When Do Bed Bugs Feed

Bed bugs bite when they feed. At first, their bites are painless, but with time it becomes very itchy and irritating. To deal with this annoying insect, you must find the answer to ‘when do bed bugs feed?’

Bed bugs are tiny, oval and brownish, and they live on the blood of humans and animals. They do not fly but move quickly over walls, floors, and ceilings.

So when do bed bugs feed?

You will find bed bugs hiding during day time hours in cracks, corners, furniture joints, crevices, and any available hole. You also might not notice a bed bug bite during the day, but when night falls, bed bugs come out of hiding to feed. It is while you are asleep that bed bugs feed on your blood.

Bed bugs do not feed by burrowing into your skin; instead, they make use of their piercing and sucking mouth parts to get access to blood. When feeding, bedbugs imitate mosquitos by secreting saliva into the skin, causing an allergic reaction and skin irritation that manifest when they are done feeding. Because they pierce severally into the skin, you might notice a series of clustered bites appearing on your skin.

How often do bed bugs feed?

Bed bugs feed once every 5-10 days or sometimes once a week, and in one feeding they suck as much as six times their body weights in terms of blood. The frequency of their feeding is dependent on host availability, population size in infested areas, environmental factors, and they can feed for stretches of 5-15 minutes.

Bed bugs do not follow a strict feeding schedule as they are unpredictable feeders and only feed when they need blood. They usually return to their hiding posts immediately after feeding.

Don’t leave your home when you have a bedbug infestation since bed bugs can go without food for months; you need to tackle the problem as soon as possible

Bed bug bites on humans

A bedbug bite is initially painless, and they bite around ankles and any area of the skin that is exposed. Their bite grows to become itchy welts and is not known to transmit any diseases like mosquitos.

How to spot for bed bug infestation

Bed bugs can slip under the radar because of their tiny size so you might need to be on the lookout for the following signs:

• Bloodstains on bedding
• Dark or brownish fecal matter on bedding, mattress, and walls
• Shed skin, and bed bug eggshells in areas where bedbug can hide
• A dominant, offensive, stale odor around shady areas.

How to get rid of Bed bugs

Now that you know you have a bed bug infestation take the following steps to get rid of them

• Clean all bedding, curtains, clothing in hot water and dry under the highest drying conditions.
• Get a firm brush and use to thoroughly scrub your mattress seams to remove bed bugs and their eggs. Then, proceed to deep vacuuming all areas when you are done and do not forget to dispose of the vacuum bags properly.
• Repair holes in walls, fix broken furniture; this will starve bed bug of its breeding ground.

When you clean infested areas, you are only helping to control bed bug population, but to successfully get rid of bed bugs in your home, you will have to contact pest control professionals. When do bed bugs feed is no longer going to pose a problem to you in dealing with a bed bug infestation since you are now armed with this new information. CDC FAQ Section

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