Common Areas to Check for Bed Bugs in Your Home

Bud bugs have this strange ability to fit into almost any small crack and crevice in your home. But where do they hide?

Before you get a convincing answer to that question, you need to understand certain facts about the habits and behavior of these little creatures. Bed bugs usually come out at night only for a few minutes. They come out, suck up your blood, and crawl away undetected. They mainly live on human blood. As soon as they complete their meal, they return to their shelter and generally do not come out until it’s time for another meal.

Bed bugs usually hide in small cracks or crevices near your bed or may be in the bed itself. They typically do not stay more than five feet away from the food source. However, if your house is severely infested with bed bugs, you may find them far away from the food source.

Some Common Hiding Places

A study conducted by the University of Kentucky took attempt to find out the most common places where bed bugs usually hide. According to the results of the study, bed bugs hide the following eight places.

• Box Spring (34.6 percent)
• Couch and/or Chair (22.6 percent)
• Mattress (22.4 percent)
• Bed Frame and/or Head Board (13.4 percent)
• Other (3.1 percent)
• Walls and/or Ceilings (2.3 percent)
• Baseboard (1.4 percent)
• Dresser and/or Night Stand (0.2 percent)

Some Other Places where Bed Bugs are Commonly Found

You may find bed bugs in the following areas as well:

• Bedding
• Curtains
• Clothing items
• Baggage, such as, backpacks, luggage, and handbags
• Luggage racks in hotel rooms
• In and around any clutter on the floor
• Closets close to the bed
• Coffee tables and end tables close to sofa or chair
• Under rugs and at carpet edges

Some Unusual Places Where You May Find Bed Bugs

You may also find bed bugs in some unusual places. Some examples are:

• In unused books, toy boxes, and old furniture
• In wallpaper seams
• Behind door hinges
• In the car
• Behind or inside electrical outlets and switch plates
• Door and window moldings
• Behind mirrors, wall pictures and in and around picture frames
• In unused electronic devices
• In dog beds and pet cages
• In laundry rooms

Where Bed Bugs Do Not Hide

Depending of the severity of bed bug infestation in your home, you can find them in almost every place that you can think of. However, there are some places where you are less likely to find bed bugs. Here are some examples of places where you usually do not find bed bugs:

• In the kitchen
• In the bathroom – especially not the bathtub
• In the garages
• In unfinished basements
• In any rooms that are not frequently in use