Travel bed bugs. With the advent of travel, bed bugs are frequently linked. Why, then, do we do it? How did a tiny wingless insect with no wings become known as a world traveler? How do bed bugs travel, anyway?
Take a look at how these animals get transported across the globe in a variety of ways. Next, use these bed bug-savvy travel tips to improve your skills.
Being wingless, bed bugs cannot travel from location to place. Bed bugs are also poor jumpers, which is another advantage. As a result, they travel by either crawling or hitchhiking.
Bed bugs, including clothes, purses, backpacks, and luggage, can hide away on or within your belongings. That is how they travel in general. Hitchhiking on furniture is another common occurrence.
Travel bed bugs Facts!
The little bugs that cause bed bugs are pretty cool! For your convenience, here are a few quick facts:
When it’s cold, bed bugs can go without food for up to a year. Temperatures as low as –32°F and as high as 45°F are ideal for them. They go into a sort of hibernation when it’s chilly and emerge when it gets warmer.
-It takes six months for an infection of literally hundreds of thousands of insects to form if the right conditions are present. In the meanwhile, she’s a master of concealment.
Bed bugs reproduce faster as the temperature rises. Bed bug problems are frequently linked with warmer nations as a result of this. The reproductive cycle shortens from 21 days to as little as 8 days at higher temperatures.
For the bed bug female, having sex is not a pleasant experience. In order to obtain the necessary fluids, she must have her carapace pierced. I’d want to bite someone if I was a bed bug girl, too.
Like other bed bugs, they have a two-year life cycle. They produce a pheromone that draws in more bed bugs. These are sociable, fun-loving youngsters.
Adults of bed bugs are bigger than you might believe, with five juvenile stages preceding them. And I thought puberty was difficult in one shot. In their adult stage, at least, they grow up to 0.5cm long and are easily visible to the naked eye.
-Carbon dioxide and warmth, among other things, attract them to their victims.
Bed bugs, like humans, are fascinated by movement.
When they reach somewhere new and exciting with fresh fields of blood filled meat to suck on, they or their eggs will happily hitch a ride in your clothes or on your backpack, and then hop off.
This makes it a little difficult to eliminate them in a well-liked bed!
How Do You Get Bed Bugs?
So, how do you get bed bugs? It’s a widespread misperception that individuals who have bed bugs don’t keep their houses clean. This isn’t accurate; bed bugs can be acquired by anybody.
The truth about bed bugs is that they like to come when you’re sleeping. That allows you to collect them at any time while you’re sitting or resting for a long enough duration in an area where they’re found.
Furniture or other inanimate items are treated the same way. Here are a few of the possible scenarios in which these insects might get a ride:
-In a cab
-At a train or bus station
-In an airport
-At a theater
-In a hotel, B&B, or even your own house.
-From any type of retail, you may get new or used apparel and furniture.
Travel bed bugs TIPS FOR TRAVELERS
Place.
When you return home from a trip, immediately put all of your baggage in the dryer for at least 15 minutes on maximum heat.
Treating for an infestation necessitates the use of a certified, pest control specialist with particular expertise in eradicating bed bugs, since they can be very difficult to eliminate.
Survey.
Check for signs of a bed bug infestation in your hotel room. The presence of bed bugs in any hotel or motel, from a one-star to a five-star facility, demonstrates that they are not confined to sanitation or economic rank.
Bed bug infestations may produce a musty, sweet scent, similar to that of soda pop syrup.
They leave behind brown or red stains on laundry. Bed bugs can cause itchy, bloody welts on the skin, though they are not known to spread disease like many other pests.
Elevate.
Luggage and other belongings should be elevated. Check the hotel’s luggage rack for signs of tampering. Use it to keep your bag off the floor and away from the bed if there are no signs of bed bugs on it.
Pull the luggage rack away from the wall as well. The insect will be less likely to climb up the wall and into your belongings if this is the case.
Lift and Look.
Look for bed bug hiding places throughout the house. Nocturnal insects hide in mattress depressions, box springs, sheets, furniture, upholstery, and hollow bedposts throughout the day; additionally in picture frames and even ripped wallpaper throughout the day.
Make sure to check the hotel room for possible bed bug hiding places, not just the mattress.
Examine.
When repacking, examine your bags and when you get home, check them. Before bringing luggage back into the bedroom, Orkin recommends emptying your garage or utility room first.
Bed bugs are excellent hitchhikers, so make sure to check your bags and clothes.
How to know if you’ve been bitten by bed bugs
Bed bug bites are met with a variety of reactions, just like any other. You may appear in dreadful pustules, blisters, or lumps that seem to be mosquito bites after you have been munched on numerous occasions and have obtained nothing in return.
