You might be asking yourself “where do bed bugs hide?” if you think you have a bed bug problem.

First off, bed bugs do not discriminate.

They don’t care if you’re rich or poor. Bed bugs don’t care about the color of your skin or your education. They are looking for only one thing, their next meal and to bed bugs, we all taste the same.

Bed bugs can be embarrassing.

Having to admit you have bed bugs can make you feel shameful like having to tell someone you have crabs or head lice. But you shouldn’t have to feel embarrassed or ashamed because some of the nicest places and people get bombarded by bed bugs.

For example, there have been numerous reports of bed bugs overtaking luxury spas and resorts. The same can be said about private colleges, hospitals, libraries, and country clubs too. As you can see anyone can be affected by bed bugs if they come into contact with them.

Where Do Bed Bugs Hide?

Bed bugs hide and can be found all throughout your home. They especially like to hide out close to where people and pets sleep, rest, or lie down for extended periods. While you are stationary bed bugs take their time feeding on you.

Inside your home, they can be found on your bed, in your sheets and blankets, attached to your mattresses and box springs too. You can find bed bugs just about everywhere you spend a considerable amount of time. In addition, they can also be found tucked away in small cracks and crevices to include attaching themselves to wallpaper, baseboards, and underneath upholstered furniture.

Bed bugs can be found in more places than just your home. Outside of the home, you can find bed bugs in public places where people spend their time to include libraries, hospitals, movie theaters, on buses and planes. Bed bugs are everywhere and if you are unfortunate enough to cross their paths you may end up bringing them home with you.

Where Do Bed Bugs Come From?

They’re just here like all other insects that exist in our world.

You can find bed bugs in almost every place people come together to socialize and conduct daily activities. Bed bugs are in our hotels, stores, offices, schools, hospitals, libraries, prisons, movie theaters, and even riding along with us on public transportation. They are really unavoidable if you go out in public places.

Over the years the hotel industry has gotten a bad reputation for creating ideal conditions that bed bugs thrive in. So be careful when you are traveling and have to stay overnight in the room.

How Do Bed Bugs Get In?

Bed bugs are a lot like humans. They love to travel especially when the trip is free and only goes one-way.  They enjoy hitchhiking to faraway destinations like your home where food, water, and shelter are provided all-inclusive.

Here’s a common example of how bed bugs get inside your home.

You go out of town on vacation or for some other event. You stay at a hotel or with a friend and sleep on a bed that is already infested with bugs. The bed bugs sense a great opportunity and decide to hitchhike back with you when you leave town.

They hide in your suitcase, handbag, backpack, or spare shoes. Really they’ll get in and hide in anything that will allow them to make the one-way trip back to your home. You get home set your things down and the bed bugs spread out within your house. They’ll take over and start breeding if you give them the chance.

The bed bugs will stay close to you so they are in the best position to feed off your blood while your sleep. And that my friend is an example of how you get bed bugs.

How Do I Know If I Have Bed Bugs?

So you think you may have bed bugs but don’t know where to look.

Bed bugs could be hiding away in places all over your house. They can not pass up the opportunity to bite and feed off you while you sleep. So the first place I would look for evidence of bed bugs is in and around your bed.

There are a few easily identifiable ways to know if you have bed bugs. The telltale signs of bed bugs include the following:

• Noticeable bites on your body
• You see dead bed bugs and their skin casings
• Bloodstains on your sheets and sleeping clothes
• Unsightly brown and black fecal spots on your sheets, pillows, and mattress

Another way to check is by using a flashlight to help you see better. With flashlight in hand, visibly inspect the edges of your mattress and box springs looking for bed bugs and signs of activity.

How Do I Protect Myself From Bed Bugs While Traveling?

I thought you might want to know how to protect yourself from bed bugs since I brought up the example of traveling. You have to be very careful if you are staying in hotels because some do not do a good job of cleaning behind a guest and this results in perfect breeding conditions for bed bugs.

To protect yourself from bed bugs while traveling do the following:

• Only stay at hotels that have a bed bug prevention program in place
• Upon entering your room carefully inspect your bedspread, sheets, pillows, mattress seams, box spring, headboard, and other furniture near your bed for bugs
• Look for signs of bed bugs to include a blood spot on sheets, dirty reddish-brown stains, or the bugs themselves (I usually bring a flashlight along for this)
• Report any sighting or signs of bed bugs immediately to the front desk and get assigned to a different room the is bedbug-free
• Do not unpack your clothes keep them in the suitcase. It would be a good idea to bring along plastic trash bags and keep your suitcase inside the bag during your stay
• Vacuum your suitcases after returning home then wash and dry all clothing in hot temperatures

Where Do Bed Bugs Like To Bite?

Bed bugs are not picky eaters. The only requirement they have before biting is to get to exposed skin. Therefore, they will bite anywhere there is exposed skin. Common places of attack include legs, arms, shoulders, and the back of the neck.

For most people, it will take repeat bites and feedings before they notice any signs of being bitten. Unless you are in the small percentage of people who negatively react to bed bug bites, the signs will not show up immediately. If you get bitten you might observe the following signs and symptoms:

• rash marks
• raised red welt marks
• burning and itching sensation
• multiple bites all in a straight line

How Do I Treat Bed Bugs?

There are a few ways to go about treating for bed bugs.

For small jobs where you catch the bugs before they have had a chance to breed and spread you can do it yourself. To get the job done all you really need are a few simple supplies, equipment, and chemicals. If you want to eliminate the bugs on your own what we recommend is the Complete Bed Bug Killer Kit. You can check out the kit here on Amazon.com.

Now you will have to do things a little different if your home is infested with bed bugs. This will be the case if you did not catch them early enough and they have had time to breed and spread throughout your house. Bed bugs that have bred are very difficult to deal with. When this happens we DO NOT recommend you try to get rid of bed bugs yourself.

Leave this to the professional as they are best equipped to handle a situation like this. Just call up a few bed bug exterminators to compare services and prices. Then choose the company you feel is best.

Related Questions

Are bed bugs only found in beds? Despite what their name suggests, bed bugs are found in other places besides beds. They can be found anywhere that people and pets live sit, rest, and sleep.  Inside your home, they can be found in almost any room where there is furniture life couches and sofas. Outside of the home bed bugs can be found in many public places where people spend time sitting and hanging around such as movie theaters, libraries, buses, and planes.

Can I see bed bugs? Yes, adult bed bugs are visible to the naked eye.  However immature bed bugs and bed bug eggs are too small to see without sufficient magnification. As far as appearance, bed bugs are mahogany to rusty brown in color and are around the size of an apple seed.

Will I know if I’m being bitten by a bed bug? No, you will not feel any bites while the bed bug is feeding on your blood. Some people, not all do have an allergic reaction to bed bugs and develop a visible rash-like mark on the surface of their skin. This is a telltale sign that you have been bitten.