What Are Bed Bugs|How to Get Rid of Them

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People type in Google all the time what are bed bugs? And this is usually because they have unexplained spotting on the bedsheets or pajamas or they are allergic reaction to the bites that appear as red welts.

But before diving into a full pest inspection. Below is what to look for when you have some evidence of bed bugs. These are what most bed bug sufferers see or feel when they are unsure if it’s a bed bug infestation or some other pest like dust mites.

  • Bites on skin (normally in pattern)
  • Black and red stains in bedding (this is feces of bed bug)
  • Bed bug carcasses which look like shells
  • Black spots on walls
  • Actual little bed bugs crawling around

Description of what are bed bugs

Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed.

After feeding, however, their bodies swell and are a reddish color. Bedbugs do not fly, but they can move quickly over floors, walls, and ceilings and find a place to hide in cracks of old furniture, in the crevices of mattress’s or in the bedhead.

The Female Bed Bug Breeding Cycle

This is where it starts to get very interesting as we discuss the breeding cycle, you see female bedbugs may lay hundreds of eggs, each of which is about the size of a speck of dust, over a lifetime.

Immature bedbugs, called nymphs, shed their skins five times before reaching maturity and require a meal of blood before each shedding. Under favorable conditions the bugs can develop fully in as little as a month and produce three or more generations per year.

What Happens When Bedbugs Bite

Bedbugs are active at night and usually bite people while they are sleeping. They feed by first anesthetize

the area they have chosen so you don’t feel a thing normally before piercing the skin and withdrawing blood through an elongated beak.

The bugs feed from three to 10 minutes to become engorged and then crawl away unnoticed.

Most bedbug bites are painless at first, but later turn into itchy welts which the victim cannot help but keep scratching.

Unlike flea bites that are mainly around the ankles, bedbug bites are on any area of skin exposed while sleeping. Also, the bites do not have a red spot in the center like flea bites do.

People who don’t realize they have a bedbug infestation may attribute the itching and welts to other causes, such as mosquitoes.

To confirm bedbug bites, you must find and identify the bugs themselves.

Common Hiding Areas For Bed Bugs

You will need to carry our a full inspection, if not you will do your treatment then miss a nest or hiding location. Below are the most popular hiding spots for bed bugs and should be your first inspection points.

  • Mattress
  • Boxspring
  • Mattress encasements
  • Pillows and pillow cases
  • Sofa and cushions
  • Recliners and furniture
  • Bed posts and wooden frames
  • Dresser drawers
  • Base boards
  • Electrical wall outlets
  • Window sills
  • Picture frames

How to get rid of them is a real task.

While you may have treated your bed or couch. What about the sheets that may have eggs which you can’t see. This is where a common bed bug infestation gets re-born again. 

Below is all the things you will want to strip off and wash in high heat or steam heat. When drying it is hottest cycle on the dryer will go for the larger items they will need direct sunlight

  • Bed linens
  • Linens left in closets
  • Pillows
  • Mattress encasements
  • Couch cushion covers
  • Clothing in the dresser
  • Towels in bath

To protect yourself further from re-infestation when you empty the vacuum cleaner ensure that you place in plastic bag and tie the top before throwing into the garbage.

CONCLUSION

Now you know what are bed bugs and more importantly how to get rid of them! The washing and cleaning process above should be repeated in 10-14 days to ensure that the bed bugs have gone.

But if this looks like a whole lot of work (which it is!) you can simply call our team at A1 Pest Control Canberra on 0407 065 413 and we will come out to treat your property and advise of follow up treatment.

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TOP DANGEROUS PESTS THAT NEED PEST CONTROL IN CANBERRA

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How dangerous are bird droppings to human health?

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The question of how dangerous are bird dropping to human health is not taken seriously enough and people just look at the mess, the smell and noise of the birds but rarely worry about any health dangers that are associated with birds who maybe roosting near or on air conditioning or water tanks.

Disease from a bird or droppings is difficult since exposure to the pathogens does not always result in disease and these bird diseases are not reportable to health authorities.

