Can Bed Bugs Live in the Walls
Bed bugs like to make their home in a dark area where they’ll be safe. The reason they’re often found in mattresses and box springs is because they’re close to their food source, but they don’t have to go far to hide themselves while you’re up and moving about.
Mattresses aren’t the only place where bed bugs are located. Many people find them inside of walls as well. They can also be hiding out in carpet, furniture and your closet. If you’re wondering can bed bugs live in walls, read on to find out more about these pesky critters.
Signs of Bed Bugs in Walls
The adult bed bug is usually large enough to see with the naked eye. They have very flat bodies that are shaped like an oval. Their body shape allows them to hide out in the smallest of spaces. If you can slide a thin item like a credit card into a space, then a bed bug could be nearby.
If there’s a gap somewhere along your walls or baseboards, this could be a potential home for bed bugs. Unfortunately, you might not be able to see what’s in your walls without doing a little bit of demolition.
Take a peek around the areas where your walls meet the floor. You should also check around any wall vents or air intakes that are present. Bed bugs aren’t the neatest creatures, so they often leave behind fecal matter.
These little specks resemble dirt, but they could point you in the right direction of where the bed bugs are hiding out. The question of how do bed bugs get into walls comes down to any cracks or gaps that you have in your home that would provide them with adequate access.
Don’t forget, their flat bodies allow them to squeeze into some pretty tight spots. You could even find them behind a sheet of wallpaper that is peeling up a bit or around wall plate covers.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Walls
You’ll typically find a small cluster or bed bugs around the area where you sleep. If the infestation gets pretty extensive, this is when they start to hide out in other remote areas like the walls. This is a common occurrence in public spaces like hotels or apartment complexes.
The bed bugs can often transfer from one room to the next through the walls. You have a few different options when you’re trying to get rid of bed bugs that are living in your walls. You can try to gain access to them through an area that you open up in the wall. You can also push them to stay inside of the wall and eradicate them there.
You want to make it as unwelcoming as possible in your living space so they don’t feel that they want to leave the wall to feed. A bed bug can live without a meal for approximately five months, so this is a process you’ll have to stay on top of for a bit. It’s not enough to keep them in the walls and hope they’ll die off.
You should cut off their access points, but use other products to kill them when they try to escape. Diatomaceous earth is commonly used in the crevices and cracks by your walls. The dust will dehydrate their bodies and act as a very abrasive agent to damage their body structure.
If you are noticing that there is a bed bug problem in your home, you should take some time to do investigative work to find out where they’re located. You should remove all of your bedding to wash it in hot water. Once you have full access to your mattress and box spring, vacuum the area thoroughly.
Don’t forget to take the vacuum outside to empty it when you’re done. You don’t want to allow any bed bugs to escape into another area of your home. Bed bugs within your walls can be removed with the help of a professional, and you can prevent them from coming into your living space. You can also try out some products that you can safely use to try and get a bed bug problem under control on your own.
