Bed Bug Control in El Paso
Bed bugs are the one pest on this site that doesn't care about the desert at all. They live where people sleep, eat when people sleep, and travel in luggage, used couches and moving boxes. The heat outside doesn't bother them one bit.
El Paso moves a lot of people. There's the airport, the bridges, and Fort Bliss, where families come and go on a regular cycle. Plenty of rides for a bug that hitchhikes for a living. If you think you have them, don't panic, and please don't start setting off foggers. Give us a call instead.
Bites in a line and spots on the sheets
Not every itchy bite is a bed bug. Fleas, spiders and mosquitoes get blamed too, and some people barely react to bed bug bites at all, so the bites alone don't settle it. Pull the fitted sheet back at the corners and look along the mattress piping with a flashlight. Check the seams of the box spring and the cracks in the headboard. These signs point more clearly at bed bugs:
- Itchy bites in lines or small clusters after sleeping
- Little rust or blood spots on the sheets
- Tiny dark spots along mattress seams
- Shed skins or pale eggs in the box spring
- Live flat, reddish brown bugs about the size of an apple seed
Apartments by UTEP, Zaragoza and Fort Bliss rentals
Bed bugs walk through wall gaps and ride in laundry baskets, so apartments are where they spread fastest. Students and renters in Kern Place and the Westside near UTEP should tell the landlord early so the building can be looked at, not just one unit. Complexes along Zaragoza Rd. in East El Paso see the same pattern. Rentals near Fort Bliss in Northeast El Paso turn over often and the furniture moves with them, so check any secondhand bed or couch with a flashlight along the seams and under the cushions before it comes inside.
If you rent, who pays depends on your lease. Talk to the landlord early either way. Roaches often travel in the same used furniture and boxes, so if you're seeing both, ask about German roach treatment for the kitchen on the same visit.
Heat or treatment, and how many visits
The tech starts with mattress seams, box springs, bed frames and headboards, then works out to nightstands, couch cushions, curtains, outlet covers and the baseboards near the bed. They're looking for live bugs, shed skins, eggs and those dark spots. Some companies use monitors or a trained dog to confirm. The inspection decides how many rooms need work.
Most use heat, targeted products or both. Heat raises the room hot enough to kill bugs and eggs, and it's usually one long visit where you're out of the house most of the day. Product treatments usually take two or more visits to catch eggs that hatch later. Price depends on how many rooms, which method and how many follow-ups, and the company quotes it after the inspection.
Help it work. Don't drag furniture into another room or start sleeping on the couch, since that just spreads them. Bag bedding and clothes and run them through a hot dryer. Don't throw out the mattress until the tech says so. Vacuum the seams and empty the vacuum outside. And skip the bug bombs, which push bed bugs deeper into the walls. Ask what products they use and how long rooms need to stay empty, and move heat-sensitive things out before a heat job. If no bed bugs turn up, a general pest inspection can help figure out what is biting.
Questions We Get
Does having bed bugs mean my place is dirty?
No. Bed bugs feed on people, not trash. Spotless homes and nice hotels get them too.
Can I pick them up on a trip?
Yes. Keep your bag off the hotel bed, check the seams before you unpack at home, and run your clothes through a hot dryer.
Do bed bugs carry disease?
They aren't known to spread disease, but the bites itch and they cost people a lot of sleep. See a doctor about bites that look infected.
Serving West El Paso, Upper Valley, Northeast El Paso, East El Paso, Lower Valley, Horizon City, Socorro, San Elizario, Canutillo, Sunland Park, NM.