| » FAQ Home | » View All | » Send a Question |

Displaying Frequently Asked Questions How can I tell if a bedroom in my house has a bed bug infestation? Bed bugs have a very flat body shape and can hide in virtually any crack and crevice, preferring dark, isolated and protected areas. Bed bugs prefer wood, paper and fabric surfaces and so these materials should be paid special attention when you look for their dark staining blood and faeces spotting. If this is a bedroom, pull back the sheets on the bed and check under the mattress seams, beading, under buttons, handles, labels and corner protectors right around the top and bottom of the mattress for blood-spotting (dark spots). Also more concealed areas close to the walls If the bed is an ensemble with a mattress and a base, look at the material underneath the ensemble base for blood-spotting (dark spots) as these are the most likely places they will rest after feeding. For metal framed beds with wooden slats you may see the blood spotting around and on the wooden slats as these have many cracks for the bed bugs to hide in and lay their eggs. If wooden slats have been bolted to the frame, unscrew the bolts and inspect the drill holes. Also check springs and inside hollow bed posts. Areas around the bed should also be checked thoroughly, including the bed frame, the bed head (bedheads should be unscrewed and checked behind and around) and bedside furniture (bedside furniture should be turned over and checked underneath). Drawers in tables and cupboards should be removed, turned over and examined. Other furniture in the room should be inspected, especially where luggage may have been placed, such as luggage racks. Check seams and buttons (if upholstered) and any wooden joins (especially chipboard). Telephones and audio visual equipment, books, power points and behind switch plates, underneath carpet edges and carpet grippers (smooth-edge) plus under rugs, along skirting boards, joins in floor boards and under floor boards. Also check behind loose wallpaper and paint, along architraves (doorframes), old nail and screw holes, ornaments, window casings and wall voids. Bed bugs can also be found higher up on the wall behind telephone cords and electrical conduit, in wall hangings, picture frames, mirrors, vertical and Venetian blinds, curtains and curtain rods, books, ceiling joins, under ceiling mouldings, smoke detectors and light fittings. This sounds fairly rigorous but bed bugs are very flat and almost transparent until after they have had a blood meal. After feeding they appear dark maroon and slightly thicker, but are still able to crawl through and hide in very small places to rest after feeding, so you need to check very thoroughly as they may be hiding in a place you haven’t yet checked. Have look at the Australian Bed Bug Code of Practice website at: http://www.bedbug.org.au/ for more information on how to reduce the risk of a bed bug infestation in your home Date Listed: 2009-07-21 Back

Ring for a free pest control quote

1800 647 440