Bed bugs are serious pests when they infest your home. They can disrupt your life and make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep.
If the infestation is severe…
you may even be forced to temporarily move out of your home.
Their bites can itch and are often formed in clusters, and the worst thing about bed bugs is that they can spread easily.
If they’re in your bed or furniture:
They can quickly find their way around other areas in your home.
Even though bed bugs are small (about the size of an apple seed), they move seamlessly, and you need to be aware of their strengths.
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How Long Does it Take to Get an Infestation?
Contrary to common belief, bed bugs actually develop pretty slowly. At first, just a few insects are present…
In the beginning, it may only be just one.
The initial insects in an infestation may just cause a couple of rare bites that go unnoticed, or that can be overlooked or blamed on other insects that look like bed bugs.
Over time though, the evidence builds and it’s hard to mistaken what’s happened, you have a large infestation on your hands.
You’re unlucky if the bed bug that started it all, is a female because otherwise likely no infestation would have developed.
How Fast do Bed Bugs Spread in Apartments?
Like many other creatures in this world, only females are able to reproduce and lay eggs…
Typically a female can lay around…
3 eggs a day if feeding is available.
At this level, a female can probably lay a maximum of 300 eggs in her lifetime.
All of which hatch in about 10 days.
Nymphs (which resemble adult bed bugs but are smaller), and require a meal in order to grow and molt.
The process of becoming an adult takes about 100 days
(where up to 5 molts occur)
BEFORE mating takes place.
Roughly 1.5 to 2 months are needed to complete the cycle from egg to mated adult.
Adults can live about 10 months, although without a steady host they may live over a year.
How Easily do Bed Bugs Transfer?
It’s important to note that bed bugs don’t travel well by themselves, and they need to hitchhike to get far.
Therefore if your neighbor has an infestation you shouldn’t be inviting them over into your home.
If you live in a multi-unit complex such as an apartment building, or multifamily building…
You need to be especially careful.
Bed bugs can maneuver around tight spaces, allowing them to travel easily through walls.
Especially if the walls are older, have cracks, or are made of wood, you’re especially prone to catching bed bugs from a neighbor.
To prevent giving an infestation to your neighbor…
You should do the following:
- Examine your belongings when coming back from travels (Ensuring you kept bed bugs off your luggage).
- Always be cautious, especially if you stayed in a temporary residence such as a hotel room. Make sure you inspected the room properly before you went to sleep.
- Learn how to properly identify bed bugs (along with warning signs).
- Keep clutter in your home to a minimum.
Bed Bugs: Some Myths (and the Facts)
Myth: Bed bugs always leave marks when they bite
Fact: Many humans who are bitten actually don’t show physical signs that they were bitten by bed bugs. In some cases, your skin’s reaction is actually delayed, and you don’t notice the bites until weeks after you were bitten.
Myth: Bed bugs commonly spread disease
Fact: While similar pests such as ants, roaches, flies, and rodents carry a lot of bacteria, bed bugs commonly don’t transmit disease (except in rare cases). More severe cases of bed bug bites are typically red welts, allergic reactions, asthma, and psychological problems.
Myth: Conventional treatments like insecticides or chemicals are most effective in treating bed bugs.
Fact: Bed bugs are actually growing thicker skins which make them increasingly resistant to chemical treatment. Pest control specialists are actually becoming more creative with their treatment methods, such as using special equipment to kill bed bugs with extremely high temperatures.
How Long Do Bed Bugs Last?
You might think that you can simply lock down the room bed bugs are in and eradicate the infestation.
However…
Even if you can contain bed bugs in a single room, they can live for a long time.
An adult bed bug can live for over…
One year without feeding, meaning even without a consistent source of food, they’re unlikely to go away on their own.
Bed bugs are tiny and quick, and they can find ways to get around your home and spread the infestation.
In this time, they’ll also reproduce at a rapid pace, making it difficult to control the infestation without a professional.
In a less severe outbreak, there are certain DIY methods that could help.
However, to fully remove an infestation in the long term…
The bottom line is…
If you don’t ask for professional help to remove these pests, you might end up with a permanent infestation.
How Fast Are They?
Adult bed bugs are easily visible to the human eye.
They are generally around 5 millimeters long, and there is no need for any visual aids to see them crawling around.
On average, they can pass approximately three to four feet each minute.
Of course, all this depends on what kind of surface we are talking about and whether there are obstacles in play.
In most cases, bed bugs can easily travel from one part of the house to another in about a day or two.
How Bed Bugs Spread
There are several ways bed bugs can spread through a house, making the situation all the more complicated.
That’s why early identification and quick action is vital to preventing a serious outbreak.
They Can Crawl
Bed bugs crawl efficiently, and they’re fast during the night.
If you get bitten by one while you’re asleep…
And you get up to turn on the light and find the pest, chances are they’ll scurry back to hiding before you have a chance to capture.
Bed bugs also find cracks that connect different areas.
Even if a single room is sprayed with pesticides, bed bugs can quickly travel to another room through before they’re too injured.
Details on Breeding
A female bed bug doesn’t change its moving patterns while laying eggs, and wherever she goes, she will lay eggs.
This means that a single breeding female can quickly spread the infestation around your home.
Before you jump to whether you have a bed bug problem, make sure you understand exactly what constitutes an infestation…
The University of Tennesee wrote a great article on the biology and identification of the female bed bug.
Attaching to People
Bed bugs don’t only go straight to beds, chairs, and other furniture items.
They can often infest:
- clothes
- bags
- shoes
- and so on..
A lot of people bring bed bugs home because they get attached to outfits or hide on their bodies while visiting a friend or staying at a hotel.
Infesting Home Items
As we just mentioned, some of the favorite places for bed bugs are beds, chairs, and other types of furniture.
When moving furniture that’s infested, you will move the bed bugs along with it.
They will continue breeding when they are moved to another place:
Which is why you should be wary when purchasing furniture from used furniture stores.
Bed bugs are a real danger, and if you notice even a single one at your home, you should contact professionals straight away.
The SOONER you act, the LESS of an issue you’ll have.
How Fast Do Bed Bugs Travel From Room to Room
Bed bugs can travel between rooms quickly because the shape of their bodies allow them to do so. Bed bugs are about ¼ inch in length with a flat figure, this allows them to go through cracks in the walls or baseboards to easily travel between rooms.
Bed bugs can also hitchhike between rooms by latching onto your clothes or bags.
Oftentimes bed bugs travel to different parts of the house by accident…
For example, when furniture that’s infested is moved to a different room.
So how do you prevent bed bugs from spreading to other rooms?
You can prevent this from happening by taking swift action on an area that you know is infested.
You should utilize a combination of treatment methods to ensure that every last bug is killed.
This includes broad large-scale treatment like industrial heat treatments, as well as targeted treatments on heavily infested areas through products like diatomaceous earth.
Though these creatures cannot fly or jump…
They can still crawl rapidly anywhere from 3 to 5 feet per minute.
You May Be Eligible for Compensation
If you have experienced bed bugs in your apartment, or a temporary residence like a hotel room…
You may have a case for a lawsuit.
You should give us a call immediately at (855) 733-9217 or submit your case here for a quick and easy consultation.
