Bed bug infestation can spike within a few months. Knowing the severity of infestation is a key to determining if you should follow DIY ways to get rid of bed bugs or hire a pest controller.
This guide reveals the seven signs that tell you how bad bed bug infestation in your home is.
Let’s find them out.
7 Signs That Tell You Have A Bad Bed Bug Infestation
- Bed bugs are present in every room of your home
- Adult bed bugs walking on the walls, carpets, curtains, and even on the floor
- Dense fecal strains on the mattress, box springs, rugs, and furniture
- Bed bugs in dresser drawers
- Musty bed bug smell
- Sightings of shed bed bug shells or cast skins in the home
- Clusters of visible bed bug eggs
Bed bug infestation takes time to manifest. When the infestation is low, the signs of infestation won’t be apparent.
You’ll have to look out for bed bugs, preferably during the day, to find out the places that you need to treat.
If you ignore the early signs of bed bug infestation, then it’ll take 6-12 months for the bed bug infestation to turn nasty.
And once the infestation gets bad, you’ve no option but to hire an exterminator to get rid of bed bugs.
Let’s get deeper into each of these seven signs of bad bed bug infestation.
Bed Bugs Have Spread To Most Rooms Of Your Home
The most evident sign of bed bug infestation is the sighting of adult bed bugs in every room of your home.
It doesn’t include places like the basement or bathroom. But you’ll see bed bugs in every bedroom and living room too.
Bed Bugs Crawling On The Walls, Carpets, Curtains, And On The Floor
Bed bug infestation grow in stages. When the bed bug infestation is terrible, sightings of bed bugs are common in places beyond your bed.
You’ll notice bed bugs crawling on the walls during the day. And they’re also visible on soft furnishings like couches, carpets, rugs, and curtains.
Even one bed bug on the wall during the day should trigger your alarm bells.
Bed bugs also hide in the gaps of wooden furniture. And if you’ve got wooden flooring, you’ll also spot bed bugs in the seams and crevices of the wooden floor.
That’s not all.
Bed bugs in the electrical sockets, bookshelves, and photo frames are usual when the bed bug infestation has worsened.
Dense Fecal Strains On The Bed Mattress, Box Springs, And Rugs
The fecal strains on the bed mattress, bedsheets, pillow covers, box springs, and rugs are also visible in a severe infestation.
These fecal strains are like reddish-black or rusty-colored blots on the surface. The fecal strains are primarily visible on the mattress seams in the bed mattress.
These fecal strains are bed bug feces. They discharge it indiscriminately wherever they walk.
As bed bugs only consume human blood, their feces are always liquid.
In the early stages of infestation, these strains appear in tiny dots on the bed. But when the infestation gets bad, the fecal strains are like big blots on the mattress.
Bed Bugs In Dresser Drawers
Another sign of bad bed bug infestation is the presence of bed bugs where you keep clothes.
Bed bugs in dresser drawers, wardrobes, and closets become a common sight, especially when they’re not more than 6-8 feet away from the bed.
Bed bugs don’t hide beyond 6-8 feet from their central feeding spot. But in case of a bad bed bug infestation, they can spread beyond that distance if they can find a host.
Your clothes and furniture can also have bed bugs latched onto them when there’s a nasty bed bug infestation.
Musty Bed Bug Smell
A palpable bed bug odor, which is quite sharp during a heavy bed bug infestation, comes from feces and the bed bugs’ glands.
This smell is musty. You’ll feel like you’ve sniffed on a corroded piece of iron.
Many bugs that infest homes, like cockroaches, emit a distinctive smell which is a telltale sign of a heavy infestation.
Bed Bug Shells
Bed bugs molt. They shed their old skin (or exoskeleton) to accommodate their growing size.
Baby bed bugs will molt five times before they reach adulthood.
The bed bug shells are tiny brownish shed skins of bed bugs that you’ll notice in chunks.
You’ll notice these cast skins all over your bedroom and in other places where there are bed bugs.
These shed skins are not apparent during the early stages. But when the infestation is bad, it’s pretty easy to spot them because there are too many of them.
Clusters Of Bed Bugs’ Eggs
Bed bugs’ eggs are smaller than a grain of rice. They’re off whitish.
Bed bugs lay their eggs in the cracks and tight gaps where they hide. During the early stages of infestation, their numbers are low.
But when the bed bug infestation worsens, these eggs are in clusters that you can easily spot.
You can spot these eggs on the mattress seams, in the gaps of the headboards, and the cracks and holes of the bed frame.
Your home gets infested when your home supports the entire lifecycle of bed bugs. The signs of bed bug infestation are difficult to spot in the early stages.
But when the bed bug infestation gets bad, the signs of bed bug infestation are right on your face.
What To Do If There’s A Bad Bed Bug Infestation In Your Home?
First and foremost, don’t throw away your bed bug-infested mattresses or belongings. Doing so will make you responsible for spreading bed bugs in your vicinity.
You don’t have any other option but hire a bed bug exterminator to get rid of a bad bed bug infestation.
Don’t use any DIY methods. You’ll definitely fail.
DIY methods are only effective during the early stages of infestation when their numbers are low.
So, if you’ve got a bad bed bug infestation, then contact a bed bug exterminator asap.
But before hiring any, do ask the exterminator the right questions to find out if they are reliable.
Dr. Thomas Orbert, the Microbial Maestro, dances with the tiniest of creatures as an entomologist extraordinaire! With a PhD in entomology, his passion lies in unraveling the secret symphonies of insect-microbe interactions. From minuscule marvels to captivating complexities, Dr. Orbert unveils the hidden world of bugs, igniting curiosity one buzz at a time!