Examples of transmissible bird diseases associated with pigeons, geese, starling and house sparrows:

  • Histoplasmosis is a respiratory disease that may be fatal. It results from a fungus growing in dried bird droppings.
  • Candidiasis is a yeast or fungus infection spread by pigeons. The disease affects the skin, the mouth, the respiratory system, the intestines and the urogenital tract, especially the vagina. It is a growing problem for women, causing itching, pain and discharge.
  • Cryptococcosis is caused by yeast found in the intestinal tract of pigeons and starlings. The illness often begins as a pulmonary disease and may later affect the central nervous system. Since roof, ledges, schools, offices, warehouses, park buildings, signs, etc. are typical roosting and nesting sites, the fungus is apt to found in these areas.
  • St. Louis Encephalitis, an inflammation of the nervous system, usually causes drowsiness, headaches and fever. It may even result in paralysis, coma or death. St. Louis encephalitis occurs in all age groups, but is especially fatal to persons over age 60. The disease is spread by mosquitoes which have fed on infected pigeons and house finches carrying the Group B virus responsible for St. Louis encephalitis.
  • Salmonellosis often occurs as “food poisoning” and can be traced to pigeons, starlings, sparrows and other rodents.  The disease bacteria are found in bird droppings; dust from droppings can be sucked through ventilators and air conditioners, contaminating food and cooking surfaces in restaurants, homes and food processing plants.
  • E.coli  infection: It is one of the common infection caused by an enteric bacteria. This bacteria often traced in the faecal matters. When some bird or rodent visit such sites they carry these and spread to humans. Such as when birds peck on cow manure, the E. coli (O157:H7) go right through the birds and the bird droppings can land on or in a food or water supply.

FACTS

Bird faecal matter and feathers can have devastating effects on the heating and cooling components and indoor air quality of a commercial facility.  Pigeon problems can affect employees, maintenance personnel and potentially customers.

Dr. Rajiv Sahay, Director at EDLab was quoted on saying:
“heavy smells from the bacteria, fungi, and other organic matter from the birds can be infiltrate through the ventilation system causing significant harm to not only buildings but also to the many building occupants”.

If one pair of birds are a potential problem health problem what do many birds do to increase the health risk of humans?.

A single pair of pigeons can generate up to 18 new pigeons per year.  Once a nest is established, pigeons are extremely territorial.

 

  • Fresh Air Intakes: The nesting of pigeons begins at the fresh air intake along with faecal matter associated.  Pigeons like the fresh air vent as a result of constant air movement, covered area from inclement weather and nesting place for the families. The fresh air intake, if not broken through, will cause clogging of the screen restricting air flow and fresh air into the building.
  • Filter banks: Birds can peck though filter banks allowing for unfiltered air and pigeon contaminants to be drawn into HVAC components and supply air ducts.
  • Fan Assemblies: Bird feathers, faecal matter and debris builds within the fan blades decreasing airflow.
  • Evaporator Coils: Bird feathers, faecal matter and debris clogs the air conditioner coils and clogs the drain pan.
  • Coil Drain Pans: With the drain pan water and pigeon faecal matter creates a potential source of dangerous/toxic microorganisms and other chemicals.
  • AHU Insulation: Birds can peck at the insulation to create nesting material allowing for raw fiberglass fibers to enter the associated air conveyance system.

After explaining how dangerous are bird droppings to human health ring
A1 Pest Control Canberra where we will fix your bird problem for either commercial or domestic bird pest control.

Call us on 0407 065 413 for either bird or another pest control problem you may have.

 

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PRE CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION

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Pre construction at a time that you are building a new property or doing any renovation for your home is an ideal time to install termite barrier protection against termites.

HomeGuard OR Kordon are great options when we come to protect a structure that needs more than just a chemical treatment. The products are impregnated with Bifenthrin that will repel and kill termites for 50 years. This is ideal for when you are laying new concrete slab up against your home, or when you want to protect steel piers. When you select A1 Pest Control Canberra, you have the reassurance that all our technicians are fully licensed and insured. But you also have the assurance that they are accredited installers through the manufacturer of Termindor, Kordon and HomeGuard.

This means we have been selected by the manufacturer to install their product to the highest possible standard. With Termidor, you also have the option to register for their 2 million dollar warranty, completely free of charge.

A reality in our industry is that there are no absolutes. Termites are unrelenting in their efforts to find a way into homes, and there is no single treatment that will permanently rid your home from the treat of termite attacks. You need to stay vigilant and have the assurance that when things go wrong, you have a company that will be there to help. All our treatments come with a Company Warranty. That is, we promise to re-inspect and treat free of charge in the unlikely chance the termites were to reappear. This is renewable on annual warranty inspections.

With all out treatments, we apply treatment labels for future reference confirming that your home has been treated to the Australian Standards by a fully-licensed company.

Thank you for watching our treatment video. We understand as a homeowner, making a decision of which company is going to treat your home is a big decision. It comes down to trust. You’ve got to trust that they are going to do the job right, you’re going to have to trust that they’re going to be there in the future, good or bad.

