How Long Do Bed Bugs Take to Infest a Home?
WouterIf you are considering hiring a professional pest control service, it’s important to understand how long bed bugs take to infest a home. Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to get rid of because they have a unique lifestyle. Females can lay up to 500 eggs during their lifetime. Their nymphs are very small and look like tiny adults. They will molt five times during their lifetime and need to feed at least twice a day in order to continue developing.
Insecticides used to treat an infestation will only kill the adults, and the eggs may still survive. Therefore, it is important to repeat an inspection after the initial treatment to make sure there are no eggs. Often, an infestation can go unnoticed for months. Bedbug eggs can take as long as two weeks to hatch, so it is important to be vigilant when treating an infestation.
In addition to being fast crawlers, bedbugs can travel long distances. While a single adult can survive for a year without feeding, the bugs can hide in many other places, including furniture, used clothing, luggage, and shoes. This allows them to spread from room to room, and eventually to other rooms of the home.
The duration of an infestation depends on how quickly you move infested items. Bed bugs move throughout the house, breeding wherever they find warm blood. They can also spread through pesticides. So it is important to keep clutter away from your home and try to keep a neat environment.
