Bed Bugs | Can Bed Bugs Climb Up Metal Bed Frames

Nobody likes getting bed bugs, and contrary to what many people believe, it is not a sign of an unclean house. Bed bugs can be brought into the home by hitching a ride on a person’s clothing or luggage if they stay at a place that already has bed bugs. Because of this, they can travel and spread quickly, but there are many things that people can do to prevent them bringing home bed bugs in the first place, courtesy of Major Pest Control. As well as making their home, and most importantly, their bed as unwelcoming to bed bugs as possible.

Bed Bugs Feast On Sleeping Hosts

The reason why these pest insects are called bed bugs is not because they live in the bed, although they may lay their eggs in the soft cracks and crevices of your mattress. But because they feed at night, taking a blood meal from their sleeping victims. Drawn to people and animals by their output of carbon dioxide, bed bugs crawl onto the bed and people to draw blood to feed on, which takes anywhere between three and twelve minutes. Once they’ve fed, they return to their hiding places, and since they are so thin, there are many places they can hide.

Bed Bugs Can Go Without Feeding for Months

Bed bugs are known to feed about every 3 to 7 days. To produce eggs, they need to feed at least every two weeks. However, bed bugs can live up to a full year in between feedings, so don’t think a vacation will be enough time to starve these nuisance insects! As well, bed bugs reproduce quickly – females can lay one to three eggs per day, with the hatching insects being able to reproduce themselves in about a month.

These are great reasons to ensure that bed bugs are unable to reach you, their primary and preferred food source, so even if you do bring home these unwanted visitors, they will not be able to reach their meal.

Prevent Bed Bugs From Accessing Your Bed

Many people have heard ways to keep bed bugs from climbing up the bed. For example, placing each bed leg into a jar of kerosene. This is ill advised for many reasons, including the fact that kerosene is flammable, and its fumes are harmful when inhaled. However, the good news is that there are many ways to make your bed as inaccessible as possible to bed bugs.

The first step is to get a mattress and box spring encasement specifically for bed bugs. This will ensure that of you don’t have bed bugs, none will get in to your mattress. And if you have them already, none will be able to get out. They will eventually die, or get the covered mattress heat treated to eliminate the pests.

Avoid Spreading the Infestation to Other Areas of the Home

You will also want to ensure you remove all bed bugs and eggs from the headboard and bed frame. Contact the experts like Major Pest Control on how to effectively clean bugs, larvae and eggs from furniture. Take care when washing bedding and laundry that you don’t spread the infestation. Place laundry into sealed bins or plastic bags that are immediately tied closed, with no gaps for escape. Launder the bedding quickly, and place into another plastic bag to bring back to your bedroom. This will eliminate the bugs from spreading throughout the house.

Bed Bugs | Make Your Bed An Island To Keep Bed Bugs Off Your Bed

While many people think bed bugs will be unable to climb a metal bed frame, this is not true. While bed bugs to prefer to climb surfaces with some texture, they are quite capable of climbing smooth surfaces too. However, what will make it difficult for bed bugs to reach you, is making your bed an island. This is best done before you have an infestation, but it’s effective no matter when you implement it. In order to make your bed an island, you must pull it a minimum of six inches away from walls and other furniture. This will make it harder for bed bugs to get to your bed, and ultimately to you in order to feed.

Bed Bugs Can Use Clutter To Access Your Bed

Once your mattress encasement is on, and your bed is pulled away from walls and other furniture, you will want to ensure your pillows and bedding do not hang over your bed and touch the floor, walls or other furniture, hence the name, making your bed an island. Eliminate any clutter and clothes under and around your bed that the bed bugs could also use to climb up onto the bed with. Anything you get rid of should be carefully inspected and cleaned before putting away, or being discarded.

Bed Bug Interceptors Are Invaluable

Finally, once all of these steps have been done, purchase bed bug interceptors under each bed leg. These will trap any bed bugs that do try to climb onto your bed. You will need to inspect these daily when you first discover bed bugs. If you don’t have bed bugs, these steps will help prevent an infestation from taking hold, and if you already have bed bugs, you are effectively removing their main food source. Stay diligent, and kick these pests out!

Early Warning Signs to Know

If you don’t have bed bugs, watch for the early warning signs that bed bugs have come into your home. By taking action as early as possible, eradication and clean up will be faster and easier. The first sign to know about is that you wake up with itchy red bumps on your skin. Especially if you’ve recently stayed overnight somewhere else, like a hotel, it’s very likely that these are bed bug bites. These insects are small and very flat – making them excellent at hide and go seek – they as flat as a credit card.

A Large Infestations Stinks Like Rotting Fruit

Another sign is that you start noticing black dots or reddish streaks in and around your bed. This is bed bug fecal matter, and bloodstains left after the bed bugs have eaten. If you are concerned that you may have a bed bug infestation, call the experts, like Major Pest Control to come in to do a thorough investigation. They will be able to find if there are any signs of an infestation, and make a plan for how they can help you evict these pests once and for all!