A1 Pest Control Canberra’s reputation has been built on trust. We invite you to become one of our valued customers call us TODAY 0407 065 413

 

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FUNDAMENTALS OF VISUAL AND THERMAL IMAGING TERMITE INSPECTION

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FUNDAMENTALS OF VISUAL AND THERMAL IMAGING TERMITE INSPECTION

Which is better visual or thermal imaging termite inspection? Many people get confused on which termite inspection is better for their property and I want to explain the difference.

Basically, everyone needs a termite inspection annually to give peace of mind that there are no termites eating away and destroying your property. What is known about the Termite Queen is she is capable of laying up to 30,000 live termites a day! They are frightening figures if you multiply that by 365 days of the year.

Let me explain the difference in the termite inspection methods.

VISUAL TERMITE INSPECTION TOOLS
* Tapping tool
* Torch
* Moisture meter

The technician will use the above tools and feel and touch to detect abnormalities in woodwork in the roof, doors, windows, floor, walls, fence line and under the house.

THERMAL IMAGING INSPECTION
Picks up heat and movement of termites, sees through walls and can also locate leaks behind walls and electrical faults.
This termite inspection would be ideal inspection for people buying a home so you don’t buy someone else’s problems!

Also the thermal imaging inspection is more thorough as it can also get to hard to get to places where there is no crawl room for the technician and weather is not a problem either as the technician can just point the camera at the area on the roof or flooring and take his reading from those areas.

In the video Shannon explain about termite inspections. Call for all of your termite inspections 0407 065 413
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PestControlCanberra

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Why You Need a Termite Barrier? Are Swarmers Termites?

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Why do you need a termite barrier becomes obvious when you look at the damage that they can do to your property.

Without a termite barrier it is not a matter of “IF” they will attack it is a matter of WHEN they will attack.

You see when you

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A1 Pest Control Canberra, Best Bird Pest Control & Bird Deterrent. 0407 065 413

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A1 Pest Control Canberra is the best bird pest control and bird deterrent in the area and we find that many times it’s humans that create the bird problem in the first place where the droppings become hard to manage and the neighbours are continually knocking or appearing on your doorstep to complain about the noise and mess.

There are some birds that decide that warm place in the garage is where they will nest not knowing that they are doing their droppings on a once immaculate new series BMW directly under them will decidedly upset the owner!

Or perhaps the damage is on a body corporate or commercial property hard to get to area that is when you would call our team on 0407 065 413 let us access the situation and give you a cost effective plan that we could deliver to you for consideration to get rid of the problem for you once and for all.

Visit our website at A1 Pest Control Canberra TODAY


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A1 Pest Control Canberra Termite Inspection, Termite Barriers – Queanbeyan

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A1 Pest Control Canberra experts at termite inspection, termite barriers and all general pests in Canberra, Queanbeyan and surrounding areas.

The sprawl of both Canberra and Queanbeyan nearly has both cities touching toe to toe.  Our team at A1 are over the border to Queanbeyan NSW daily and have a number of our staff life in the NSW border town.

As the bush capital has seen a huge increase in the number of properties that termites have attacked it is time to be proactive and to be more vigilant with termite inspections.

The inspections should be done on an annual basis as part of your maintenance plan. There are 2 types of inspections that are done:

1: Visual inspection requiring the technician to look for physical signs with his knocking tool and moisture meter and visual signs of sawdust and mud tracks providing that he can gain access to roof voids and underneath the property.

2: Thermal imaging and T3i cameras can pick up body heat, moisture and movement. The technology used can also see in behind walls for leaking plumbing issues and some electrical faults. Space restriction is not a problem as the operator will just need to point the instrument at the inspected area and get his reading.

For either of these inspections please call our team on 0407 065 413
or visit our website at https://a1pestcontrolcanberra.com.au

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Effective and Affordable Pest Control

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CANBERRA PEST CONTROL – should be a maintenance program that you should consider as a property owner to prevent your biggest investment your home by being eaten away.

Maintenance is a whole lot easier and cheaper than treating a pest problem, and goes to show that prevention is better than a cure.

 

 

TERMITE INSPECTION can be combined with a a general pest inspection or on its own and should be under taken annually.

GENERAL PEST CONTROL initially should be undertaken if your property has never been treated for creepy crawlies its 6 monthly for the first year then back to annual inspections.

The team at A1 Pest Control Canberra will not only treat your property they are there to educate you to get the most out of your treatments.

Call Bob 0407 065 413 to book your treatment today.

 

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Pest Control Management – Cockroach Baiting

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This is a pretty disgusting topic and not one to be read while having dinner but cockroach baiting is considered to play an important role in pest control cockroach management programs.

Cockroaches are one of the great survivors and that is why general treatment by home and property owners when using off the shelf products is ineffective when treating an infestation of cockroaches.

