Below is some sound advice for tenants with a bed bug problem and their landlord not doing anything about it.
However, be advised of the following points that you need to be aware of in order to justify your concern of a bed bug issue:
- The landlord has to be assured that you DO indeed have a bed bug problem. Anyone can cry wolf about bites and blame it on bed bugs. However there are many other insects that bite and since every person behaves differently to bites, including bed bug bites, it is your responsibility as a tenant to prove to your landlord that your bites are indeed from bed bugs and no other insect.
- So, inspect your bed, armchairs, couches and every piece of furniture close to where you sit often and where you sleep. Make sure you also check the bottom of these pieces of furniture along the dust cloth.
- If you see any suspicious clusters of peppered dots and what looks like translucent shed skins that are somewhat reddish in color or ,of course, live bed bugs in any stage of development then you have evidence. Take a picture of the evidence and in case of live material, catch them by applying a scotch tape above the specimen but don’t squish it (we need it intact for identification purpose) and fold the tape around it so the ends can meet. Then put it in 2 zipped bags or a jar with a tight lid on. This will become your evidence for the landlord and the pest control company.
- The pest control industry is trending toward locating evidence of bed bug activity before applying treatment.
- This is because treatment for bed bugs is different than treatment for other insects. In essence it is more strategically demanding to control and capture all bed bugs in an infestation. Also, the tendency is to reduce unnecessary applications of pesticides.
- Also highly recommended and less expensive a service, is to ask a landlord to have a canine inspection done: Make sure the team, i.e. dog/handler, is certified.
- Also make sure that the dog/handler is independent from the pest control company that will do the treatment, so that the inspection can be guaranteed to be unbiased.
- I would also highly recommend to have a post-treatment follow-up inspection by a handler – dog inspector. Again this team should have no vested interest in the pest control company that did the treatment. This dog inspection serves 2 purposes:
- Confirming the effectiveness of the pest control treatment
- Conducting this inspection before the warranty expires
Please contact Mass Bed Bug Busters at 508-713-8267 to schedule a bed bug dog inspection or fill out a request form right here.
