Protect your home or business from common bed bugs by learning key techniques for identification, prevention, and control.
How do I get rid of common bed bugs?
Santera specializes in the accurate identification and effective elimination of bed bugs from both residential and commercial properties. As every infestation presents unique challenges, a Santera professional develops a customized treatment plan using the A.I.M. approach to ensure long-term protection and complete peace of mind.
While bed bugs are not known to spread disease, their bites can lead to itching, allergic reactions, and sleep loss, causing discomfort and stress.
If you notice bites on your body, dark spots on bedding, or tiny crawling insects around the bed or furniture, it’s time to seek professional help. Bed bugs multiply quickly and are extremely difficult to remove without expert treatment.
Common bed bugs are small, flat, reddish-brown insects about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, their bodies become swollen and darker. Nymphs are pale and translucent, while eggs are pearly white and hard to spot with the naked eye.
They feed exclusively on blood, usually human blood, and are most active just before dawn. They pierce the skin with tiny mouthparts, drawing blood painlessly while their saliva prevents clotting.
Regularly inspect and vacuum mattresses, bed frames, and furniture seams. Wash bedding in hot water, use mattress encasements, and seal cracks in walls and baseboards to reduce hiding spots. When travelling, check hotel beds and luggage racks before settling in.
Bed bugs hide during the day in cracks, crevices, mattress seams, and behind headboards. They come out at night to feed and can travel between rooms through electrical outlets or gaps in walls. Infestations can spread quickly in hotels and apartments.
A single female bed bug can lay 200–500 eggs in her lifetime. Eggs hatch in about 7–10 days, and the bugs reach maturity within a month under warm conditions. Without feeding, adults can survive for several months, making them difficult to eradicate once established.