Diagnosis can be difficult, especially if you don’t know much about dogs. Moreover, elderly people react very little for some reason.
The old line pattern that the bed bug leaves behind is the simplest technique to determine. This will be a long line of crimson dots that resembles something had methodically devoured you. But it’s because you’ve been methodically shredded!
Depending on a variety of factors, such as whether or not the bug was disturbed during the meal, or if it didn’t quite find what it was looking for on the first, second, third try, this might be a line of three bumps.
So, in summary, there is a link between these two things. So, you see the picture.
When you’ve been bitten by a bed bug, the symptoms may take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks to appear.
As a result, calculating what you’ll be doing and when is difficult. You may typically brush off the bites as mozzie bites and go about your business.
Bed bugs are also more likely to bite in places that aren’t covered, but you’re not likely to be sleeping much in tropical areas anyway. Armpits and the back of your knees are also rare targets.
Do bedbugs bite every night?
Feeding times vary for bedbugs. In reality, they may go many days without food. That may sound like a positive thing, but it may make it tougher to detect if bedbugs are present in your home.
To realize that the bites are part of a wider trend, it might take a few weeks. Bedbugs can reproduce quickly, which is a problem. Every three to four days, a female may lay eggs.
Common Misconceptions About Bed Bugs and Travel
Bed bugs may be discovered in many diverse locations, such as furniture, drapes, rugs, electrical sockets, headboards, clothing, and more.
Bed bugs don’t like heat, so it’s impossible to get rid of them. In reality, it is one of the few things that can kill them.
For travelers, a hot wash and machine dry will get rid of bed bugs if they’re hiding in your clothes, but more serious bed bug infestations might need professional help.
Bed bugs are found in all types of accommodation, but only budget hostels have them. The fact that they are typically better at controlling the spread or bigger bed bug issues is due to their superior performance at cleaning.
Dan and I have stayed in a luxury hotel with a bed bug problem before, so there’s that!
Bed bugs can’t be seen with the naked eye, but they can be seen. Bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed on average.
How to spot bed bugs in your hotel room or bed – the warning signs!
There is a common misperception that bed bug-infested locations must be filthy, unkempt, or untidy. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case; despite the fact that I worked in a hostel that was obsessed with hygiene and bed bug management, we still had bugs.
Of course, if your prospective dwelling isn’t too concerned about basic issues like cleanliness and tidiness, you may be fairly certain that they aren’t worried about bed bugs either. Even if one doesn’t cause the other, the two may be connected.
So how can you tell if you’re alone in bed? The following are some ways to discover bed bugs:
Bed bugs are loners who prefer to hide away. They’re mostly found at night time. They prefer to retreat during the day, but not too far from their nighttime meal.
As a result, the obvious spots to investigate are in or around your bed frame, as well as any cracks they may fit into. Even the heads of screws – curtain rails, skirting boards, door frames. So, you see the problem.
A black gooey substance is secreted by bed bugs. After you’ve been bitten, you may notice this on your bed sheets.
Lastly, check the bed frame for it. The likelihood of our pals being present is indicated by a lot of black goo around a hole or crack. You may simply smear it with your fingers if it’s recent.
Bed bugs attract other bed bugs by having a unique odor. It’s something like a stinking bug that you can smell.
From the super tiny to the rather huge, bed bugs come in six different sizes. As a result, you’ll want to pay attention to a number of body types.
Heat and large volumes of carbon dioxide do not excite bed bugs. You might breathe into a hole or blow a hair dryer on low heat if you believe there are bed bugs inside.
They may be pushed out of hiding or cooked to death as a result of this. It’s up to you to choose which one works for you. Bed bug eggs may also be spread throughout the room.
If you’ve been bitten, there may be blood stains on your bed. These, on the other hand, may be obtained with any bite, so there is no assurance of bed bugs.
FAQs About Bed Bugs and Travel
Can you get bed bugs from an airplane?
Yes, it is. People have reported being bitten by bed bugs while flying, which is a scary scenario. Bed bugs would most likely survive on airplanes by residing in the seats’ fabric. It isn’t that common, however.
How do you know when you’ve been bitten by a bed bug?
A tiny itchy red bite is left behind by bed bugs. Bites in groups of three are most common. The bites are tiny and resemble mosquito bites on certain individuals.
Others, on the other hand, react much more badly than I do and become quite flushed and itchy.
Can you see bed bugs?
Yes, it is so. Although bed bugs are excellent at hiding, you may usually notice them if you check the appropriate spots. They aren’t THAT little, and you can see them with your naked eye.
Are bed bug bites dangerous?
Bed bug bites do not cause illness or have long-term consequences, according to research. They’re just pests that itch, drive you nuts, and make you look terrible!