Is it bed bugs?
Check the mattress seams with a torch. healthdirect lists spots of blood on the sheets, brown spotting from droppings, shed skins, cream coloured eggs about 1 mm long and live bugs, and big infestations can give off a sickly sweet smell. Adults are flat, oval and up to 6 mm, light brown before a feed and rust red after.
Bites tend to land on exposed skin such as the arms and shoulders. Some people don't react for up to 9 days, and as many as 1 in 5 don't react at all, so one person in the bed can be bitten while the other notices nothing. On black or brown skin the spots can look purple and be harder to see.
Bed bugs and Sydney living
Where people come and go
Better Health Channel says bed bugs are most often found where occupants change often, such as hotels, hostels and apartment complexes, but any household can get them. They travel in luggage, clothing, bedding and furniture.
What NSW Health says
NSW Health says bed bugs aren't known to spread disease and aren't considered a public health hazard, but the itching, lost sleep and scratched skin are real enough.
Unit blocks and notice
Treating the common areas of a NSW residential complex normally needs a pesticide use notice to residents at least 5 working days ahead. There's an exception for emergency work on biting or dangerous pests, if a notice is displayed and records are kept, so ask your strata manager which applies.
Renting
NSW landlords are generally responsible for pests present when a tenancy starts, and tenants for pests their own activities bring in. If you can't agree, NSW Fair Trading's dispute service can help.
Before the technician comes
Leave the bed where it is
The technician needs to see where they're living, so keep the mattress and bed frame in place until after the inspection.
Don't spray the bedding
Better Health Channel advises against treating bedding with pesticide.
Write down the pattern
Note who's been bitten, where on the body, and which bed or couch they'd slept on.
Check what came in recently
healthdirect suggests checking second-hand furniture before it comes inside, and checking luggage and hotel beds when you travel.
Questions for the pest business
- Will the treatment combine non-chemical and chemical methods? Victoria's Department of Health says a mix is typically needed.
- How many visits do you expect, and how far apart?
- What should we do with clothes, bedding and soft toys before each visit?
- Which product will you use, and what's its full name?
- In a unit, should the units either side be checked too?
If it were us
We'd strip the bed, check the seams and bed frame with a torch, and photograph whatever turned up. Then tap Bed bugs, and if you rent or live in a unit, tell the agent or strata manager in writing.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
