There could be nothing worse than something that keeps you awake all night. Bedbugs can be your worst nightmare indeed. This oval-sized pest grows to the size of an apple seed but still is hard to spot. They can move quickly through any tough terrains, including ceilings, walls, and through even the tiniest crevice.

Bed bugs feed on human and animal blood, and they usually source this while the host is sleeping. Bed bugs have the innate ability to pierce your skin and feed on you for about three to ten minutes without distributing your sleep.

Bites from bed bugs are painless but turn to itchy welts with time. People often mistake bed bug bites for mosquito bites. Did you know that bed bugs lay hundreds of eggs during their lifetime, and each of these is as small as a speck of dust? Bed bug infestation is usually overlooked as people tend to mistake bed bugs with other insects, and most people have never seen bed bugs and don’t know what one looks like.

This post covers the top five signs of bed bug infestation in your household.

Itchy red spots

This is the most common and easiest sign of bed bug infestation in your household. Once they gain access to your house, bed bugs do not start creating trouble straight away. They acclimatize with the new environment, find the right nesting spot (most likely your mattress and bed frame) and start feeding at night.

How the human body reacts to bed bug bites varies from person to person. While you could lose sleep over it, your partner sleeping with you on the same bed would feel nothing even he is bitten at the same rate as you. However, waking up with itchy red spots could be the most common thing that could let you confirm bed bug bites.

Bloodstains on your sheets

Bed bugs move around quickly; however, they tend to be slow once they are full. The apple seed-sized bed bug swells up considerably once they feed on you for three to ten minutes and can easily get squashed between you and the bed.

So, be alarmed if you wake up with bloodstains on your sheets. Yes, this could happen with mosquitoes, but not two or three days in a row.

A musty odor in your bedroom

Bed bugs release musty-smelling chemical pheromones to socialize with their companions. It takes a fair amount of bed bugs releasing pheromones to create this musty smell. So if you sense the musty smell in your house and if you spot bed bugs, the infestation is most probably at large by that point, and you need to seek the help of a professional bed bug exterminator immediately.

Visible shed skins or shells

Bed bugs shed their skin or shells as they grow. If you stumble across small white or tan-colored shells underneath the furniture or your bed, it could indicate bed bug infestation.

Tiny white spots on the furniture or bed creases

Keep an eye out for tiny white spots on your mattress creases, furniture joints, and bed seams. Bed bugs usually prefer these areas to lay eggs, and once you spot white eggs, if you inspect closely, you can also find bed bugs.

Bed bugs can find their way to your house in different ways ranging from your clothes and luggage to newly brought used furniture or bed. Once they have access to your house, they start laying eggs to build a colony, and they tend to thrive unseen until they become too big a nuisance to handle. It is always ideal not to buy used couches or beds.

Try and DIY bed bug removal techniques you see on the internet, and you would still find bed bugs impossible to remove. Once you confirm bed bug infestation, a pest removal specialist most likely would be your only way out of it.