Home Bed Bugs Where do Bed Bugs Hide and how to Find them

Where do Bed Bugs Hide and how to Find them

Every creature on the planet has to protect itself against harm to enhance chances of survival. Bed bugs can hide even in areas you would least expect. Read on to discover their hideouts and tips and tools to find them fast.

Table of Contents

Where do Bed Bugs Hide-Conditions that facilitate their hideout

Bed bugs have mastered their ability to hide and are able to hide from you and pest control professionals easily and for a long time.

where do bed bugs hide and how to find — Hideout

Some of the reasons they are able to do so are due to the following:

They are nocturnal: since they get out mostly at night when it is dark and when you are asleep, it may be hard to capture their presence unless you are bitten and you identify the bite. During the day, they hide in the crevices and cracks of walls and beds in a retreat that culminates into a waging war at night.
Flat and small bodies: due to their flat small bodies, they are able to fit themselves through cracks, crevices and small openings in mattresses, walls and furniture. They can easily slide into frames of pictures and clothes that have been folded also being able to hide behind wallpapers, wall sockets and wall plates.
Their bites are somewhat anaesthetic: they have an anesthetic feel to their bites and since they can also inject some anticoagulant into you vasculature, they can stealthily have their blood meal and escape into their hide-outs way before you can notice. This is about 5-10 minutes after.
Bed bugs respond to chemotactic signals: they are attracted by carbon dioxide. Therefore, when you exhale this gas while asleep, they can safely and confidently get out of their hiding spots and have their blood meal.
Old items and old houses: both of these are not intact and are prone to breaking or cracking. This may make them viable spots for bed bugs as it offers many hiding spots for them. Torn mattresses for instance should be disposed of.
Poor natural lighting: bed bugs can identify with night and if your dwelling is suggestive of night even when it is not, bed bugs will be on the run all year round. It is important to have proper access to natural lighting. This may mean moving into a house that has such.

Bed bugs hide in areas that are close to their host and where they can have a blood meal. These are areas in which you rest, sleep or lounge such as the bed, sofa sets and wooden chairs. According to the University of Kentucky, bed bugs, through the mechanisms discussed above, can therefore hide in box springs, baseboards, dressers, mattresses, bedding, luggage, closets, electronics, rugs, carpets, tiles on floors, curtains, curtain boards, behind wallpapers and picture frames, switches on walls and books. They can also be found in cars and public service vehicles as the latter ferries people from diverse places. Laundry rooms are not an exception as clothes that might be harboring bed bugs are shaken and bed bugs are released into the surrounding.

Where do bed bugs hide on your body

One fact you will need to get straight is that bed bugs are not fans of hanging on our body. They have their place in bedding, furniture, electronics, etcetera but your body is not one of them. You will only get bed bugs on you when they were in the clothing in the first place. Then you wore the clothes without checking, shaking or ironing them first. Well, this is also a mechanism they use to get transported from one place to another. However, their best-chosen place is somewhere they will not be seen. Areas on your body where you are likely to find bed bugs are particularly areas on your clothing where the bed bugs were initially hiding before you decided to wear the shirt or trouser. For instance, it is common for bed bugs to be found crawling on the collars of shirts, linings of clothing such as blouses, coats, sleeves both of the upper and lower arm, inside of trousers especially the waist where there are creases and on the inner side of the fly. So in short, bed bugs like hiding and the best places are those that have joints, are furry, dark and are hollow. You cannot completely out rule the possibility of having bed bugs in your hair when they crawl on you at night. Though very unlikely as a hiding spot, they may still find vintage in this area. Lice and ticks are best suited for the hair and not be bed bugs. Make sure that when you see bed bugs crawling on your skin, take a shower and particularly your hair to completely remove them. Continuously check and shake your clothing before you wear them and ensure that you iron them while closely investigating for their presence.

Do bed bugs hide in clothes & Closet?

Yes they do! In fact, this is one of the best places they can hide. They know that you rarely touch the clothes far at the back and therefore disturbance will be minimal.

can bed bugs hide on clothes and how to get ridg — Clothes

Their best hiding spots would be at the corners of your closet and the points of attachment of the hang-sticks from the wall where a space might suffice a hiding spot. If you have a bored or hollow hang stick from which you hang your clothes, chances are, they are likely hiding in them. In clothes, they enjoy the inside. Those well folded offer an easy option but you will also find them in unfolded clothing. Creased clothing also confer perfect hiding spots. Quite interestingly, they prefer the dark clothes on which they can easily camouflage and hide.

