Are you having a hard time falling asleep? Do you wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning feeling like you got chewed up? Do you have dreams where you find yourself in the middle of a plate, about to be eaten?
Well, it might all be a coincidence, or you might have bed bugs problems - and these little parasites are eating you alive when you should be relaxed and asleep.
Maybe you know you have a bed bug infestation, but they are leaving you alone - while they eat their way through your partner. If so, what’s going on? Do bed bugs bite everyone? Or do they spend their time with an unlucky chosen few?
Yes, bed bugs bite everyone. No matter who you are, where you are from. Bed bugs are out to get your blood and they do not care about anything else but eating.
Now, you might be wondering how come you have no marks on your body even though everyone else is suffering from these nasty bed bug bite marks. A logical person would assume that if there are no bite marks, no bed bug bit you. And that’s not entirely true: if you are sleeping on a bed-bug-ridden bed, these nasty parasites are biting you at every chance they have - but you might not show any symptoms because you are not allergic to bed bug saliva.
About half of the world’s population reacts to bed bug bites, while the other half will never experience a nasty bed bug bite and the terrible itch that comes with it. Even though someone is not showing the symptoms, they are still getting bit.
As you know, bed bugs aren’t picky eaters - they will eat what they can get. But that does not mean they do not have preferences. Now, you might be wondering how can a parasite have any sort of preference. And that would be a fair question.
Here’s the thing: bed bugs are parasites, and parasites feed off blood. That’s where their preferences come into play: studies show bed bugs love whatever blood type they grew up on. For example, let’s say there are a couple of bed bugs on your bed right now that fed off you ever since they were born, and you are type A positive. Bed bugs are going to prefer people with type A positive blood.
This doesn’t mean they will starve themselves to death if someone with type O positive lays on your bed - they will bite whoever they can get to. But if both you - type A positive - and someone else - type O positive - are in the same bed, you might get bitten a bit more than your friend.
Evidence also suggests bed bugs have a color preference. It seems they prefer red and black over other colors - and it makes sense if you know bed bugs love dark places and blood. If you are wearing black pajamas and your partner is wearing a yellow one, they will probably move your way. They still prefer open skin, and whoever is wearing no pajamas will attract more bed bugs.
When it comes to gender, anecdotal evidence goes both ways: some people believe bed bugs prefer women, and others, the other way around. There is no big scientific proof for either claim.
Bed bugs will feed on anyone’s or anything's blood. But here’s the thing: they prefer humans to any other animal you might have running around your house.
If you have a bed bug problem, your pet will probably get bit once or twice, but they will not suffer any major problems. At least not like humans, anyways.
This does not mean your pets cannot get attacked by bed bugs, they can and they probably will. And your dog, cat, or guinea pig will show the same symptoms a human will: red marks and an itchy body.
Unlike fleas and other parasites, there are no special collars or remedies for bed bugs. The only solution is to get rid of them. But don’t worry, bed bugs aren’t known to carry any dangerous diseases.
Bed bugs are rather to humans because of their blood. Bed bugs are parasitic insects and they feed off blood. They also thrive in dark, secluded places. This is the perfect combination to attack and bite humans.
Bed bugs will usually hide behind furniture, inside cracks, under your mattress - most places close enough to a human to bite them when the time’s right, but far away to hide when the human suspects of them.
It goes without mention that most humans have more than enough blood to feed an entire bed bug colony.
If you are covered in bed bugs bites, you might wonder whether this is going to have a long-term effect on your health. If you disregard annoying itchy bite marks, you have nothing to worry about. Bed bugs are not known for carrying any diseases that might affect humans.
That doesn’t mean there’s no danger in a bed bug bite. A worst-case scenario would be a serious allergic reaction, and that would require medical assistance to avoid any further issues. You can also develop a skin infection as a consequence of over-aggressive scratching.
You will, most likely, face a couple of sleepless nights and itchy body because of bed bugs, but nothing more serious than that.
As you would expect, bed bugs prefer to bite humans at night, when they are sleeping. That way, they can take their time to feed off whoever they are attacking - and they do so for a surprising amount of time. Bed bugs can take up to 10 minutes to feed on a person, and after that, they become engorged with blood and leave to a less exposed place.
Bed bugs start biting almost immediately after they hatch. They need their meals in stages so that they can molt into the next stage of their miserable life.
If your partner looks like he was feasted upon and you wake up seemingly unharmed, there are a couple of scenarios that are possible.
First, you might’ve been bitten as well, but you are not showing it. As you know, not everyone has an allergic reaction to bed bug bites; because of that, you might not show any symptoms, but bed bugs are biting you all night long anyways.
You might have a small infestation and the bed bugs prefer your partner’s blood type. If the bed bugs grew up on your partner’s blood and you have a different blood type, they will usually divert their attention to your partner.
Bed bugs also take the closest victim they can get. If these parasites are living behind your partner’s night table, they are not going to make the trip all the way into the other side of the bed just to bite you, they will use the closest feeding point they can get.
Let’s say you are allergic to bed bug bites and they will show once they happen. If your entire family is being bit but you are unharmed, this can only mean one thing: bed bugs aren’t living close to your room yet. They will get there if they are not dealt with, though.
Bed bugs reproduce and spread incredibly fast, and a single bed bug alone can mean a world of trouble. Do not overextend your luck if you are the only unharmed person in your household. Deal with the bed bugs immediately.
Bed bugs live wherever they can, as long as it is dark and secluded from people. Even though they are called bed bugs, they will spread throughout your house. A bed bug infestation will usually start on a mattress, a piece of luggage, or clothes - but they will eventually get everywhere else.
They will move where ever there’s food available - i.e., blood - and will identify possible food sources through CO2 emissions and body heat - that’s how they lurk around looking for their next victim.
There are a handful of ways bed bugs can get into your house. They can latch onto you, your clothes, your bags, and even onto your pets! An old piece of furniture you bought might bring a bed bug infestation along with it. It’s not about whether you have a dirty or clean household, it’s a matter of bad luck and poor prevention.
There are a lot of methods and techniques to get rid of bed bugs, but the best thing you can do is hire a professional who knows how to deal with bed bugs and other pests. That way, you’ll get a clean job done and you won’t have to worry about nasty bite marks anymore.
We understand that not everyone can afford the resources of a professional and that is why we created this website and the content you read here.