BAITING PROVIDES A DOUBLE ACTION EFFECT

Pest Control management uses a term such as toxicant transfer which is when the cockroaches that have fed upon an intoxicated bait contaminating their immediate environment with toxicant laden faeces and vomit which is then consumed by other cockroaches leading to their demise.

It gets better though through the secondary distribution of the bait is the one that is more important especially even more effective should I say with female and instar nymph (baby cockroaches) who do not venture far out from their harbourages.

WHY YOU NEED PROFESSIONAL PEST CONTROL

In the natural environment coprophagy or the consumption of cockroach faesces by nymphs this is called proctodaeal feeding which is directly from the anal area, in the natural environment this type of feeding is essential for their survival. A recent study found that 90% of newly hatched nymphs could survive 10 days eating faesces alone. It seems that the cockroach faesces and vomit contains pheromones that can serve to attract others.

Also there is no doubt that the pest control baits will kill cockroaches but we need  to not have the adult cockroaches killed too quickly as the active bait makes its way through their digestive system and gives the roach time to return from their foraging trips to their harbourages if the bait kills them before they return the transfer is not going to work.

As you can see that using off the shelf product will kill the adults but it will not stop the breeding cycle.

Although no one wants to encourage cockroaches but they are very interesting all the same. It seems the nymphs are attracted to the vomit and faesces of the female cockroach over the male of the species.

A1 Pest Control Canberra team will evaluate the correct product for the type of problem either for commercial or property owner is having.

One of the problems we see in both types of properties is the level of hygiene is not stringent enough and provides breeding grounds for the cockroaches. For example, we had a call out to a new home occupied by 2 Indian families and although the surfaces in the kitchen looked to be clean, on touching the surfaces they were greasy along with the floor.
The owner was asked what they used to wipe down with and they basically only swept the crumbs off.

Benches, floors, toasters, microwave and dishwashers need to be cleaned and wiped over with hot soapy water or a commercial prepare detergents suitable for the cleaning surface.

Pantry is another area that needs attention and opened bottles and packets need to be sealed or transferred to a sealed container.

As already mentioned once into food stuffs the cockroaches vomit and drop faesces in the food or on kitchen preparation areas – to humans this can make you ill or worst case scenario kill you.

On further investigation the bins were full and we asked the owner when do they empty them and were told every 4-5 days which is not often enough. Bins need to be emptied daily and wiped out if there is any residue in the bin.

Simple procedures that are done regularly will say you for a cockroach infestation and protect the health of your family and pets.

Call Bob 0407 065 413 for on time every time appointments. Can contact us through email bob@a1pestcontrolcanberra.com.au or visit or website https://a1pestcontrolcanberra.com.au/

 

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A1 Pest Control Canberra Thermal Imaging Is A Must Selling Your Home

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This is a really important message to put out because one of the first things that a seller needs to do to prepare their home to go on the market is to organise both building and pest inspections as this is included in the contract that the solicitor puts together the report that must show that the property is clear of termites and asbestos.

The buyer then buys the report off the owner at exchange. Receipts are attached and this is only in ACT not any other states.

In effect the reports cost the seller NOTHING as the buyer reimburses the seller.

WHAT STOPS OR DELAYS A SALE

If the prospect is considering buying the property they are sometimes disappointed at seeing comments seen on a termite or building visual pest report:

– weather prevented entry to roof
– not able to access to inspect etc

The buyer is left wondering if there are termites and or building faults and are left to decide do I accept this report and gamble and pray its all fine or do I order another report?

There is only one way to ensure a property gets a thorough inspection and that is through having a thermal imaging inspection.

One of the best things that having this type of inspection it not only picks up termite movement, body heat and moisture before any damage and also weather and space restrictions do not effect thermal imaging inspection at ALL….

BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE….

Thermal imaging will pick up termite, movement, body heat & moisture long before there is any damage BUT also building faults such as:

– roof leaks, bathroom leaks
– a/c duct leaks
– potential plumbing issues
– moisture & mold
– missing insulation
– electrical concerns

Where the visual inspection can not detect many of the problems outlined above this could be the VERY reason an astute buyer would want you to knock many thousands off the price when you could get the thermal imaging done and fix any potential problem.

BUYER BEWARE

If the home you are purchasing does have a complete visual pest report on the most important buying decision you will make GET A THERMAL IMAGING REPORT TODAY

Many times we have been called by distressed buyers who have gambled with visual inspection reports that they have not been able to gain access to certain areas….and guess what? That is the very area that the problem was!

Call Bob 0407 065 413 TODAY… bob@a1pestcontrolcanberra.com.au

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