How to Identify Bed Bug Droppings in Your Home

Identifying bed bug poop in your home starts with recognizing the specific characteristics of their excrement, which is often more visible than the insects themselves. These tiny insects are reddish-brown and wingless, usually mistaken for ticks or roaches, and their droppings are tiny as well. You’re more likely to spot stains from their excrement than actual droppings. Bed bugs feed on human blood, and their poop often leaves bloody marks behind. These may look like small, unexplained rusty or black spots on surfaces they’ve infested and are one of the more telling signs of bed bugs around your home. These dark stains make bed bug poop more distinct than that of other common pests, which can vary in shape but is not as soft or stain-prone.

Bed bugs tend to hang out in human-occupied areas like mattresses because of their need to feed on blood. Due to their elusive nature, live bugs tend to hide out in seams, cracks, and crevices around beds and other furniture, or even parts of your home’s structure. Common examples are mattress seams, box springs, sofas, door frames, floor cracks, and even within plaster and inside picture frames. Besides their excrement, there are other red flags that you may be dealing with a bed bug infestation. These include old exoskeletons and poppy seed-length eggshells belonging to the bugs, as well as a musty odor where they are hiding and breeding. It’s also possible to find live or dead bugs or the bloody stains their bodies leave when crushed.

Bed bugs have become increasingly widespread since the 1990s, so if you do find signs of their excrement, you’re certainly not alone. The sooner you identify a possible infestation, the sooner you can seek professional pest control to eradicate the problem. Knowing where exactly you’re most likely to find bed bug poop is a good first step.

Bed bugs do not transmit diseases to humans, but they can quickly grow in numbers and cause your household a lot of discomfort. In fact, a single female bed bug can produce up to 250 eggs! Some people might develop welts as a reaction to recent bed bug bites. Unfortunately, the insects are also difficult to control on your own. For this reason, it’s best to consult with a pest control expert if you think you have a bed bug problem in your home. They can accurately identify the insects, as bed bugs are only some of the many possible types of bugs found in beds. Also know that even with professional pest management, getting rid of bed bugs often takes two treatments and sometimes several to fully eradicate the bugs, because they can hide out and survive for months without feeding.