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Bed Bugs 101: Since most bed bugs are large enough to see with the naked eye, you would think that people would notice them in an infested room right away. Unfortunately, most people do not know where to look and what to look for. Early infestations, when just a few bed bugs are present, are extremely difficult to find. While inspecting your hotel room (or anywhere you sleep outside the house) is essential to early detection, many people have reported bringing bed bugs home even after a thorough inspection. This is because bed bugs are very good at hiding in cracks and crevices. When just a few bed bugs are present, they typically will be well hidden behind the headboard or inside the box spring. Tell-tale signs, like cast skins and black fecal droppings, will only be noticeably present on a mattress or bed skirt after an infestation has grown in number over a period of weeks and months.
Inspecting a hotel room for signs of bed bugs is an essential step. No one should sleep in a room that has visible signs of bed bugs since this means the infestation is pretty severe already. However, just because you don't see any signs of bed bugs around the mattress, that doesn't mean they aren't there in small numbers. Early infestations are very difficult to detect by visual inspection...kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. Therefore, we highly recommend using BugZip encasements or contractor bags to protect your belongings in a hotel room at all times. It only takes one stray bed bug to crawl into your luggage and come home with you and start multiplying. After bed bugs feed at night, they retreat off the bed to find a dark place to lay eggs and sleep and have been known to travel up to 30 feet in one night. Therefore, no location inside a hotel room is totally safe from bed bugs.
The reason that a bed bug infestation can go undetected for weeks is that many people do not react to bed bug bites initially. Everyone has different sensitivites to the bites. Some people will itch right away, some people will itch a few days later and some people will not itch at all until the bites become very frequent. When two people share a bed or bedroom that is infested, it is common that only one will notice itchy welts even though both people are getting bitten each night. For this reason, bed bugs frequently get misdiagnosed.
Most people who are aware of bed bugs in hotels are only worried about avoiding getting bitten during their hotel stay. This is actually just a minor inconvenience compared to the major life upheaval that can occur if bed beds come home with you. Using encasements while travelling and monitors at home is a great approach to be as proactive as possible at keeping bed bugs out of your belongings and home. No one approach is foolproof as bed bugs are very clever and resilient. Never assume that you are free from bed bugs just because you do not notice any bites or did not see and signs in the hotel. Always assume they are hiding and trying their best to come home with you. With bed bugs, it is better safe than sorry.
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