Bed Bug Symptoms

Bed bugs are back in North America and they are showing us what they can really do. But there are many people who haven't been exposed to them, or have they? Your house may even be crawling with them as we speak. Here is the most common bed bug symptoms that you need to know:

An unpleasant way to find out that you have bed bugs is by the aftermath of their bite.

But just because you may have the following symptoms, doesn't mean that it came from the insect known as a bed bug. These are just some common traits with bed bug bites.

Unfortunately bed bugs love human blood. They also love blood from your warm blooded pets. In fact you may wake up one morning with red spots on you and blood spots on your sheets. Gross Fact: It can take up to 10 minutes for a bed bug to get its fill and you won't even know it's attached to you.

The bite itself may look like a mosquito bite with a darker center. This may be one of the reasons people don't do anything about their bed bugs. They may be mistaken for mosquito bites or other bug bites. They usually attack in straight lines so you may notice 4 or 5 bites in a row.

While most bed bug attacks happen at night time when the lights are off, they may also choose to feed even if the lights are on.

Bed bugs will attack any exposed skin that you leave while sleeping. However, they can crawl under sheets and clothing to get to your skin. Not to scare you but, they won't go after a specific body part, they will attack your neck and face.

While they can carry pathogens and other harmful bacteria, it is not likely that they will transmit anything to you (at least not according to research done at the time of this article). Sometimes the bite will be itchy like a mosquito bite and sometimes it won't be. The worst thing you can do is start scratching it because it can become infected.

With large bed bug infestations there is a buggy smell that is omitted. Some people describe the smell as being sweet and musty. They release methane but unfortunately the human nose is not capable on detecting it in moderate infestations. However, a dog's nose is more reliable if trained properly.

- Bed bugs shed their exoskeletons and you will see their shells, usually in piles. You may also find clusters of their white eggs.

- If you happen to see one, which is difficult because they are so tiny, they can be about half the size of a grain of rice. They are brown with 6 legs. After they get a fill of blood they look a little bloated and darker in color.

- When you wake up with no spots on your body, but you notice red spots on your sheets, then that is probably the result of you crushing the bed bugs that have already eaten.

- They usually amalgamate in mattress seams, crevices in fabric furniture and pillows. They will also live in cracks in walls, wooden furniture, carpets, floor tiles or wooden planks with small holes and electrical sockets. Basically they can live anywhere as long as there is a food source that is within a 12 foot reach.

You may not see these bed bug symptoms during the day but if they are allowed to breed then you will notice all of these symptoms a lot more. If you think you have a bed bug infestation then check out our article on how to get rid of bed bugs to help kill them off because you will definitely need a professional pest control expert.