Can Bed Bugs Live In Your Car?

Can bed bugs live in a car? Yes.

Bed bug presence poses a whole range of problems to humans.

These bugs are known to spread in many ways.

Bed bugs will make it into your home through used or second-hand furniture, via a commute, bypassing a night in an infested hotel room among several possible ways.

If bed bugs can be spread through a commute, then it’s possible that they can live in cars right? This is what we’re interested in finding out.

The spread of bed bugs via a commute is the closest thing to our topic of discussion. This is why we’ll be finding answers shortly enough.

Are you ready? Let’s begin right away!

A Car is an Extension of Your Home

Before we get into the juicy details of our discussion, you’ll need to understand that your car is an extension of your home. In other words, your cars are practically miniature rooms that enable you to get from one place to the next.

What this means is that when dealing with a pest infestation such as bed bugs, you’re likely to have these in your car as well. This is because bed bugs easily spread from a single source to other areas.

These bugs might get into your luggage which eventually ends up in your car.

Do Bed Bugs Live in Cars?

They absolutely can! This is what we’ve tried to explain above by saying your car is an extension of your home.

However, for your cars to be suitable for these bugs to live in, they must be in regular use. Consider the fact that bed bugs need blood to survive and reproduce.

These bugs are likely to relocate when they can’t find a source of food (blood).

For example, a totaled car or one that’s damaged and no longer in use won’t be considered suitable habitat for bed bugs as no one gets into, or uses such damaged cars.

• Cars Can Get Hot; Can Bed Bugs Still Survive?

With bed bugs confirmed to live in cars, you may want to know whether these blood-sucking parasites can survive high temperatures in cars.

Bed bugs are known to bear temperatures of as much as 117 degrees F or 47 degrees C. Due to such heat tolerance, it’s easy for bed bugs to survive rising car temperatures.

As long as the car is in frequent use, bed bugs will find such dwellings good enough. Also, extremely cold temperatures such as in winter won’t affect these bugs.

Your car provides a safe shelter for them to wait for the next meal when you step in.

Here, it’s clear that temperature extremes like heat and freezing climatic conditions won’t have any adverse effect on bed bugs.

How Do They Get in?

Are you wondering how bed bugs got into your car?

It’s not difficult to figure out. First off, these bugs will target potential hosts (humans) and get into luggage or other belongings scattered or opened around infested areas.

An infested hotel room or even your home could be the distribution point. As you pack your belongings to leave, you’re oblivious of the fact that these bugs are also ready to take the trip with you.

When placed in your car, some of these bugs may disembark, thus settling into their new surroundings.

By settling into their surroundings, we’re referring to proper positioning around seats ready for the next likely host or food source to come around.

These could be members of your household or friends.

• Signs of Bed Bug Presence in Cars

Similar to how these bugs announce their presence in homes, you may notice little red spots or bumps on the skin that you can’t seem to figure out.

Also, these bumps tend to be itchy. A quick inspection with the help of a flashlight might reveal tiny rusty spots. These will mostly be found along seams.

Sometimes, you might even stumble on the real deal; bed bugs.

With their presence confirmed, take urgent steps to ensure they’re all exterminated.

Bed Bug Car Treatment

Effective bed bug extermination should include your car’s interiors. It’s always recommended that professional bed bug treatment should be used due to its efficacy.

While DIY treatments might be of help to a certain extent, it doesn’t do a thorough job of extermination as professional treatments do.

First off, professional pest management services have an in-depth understanding of bed bug behavior including where they hide. Such knowledge, coupled with reliable treatment methods goes a long way to rid your car and home of bed bug presence.

Treating your home while leaving out your car will only temporarily solve the problem. Before long, bed bugs will return with a vengeance which could even be worse than the initial state.

Before any treatment is administered, it must be confirmed that there are bed bugs in your car.

A tape can be used for inspection or detection of these bugs. Several approaches could prove helpful in eliminating bed bug infestations.

These include regular cleaning of car interior, washing floor mats, and seat covers, as well as steaming to destroy bed bugs and their eggs.

Consider applying or sprinkling diatomaceous earth within the interior to help dehydrate these bugs. The most comprehensive treatment will require taking your car to a fumigator for treatment.

• About Taking Your Car to a Fumigator

If bed bugs in your cars must be comprehensively dealt with, then the car should be taken to a fumigator. Now, different scenarios could play out.

You might want to have the car included for treatment as your home is being fumigated for bed bugs. This won’t require driving your car to a fumigator.

The other option is when your home has been treated separately and you just realized these bugs might be in your car. This is one other treatment option that can work for you.

Professional Bed Bug Treatments are better than DIY Techniques

DIY bed bug treatments in cars may serve your needs, however, they aren’t always reliable enough. You’ll have to perform a more effective treatment like calling for professional pest control.

This helps resolve the problem within the shortest time possible, thus leaving little room for errors.

Bed bugs can live in cars and there are ways to identify their presence. This article has discussed these points while also covering treatment approaches to consider.