Where do bed bugs hide during the day

Bed begs are rarely out during the day and it may be hard to see bed bugs in a new dwelling and only until at night when they come running for a blood meal. They are nocturnal insects that respond to not only darkness but also carbon dioxide when you exhale in the night. During the day, you are able to get bed bugs in the following places:

In or behind switch plates
Behind wallpaper seams and picture frames
Along the frame of mirror and pictures
In books at the hinge
Door and window hinges
In box springs and plywood
In between or underneath loose tiles
Bed frame and its head board
Board ceilings and those made of brick
Along the sides of mattresses and in holes in the mattresses
Between walls and furniture put against the wall

Other Places where they hide

Bed bugs can hide in electronics including water kettles, television sets, phones, laptops remote gadgets and cases, switch plates, speakers among many others. You will however not find bed bugs in refrigerators and cookers. Check the points of entry such as areas air conditioning parts and fans of gadgets such as laptops, television sets and PlayStation sets. The fact that most electronics are black in color makes them even further, good hiding spots.

Walls

Bed bugs are able to climb walls that are dark and non-glossy. On such walls, they are able to climb more efficiently. Walls that have a glossy oily finish make it more difficult and it has been observed to reduce hiking. On walls, you will find them behind wallpapers, picture frames and curtains. They are also dominant inside and behind switch plates on walls.

Blankets

Blankets are furry and bed bugs are hardly recognizable in such areas. Furthermore, blankets are on beds and they can positively look forward to blood meals when they are close to the host when sleeping without much struggle to get there.

Mattress

The perfect hideouts for bed bugs. They may be found in old mattresses especially those that have holes bored into them. They can hide in the sponge for long without your notice.

To add, if the cover is torn, they may find their way underneath and pitch camp. Other areas on the mattresses includes the corners along the edge where they can easily transit to and fro the corners of the bed.

Any other common places

You can find bed bugs hiding:

In box springs and plywood
In between or underneath loose tiles
In bed frame and its head board
Along board ceilings in between the conjoined sections of the board and those made of brick.

How to find Bed Bugs

Tools to use when looking for them

You need to be well equipped with some tools to be able to see and observe for any bed bugs, eggs, shells and skins. Some of these will require that you have special equipment. Most likely, these can be found in Pest Control Agencies. You will require the following tools (Michigan State University Extension).

Flashlight: an LED light will do best so that you can view the inside of crevices.
Magnifying glass: this is an important tool in order to view objects as small as half a millimeter. It may be hard to observe and make out shells, eggs and skins which might be crucial in the absence of an actual bed bug.
Forceps/tweezers: these come in handy when you want to remove some covers for inspection.
Screwdrivers and pliers: you can use this to open up some electronic devices and clean. This also helps when you want to open the wall sockets and plates.
Collection containers: get some re-sealable plastic bags or some small containers. You will need this so that you can be able to observe for its authenticity for an actual bed bug. You may need a professional to identify your specimen for you.
Alcohol swabs: these have been shown to be detrimental in the identification of bed bug droppings and normal dirt being able to make a difference between the two. Wipe the matter onto the swab and observe for a reddish or brown color.

Where to look first

You will need to investigate places where you spend much of your time and sleep. Check the cracks and crevices close to these places while not leaving out any hinges or small spaces and openings in furniture. Check the corners of your bed, the corners of the mattress and the bed sheets. The bed sheets can be checked for any brown or blood stain that resembles the shape of a bed bug.

Places where you cannot Find Bed Bugs

There are places that you are not likely to get bed bugs and even if you do, then they might have been dropped from somewhere. If you come across the bed bugs more often in the following areas, they it might just mean that you have a really advance infestation at hand. You need to contact the Professional Pest Control Services to contain the situation.

In bathrooms
Bathtubs
In basements that are not in use
Other rooms that have not been used.
In the kitchen area
In refrigerators

Further Reading