Picture it: it’s been a long day at work. You’ve been out and about, running errands, working hard, and all you can dream about all day is coming home and snuggling in for a good night’s sleep. When you finally get back to your Salt Lake City home, you change into comfy clothes and bed down under the covers — but then you feel it. Dozens of lentil-sized insects are crawling around your mattress and blankets, just waiting for you to fall asleep and become still, so they can feed on your blood. Truly, nothing is more disgusting than having the sacredness of your bed be violated in such a way.
What Do Bed Bugs In Salt Lake City Look Like?
It is important to know what bed bugs look like if you are to treat the issue appropriately. Below are some tell-tale characteristics that will help you identify whether the insect in your bed is a bed bug or not:
- Oval and brown: Bed bugs are oval in shape, brown, and look a bit like lentils or apple seeds.
- Wingless: A key indicator that the insect in your bed is a bed bug is if they are wingless, as bed bugs do not have wings.
- Flat or swelled bodies: Before bed bugs feed, their bodies will be relatively flat, but after feeding, they will swell, much like ticks. Once they have eaten and are swollen, they will also be reddish in color.
It is important to look closely at the insects in your mattress, as bed bugs do resemble many other kinds of insects (like ticks and ants), and if the insects are not bed bugs, the steps taken to treat the issue will be different.
Where Do Bed Bugs In Salt Lake City Come From?
Most people mistakenly think that if they keep their home and bedroom clean, and regularly wash their bedsheets, then they will never have a bed bug problem. Unfortunately, that is not the case, as bed bugs usually come from outside of the home and are transferred in unknowingly:
- Hotels and motels: When traveling and staying in hotels or motels, bed bugs can easily be picked up by leaving your bags on the floor. Try leaving them on a stand instead to prevent contact with the floor and other areas where bed bugs may be present.
- Public transportation: When sitting on airplanes, buses, and other forms of public transportation, bed bugs can easily latch onto your clothes or bag and hitch a ride home with you that way.
- Multi-unit buildings: If you live in a multi-unit building, such as a condo or apartment complex, bed bugs are easily able to travel from home to home and infest your living space.
How Bad Is It To Have Bed Bugs In My Salt Lake City Home?
The bright side is that bed bugs are not known to carry any diseases, unlike a lot of other common infesting insects in the Salt Lake City area. However, bed bugs are disgusting to have in your bed; no one likes the idea of insects crawling around in your mattress.
Bed bugs survive by feasting on blood. They typically wait until the host (in this case, you or your family) has fallen asleep, so that you are still and your body temperature is raised. Then they dive in, sucking blood until their bodies have swelled immensely like ticks. These bites are often incredibly itchy, and lots of scratching can lead to a secondary skin infection.
The constant scratching can lead to many sleepless nights, which can affect your work performance, your kids’ performance in school, and leave you tired and irritable. So even though bed bugs are some of the less dangerous pests that invade your home here in Salt Lake City, prolonged exposure to them can have an increasingly negative impact on your life.
How Do I Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In My Salt Lake City Home Permanently?
A quick online search will give you dozens of DIY methods to rid your home of bed bugs, but the most effective way to exterminate a bed bug infestation is to have one of our expert technicians come and treat your home. Here at Pest Pro Pest Control, our technicians use state-of-the-art tools and techniques that are proven to thoroughly eliminate entire infestations. Call Pest Pro Pest Control today to help you get back to sleeping throughout the night!