Are you dealing with bed bugs in your apartment or housing unit? These bugs can be a torment. Not just because they feed on you while you sleep. When you have bed bugs, people think you’re a dirty person. This bug has earned a reputation of living in filth and unsanitary conditions. Though it is true that bed bugs thrive in bacteria-filled environments, the truth is, they’ll live anywhere that has a food source, no matter how clean. Here are some questions you may be asking yourself, and a few answers to protect your apartment from bed bugs.

How do bed bugs move through an apartment building?

Bed bugs are hitchhikers. They ride inside items we carry, and even on us. If you’re wondering how you can miss bugs crawling all over you, a baby bed bug can be the size of a sharpened pencil tip, and these bugs like to crawl along seams and in creases and crevices. And, sometimes, only their eggs hitch a ride on you–eggs that don’t require the mother in order to hatch. One tiny batch of eggs in the seam of a sweater can turn into a full-blown infestation.

For homeowners, this is a bug that will never work its way in through their exterior walls. These little blood eaters live inside, near their food source. But in an apartment building, they will travel through outlets and into wall voids to pass from one apartment into the next. As long as they don’t have to go outside, they’ll be happy to explore.

Does cleaning prevent bed bugs?

Bed bugs can live in the cleanest apartments, but keeping a clean apartment can deter them. If a momma bug enters your apartment and finds it free of bacteria and limited on nesting sites, like mattresses, upholstered furniture, and clothing laying on the floor, she may decide to continue on to another apartment. Using a mattress cover and keeping things clean can slow these bugs down.

What should I do if I find bed bugs in my apartment?

Contact your apartment owner or manager. Most owners and managers have a plan for taking care of bed bugs. On rare occasions, like recently, in a Chattanooga apartment building, drastic action is needed, but usually this is not the case. Apartment owners know that bed bugs have an adverse effect on their bottom line, and they are aware of the sensitive nature of this invading pest. If you work together and get a pest control company involved, you can solve this problem quickly and effectively, for everyone involved.