Dependable Bed Bug Exterminators in Austin, Texas

Prompt and Effective Bed Bug Solutions

Stampede Pest Control has guaranteed extermination solutions to remove bed bugs from your home or office. Our uniformed staff provides prompt treatment so you no longer have to worry and we’ll make sure your home is cleared asap. We offer fast and efficient bed-bug removal services at an affordable price.

What Are Bed Bugs?

Cimex lectularius, or bed bugs, are six-legged, oval-shaped insects. Adults are about 3/16th of an inch long, and before they feed, they are flat and brown. After they feed, they become red, long, and fat; resembling an apple seed. They do not have wings, so they cannot fly but they can move relatively quickly.

Despite their inability to fly, bed bugs are highly mobile. They latch onto fabrics like blankets, clothing, and bags and travel with their future hosts. Because they travel so easily and have rapid life cycles, they spread quickly.

Bed bugs eat blood from humans and other warm-blooded hosts. They have been feeding off of humans for millennia and live wherever humans gather. It is the blood from the host that makes them fat and red after they eat.

Along with being speedy crawlers, they reproduce rapidly, too. Females can lay over 500 eggs in their short stages of life. The eggs become adults in just three weeks. It’s this rapid life cycle that makes bed bug infestations so challenging to control.

Identifying Bed Bugs

You can see adult bed bugs with the naked eye. With six legs, two antennae, and golden to reddish color, they are relatively easy to see, especially on light-colored textiles or walls. You can also see young bed bugs, but they are about the size of a pinhead. As they love to eat warm blood, they hide in places where accessing food is easy – like mattresses and sofas.

Bed bugs also like to hide behind wallpaper and picture frames as well as electrical boxes and outlets. They will hide in the carpet and the spaces between walls and wood trim. They rest there until they detect warm blood. Then, they quickly emerge from their hiding place and feed on their hosts.

Signs of a Beg Bug Infestation

The first sign of a bed-bug infestation is finding bites on exposed skin. Unfortunately, bed bug bites look like most insect bites, so it is easy to attribute them to other bugs. Bed bug bites are small, but they swell and itch. Sadly, most bites aren’t noticeable until bed bugs have infested your space.

However, if you notice bites after waking, check your bed for brown or red spots on your linens and blankets. Check under the sheets and between your mattress and box springs for adult bed bugs.

You might also notice a musty odor, tiny reddish-brown fecal matter, molted skins, or empty eggshells. Check the walls around your bed, as you might catch them crawling to their hiding space.

How Do Bed Bugs Enter Your Home?

Despite their inability to fly, bed bugs are incredibly mobile. They are small, fast-moving insects, so most people don’t notice them until it is too late. Since they latch onto fabrics, they can travel anywhere humans travel. Often, they like to live in the cushions of couches and upholstered chairs and therefore travel with used furniture.

People who stay in hotels can also bring bed bugs home with them. Bed bugs also travel in moving boxes, suitcases, public transportation, taxi seats, etc. Anywhere humans are moving, you can be confident that bed bugs could be moving with them.

Austin Bed Bug FAQs

Despite bed bugs and humans living together for over 3,000 years, humans often have questions about these unwanted pests and details regarding bed bug control.

Is a bed bug infestation a serious problem?

Yes. Bed bugs are serious problems. Their bites become itchy, so people who scratch those itchy spots can develop infected sores. Some people develop allergies to bed bug bites and they can raise histamine levels in your home. The other thing to consider is the fact that a small issue can become a massive infestation in a very short time. Therefore, it’s critical that you hire a professional the moment you notice any signs of bed bugs.

How do I know if my house has a bed bug problem?

The first sign of a problem is red, itchy bites on exposed skin. Also, if you see one bed bug, then you almost definitely have more. So, once you see a bed bug, you can assume you have a problem.

How should I prepare my house before the bed bug exterminator arrives?

There are several things you should and should not do before we arrive for bed bug inspection and extermination.

First, do not move any furniture; otherwise, you might spread bed bugs. Launder your bedding in hot water and dry on the hottest setting. While bed bug heat treatments are an effective way to kill adult bed bugs, it is not the only type of treatment most homes and businesses need.

Then, put your laundered sheets in a trash bag and put the bag in a safe place. Do the same with your clothing, curtains, cushions, pillows, plush animals, and towels.

Inspect the other items in the room, like books, frames, toys, electronics, etc. To keep insecticides off of them, put them in plastic bags or covered bins. Wash and vacuum your floors, your mattress and box spring, and suspect furniture. Then, immediately remove the vacuum bag and put it in a plastic bag, too.

Exterminators appreciate it when you remove clutter. But, do not move the clutter to other rooms in the house since this can spread the eggs and bugs.