Bed bugs, what are they?
Bed bugs are an insect, reddish brown in colour and about 5-6mm in length. They are oval in shape and flat from back to underside.
If you wake up in the morning itching only to find you’ve got mosquito-like bites, there’s a chance you could have bedbugs.
If you went to bed without bites and woke up with them (especially on your arms and shoulders which tend to be exposed) you could have bedbugs
The bites will look similar to a mosquito bite, are often found all in a row and are incredibly itchy.
Where do they hangout?
They can live anywhere, but are most common in beds, and they hang out in the cracks and crevices of mattress seams. Other places they can be found include carpets and underlay, drawers and cupboards, wardrobes and bedside cabinets.
How do you spot them?
The little critters are smart enough to hide (during the day they hide in dry, dark places) but they aren’t clever enough to hide the evidence. Clues that there may be bedbugs in your room are:
- Tiny blood stains on your pyjamas, sheets or mattress
- Empty shells that may gather where the bugs feed
- An unpleasant smell similar to a musty wet towel
- The live insects – although really small, they can be spotted without using a microscope
Treatment
The best way to get rid of these annoying visitors is to have the infestation treated by a pest control expert. Renthub can recommend professionals that are experienced in both detecting and dealing with bedbugs.
Prevention
Bedbugs love to travel so when you arrive at your destination don’t put your bag on the bed.
Whose responsibility is it to pay for the fumigation?
If you are a tenant and have only been living in your new home for a week or two it would normally be the landlord who foots the bill.
If, however you have been living in your home for more than a month then the chances are that you could have brought the bedbugs in with you in any number of ways so the cost of fumigation would be yours to pay.
