Most people only think of bed bugs as being in dirty motel rooms, but they can be in the cleanest of 5-star resorts, apartment complexes and dormitories. Bed bugs are small, nocturnal insects that feed on blood and their bites can cause a bothersome, allergy-like reaction that is itchy and causes welts as well as sometimes causing more extreme rashes that call for medical attention.
Typically, you find bed bugs in beds and furniture. This is one reason you’re used to hearing about them in hotels, but you should also keep in mind they can be on common area furniture, shared seating like at movie theaters and in booth seating at restaurants. You will find them in electrical outlets and behind picture frames, too. One of the things we have come to realize is most people notice them about 6-8 weeks AFTER they have been introduced into their home. Usually bringing them in on used furniture, after vacation, or just by staying somewhere and picking one up. We recommend using extreme caution when bringing anything used into your home because there is a chance bed bugs could be hitching a ride to their new home- your home!
You can wash items and dry them on high heat if you know they are only on an item of clothing or luggage, but like we said, you probably won’t realize you have them until you have a bed bug infestation. That’s when you need to call in the professional bed bug exterminators of Gilbert’s Pest Control.
We use a product called Aprehend®, that is an effective natural biopesticide. For hotels, motels and anywhere that has a large frequency of people sharing common furniture, we recommend a quarterly treatment.
Be sure to contact us as soon as you think you may have bed bugs so we can take care of the problem for you!