeply in the folds and crevices of your mattress and beddings, so surface spraying might not really get the job done. While chemical sprays may be potent, the active ingredients simply cannot penetrate deep enough to reach these hiding places. Once dry, chemicals are often inert and likely to be useless unless a particular spray is specifically formulated to get rid of bed bugs.

Professional organic sprays like Azadirachtin which is derived from neem seeds will do a better job if you want to get rid of bed bugs for the long term. This insect growth regulator (IGR) disrupts the life cycle and deters egg-laying in over 200 insect species including bed bugs. Nicotine-based sprays will also do an equally good job if you wish to get rid of bed bugs for good as long as you carry out the appropriate pre-treatment measures.

DIY measures to get rid of bed bugs

• If you’ve spotted bed bugs in your home and are waiting for a professional pest control technician to come over, there are several pre-treatment measures I would recommend to start getting rid of bed bugs and preventing a full-blown infestation.
• Eliminate all clutter in the infested room. Clean out dressers and drawers as bed bugs may also be hiding in these areas.
• Remove all bedding, linens, and curtains, and launder using the hottest wash and dry cycle.
  Vacuum your mattress and box spring thoroughly. Pay special attention to crevices and folds along the edges.
• Vacuum all furniture, rugs, and carpets in the entire room as well. When done, take the vacuum cleaner outside, remove the bag and dispose of it properly to make sure you totally get rid of bed bugs and they don’t find their way back into your home.
• Next, move your bed away from any wall or furniture to lessen the chances of bed bugs crawling and spreading to other areas of the room.
• When returning from a trip outside the home, don’t bring luggage, bags, and other items into the infested room. Unpack stuff in an outdoor storage section like your garage just to be safe.

Organic Bed Bug Pest Control

ANT & GARDEN ORGANIC PEST CONTROL in Beaverton Oregon offers safe, effective, and long-lasting organic pest control treatments to get rid of bed bugs permanently. My proprietary bed bug sprays are 100% natural and organic so they’re totally safe to use around your home. Best of all, they get rid of bed bugs permanently and prevent future re-infestations so you can sleep soundly without having to worry about inhaling toxic chemicals.

To prove to you that my organic pest control products are totally safe, I can even drink the same formulation I use to spray your bed bugs with right in front of you! Also, after applying my proprietary spray, you can watch bed bugs die right before your very eyes using my digital microscope hooked up to my MacBook. That’s just to show you my organic spray will get rid of bed bugs better than any commercial insecticide available in the market these days.

Ready to embark on an all-out war to get rid of bed bugs in your home? Give Ryan a call today at 503-713-9590 or leave us a message in our Contact Section.