Bed Bug Identification & Control

Bed bugs are hitchhiker pests. They don't come from unsanitary conditions, and their presence says nothing about how clean your home is — they arrive on luggage, used furniture, and clothing.

Quick Identification

• Size: About ¼ inch — roughly the size and shape of an apple seed
• Color: Reddish-brown. Flat and oval when unfed; swollen and elongated after feeding
• Key Features: Wingless; hides in mattress seams, headboards, and bed frames; feeds at night; leaves dark fecal spots and shed skins
• Habitat: Mattress seams, box springs, headboard joints, nightstands, upholstered furniture, behind baseboards and outlet covers near beds
• Active Season: Year-round indoors
• Risk Level: High — itchy welts, significant sleep disruption, very difficult to eliminate without professional treatment

What You Need to Know

Bed bugs spread by traveling on luggage, used furniture, clothing, and personal items. Hotels, dormitories, apartment buildings, and public transportation are common pickup points. Once established, they hide within a few feet of where people sleep and emerge at night to feed.

Bites appear as itchy red welts, often in lines or small clusters on skin that was exposed during sleep. But bites alone aren't a reliable diagnosis — reactions vary enormously between people, and some never react at all.

The physical evidence is more dependable. Look for dark fecal spots along mattress seams and box spring edges (they look like someone touched a felt-tip pen to the fabric), translucent shed skins, and in heavier infestations a sweet, musty odor in the room.

The psychological toll of an infestation — disrupted sleep, anxiety, the reluctance to have guests over — is often as significant as the bites themselves. It's worth saying plainly: this happens to careful, clean people all the time.

What to Do

Sanctuary Pest Control does not provide bed bug treatment services.

If you suspect bed bugs, do not move bedding, mattresses, or furniture to other rooms — that's the single most common way a contained problem becomes a whole-house problem. Don't throw out the mattress yet either; treatment is usually possible and disposal without treatment just relocates the survivors.

Bed bug elimination requires specialized work — typically targeted chemical application, heat treatment, or both, from a company experienced specifically with bed bugs. Contact a bed bug specialist promptly. If you want a second opinion on whether what you've found is actually a bed bug, send us a photo.