Just when you thought that your house was pest free, you see a small black speck moving on your bed. You try for a closer view and it is disappeared nowhere. But after some hard work, you manage to find it. It is a bed bug and there are chances that there are more hidden underneath your bed. First, we need to quickly understand their habitat.

Getting to Know Bed Bugs

So, for all you fortunate people who do not know about bed bugs, they are small parasitic insects that live on the blood of animals. The common bed bug that normally evades our homes is Cimex Lectularius, which has adapted to living with us human beings. It has got the name “bed bug” because it usually resides in beds and surrounding areas.

There is a belief that bed bugs usually reside in unhygienic areas. That is not true. Even though your house may be sparkling clean, you may still find the bed bugs there. This is because they may have gotten into your house through some thing from an infected area outside like hotels, hospitals, other houses or different modes of transportation. There are also chances that your house might have been infested by bed bugs before you moved in.

They are usually active at nights and feed on blood from people when they are asleep. Many a times, you do not even realize that it has actually sipped your blood. Most of them develop red bumps because of the bite by a bed bug. But it so happens that you may not know what exactly caused the bite. In fact, you may not even know that there are bed bugs in your house because they are not seen easily, they move at a rapid pace and they are mostly active at nights only.

Getting Rid of Bed Bugs

So how do you handle these bed bugs? It is quite a herculean task to exterminate these bed bugs. Just washing the bed sheets and other spread might not be of great help. You might have to follow the following steps to treat and kill bed bugs

· First of all, try to locate the places where they have infested.

· Reduce the clutter in your house especially in the areas of infestation.

· If you find any damages in your bed, seal them forever.

· Seal the cracks or holes in your walls or in your furniture.

. Try bedbug traps to catch them. This works when the infestation is in the early to mid stages.

· Finally, if nothing works, call the professional pest control team to treat the bed bugs.

Remember not to apply any and every pesticide yourself. They could be hazardous to you and your family, especially kids.

Lastly, though bed bugs can be of great nuisance, they can be always be completely treated and eradicated. So do not worry if you find them in your house. Remove them completely and ensure that they do not make your home their home once again.

Have you been losing your sleep over the bed bug issue? Have you found infestations of bed bugs in your house? If yes, then it is time you took some measures to get rid of those pests as soon as possible.

Here are some of the tips and tricks that have been tried and tested to get rid of those pests in your house:

· Remove all the clutter in your house, especially your bed room.

· Vacuum every nook and corner of your house thoroughly. Also vacuum clean your beds and mattresses, the sides of the furniture and where ever you can reach in. Once you are through with it, empty the vacuum immediately.

· Wash your bed linen with hot water. You can subject the clothing to extreme temperatures to kill the bed bugs.

· Ensure that your bed is placed at a distance from the wall. One of the age old tricks is to place the legs of the bed in the soapy water or apply petroleum jelly to them. This is done to avoid the crawling of the bed bugs on the legs. Since they are wingless insects, they will not be able to fly too.

· Seal all the cracks and the crevices that you find anywhere and everywhere because they are the places that are most haunted by the bed bugs.

· You can place the mattresses and beds in covers or bags with zips.

· Scrub the areas that likely could be the homes of bed bugs with a brush thoroughly.

· Try bed bedbug traps. In many cases, using a trap will control the infestation.

· There are lot of mild pesticides available in the market. If you are going to apply the pesticide yourself, then ensure that you have the right one for the bed bugs. Follow the instructions carefully and protect your family and yourself while doing it. Wash your hands thoroughly after applying the pesticide.

· When you are not sure what to do, it is always best to leave the job to the professionals. Call the pest control professionals and they will take care of treating the bed bugs. If the bed bug infestation is really high, then it might take two or three cycles of the application of the pesticides.

Lots of people do not understand why their houses are infested by bed bugs even though they are spotlessly clean. The existence of the bed bugs definitely does not depend on the cleanliness or the neatness of the house. They would have entered your house through different sources. If you have been travelling lately and staying at various hotels, the bed bugs could have come from such places or your modes of transport.

So every time you travel, ensure that you do not keep your luggage on the floor. Check all the bedding and the mattress thoroughly for any infestation of bed bugs. When you reach home and find that your luggage has bed bugs, then you should immediately empty the baggage, treat them and the contents with extreme hot or cool temperatures.

Similarly, when you buy the second hand furniture, check the folds and the downside of the furniture thoroughly for the existence of the bed bugs. You might also have to confirm if the bed bugs are there before you move in to the house that you have bought or rented.

Remember that bed bug is not dangerous and if treated properly at the right time, it can be eliminated completely.