How To Get Rid Of Centipedes In Bedroom

How To Get Rid Of Centipedes In Bedroom

Centipedes are creepy. A single glance at these crawling creatures will make you nearly jump out of your skin. Of course, they're not harmful, but by the time you remember that, you'll have already screamed out your lungs.

Most people mistake house centipedes with their other cousins, who are known to be venomous and dangerous to humans. But as a matter of fact, there isn't much they can do besides the terrifying look on your face when you land your eyes on them.

If you're tired of turning your bed into a battleground with these harmless warriors, here is how you can get rid of them.

But before that, you first need to learn why your bed and house, in general, are so attractive to them.

Page Contents

• 1 What Attracts Centipedes in Your Bed?
• 2 What Eats House Centipedes?
• 3 Does Light Keep Centipedes Away?
• 4 6 Clever Ways to Get Rid of Centipedes Out of Bed
  • 4.1 1. Get an Air Dehumidifier to rid your house of the extra warmth
  • 4.2 2. Seal Off Cracks
  • 4.3 3. Install Bathroom Fans
  • 4.4 4. Use insecticides
  • 4.5 5. Carrying and Releasing the Centipedes in the Outdoors
  • 4.6 6. Call in Pest Infestation Control Service
    • 4.6.1 Conclusion

What Attracts Centipedes in Your Bed?

House centipedes have a thing going for warmer and cozier environments. If you're frequently getting these uninvited guests in your house, it's an indicator that your house provides a conducive environment for them to live in.

Naturally, centipedes are found in damp and dark locations. When they decide to migrate into your house, they tend to look for spots with similar conditions, albeit warmer.

It also happens that centipedes find their food in warmer places, their favorite hang-out joints. So if your house is warm, it means that there's plenty of food for them to eat and thrive.

At this point, you're probably wondering what they feed on, right?

Mostly, the centipedes like feasting on other insects and small insects, including bed bugs. Worms, moths, silverfish, flies and when the situation is worse, they'll even feed on other centipedes. These insects are found in warmer environments, which could mean that there are plenty of them.

Usually, when you see centipedes, it's an eye-opener to other pest problems that might have escaped your eye up to this moment. It's kind of two-way traffic; when you see one, you know that the others are just around the corner.

What Eats House Centipedes?

As much as centipedes feast on other insects, they too are prey to the domestic chicken, shrews, badgers, ground beetles, spiders, and ants. And at other times, for instance, when one of them is injured, these solitary arthropods will turn their own into a meal.

However, giant centipedes can't be threatened by small insects such as ground beetles and ants. But that doesn't mean they don't have predators. Lizards, snakes, birds, scorpions, and even mammals like mongooses would be glad to have centipedes for a meal.

Does Light Keep Centipedes Away?

Keeping your lights on can keep the centipedes away. However, this only works as a short-term solution. When the lights are suddenly switched on, the centipedes will quickly crawl back into their dark wall cracks and other hiding places. That's the reason you shouldn't allow any cracks to sit around for long. As soon as you spot them, seal so that the pests have nowhere to hide.

6 Clever Ways to Get Rid of Centipedes Out of Bed

At least now you've got a clear understanding of why your bed seems to be a comfy zone for centipedes. By now, you probably have a few ideas running through your head on how you're going to exterminate them.

So without delay, let's rein on the complete list of solutions at your disposal for remedying the problem of centipedes infestation.

As earlier hinted, centipedes are drawn into warm and damp environments because of food and shelter. That means removing this moisture should be a priority on your to-do list. That's to say you'll need to check the other places in your house as your bed isn't the only place they're found.

If anything, your bed only serves to show you that the problem could be more profound and more severe than you imagine.

But you can use a dehumidifier to suck up the extra moisture from the house. The humidifier works simply and straightforwardly. First, it will suck in the house's moisture, take the humidity out of it and then release it back into circulation.

There are a couple of reasons why you should give priority to this method. For one, it's more effective over time as it's able to ensure that your room becomes intolerant to the activities of the centipedes. Secondly, you won't have to spend a lot of money trying to get experts to access areas you think the other techniques might not have fully covered.

Again, it's a set-and-forget kind of approach, meaning that you don't need to have recurrent expenditure after a certain period. For instance, pest control companies might charge you monthly fees for their periodical inspections and control activities.

There are also varying qualities of dehumidifiers that you should think about, both in quality and price. Whereas it's your budget that will determine the type you get, you must think long term.

What do I mean?

Well, here is the thing. Instead of buying a dehumidifier that will go out of service in a couple of months or few years, think about getting one that won't have you thinking about going shopping for another any time soon. Most of the time, the value you get out of them will justify the value so long as you research to ensure that you're getting the right deal and not a raw deal.

2. Seal Off Cracks

Inspect your house and see if any cracks could be making it possible for these creatures to sneak into your bed. Don't ignore any cracks, no matter how small they look. Centipedes are small and they can navigate spaces and cracks that you won't expect them to.

Even if the centipedes can't feed in those spaces, they might use those spaces as safe havens for their eggs. Of course, you know that means more trouble when the eggs are hatched and the baby centipedes mature up.

3. Install Bathroom Fans

This technique is also good if you're looking to dry up the extra moisture in the house. The fans prevent the moisture from building up in your bathroom, which happens to be one of the most preferred places by centipedes.

The fans will also discourage the encouragement of other insects and pests that are food to centipedes. When you eliminate the source of their food, you're drastically cutting down the chances of your house or bed being infested by centipedes. If there isn't food for them, they might as well look elsewhere.

The method is a double-thronged solution that solves a whole lot of other problems besides centipedes. For instance, it will also help you prevent mildew and molds and protect your fixtures from excess moisture.

4. Use insecticides

It could happen that by the time you're coming to discover the infestation, the situation is already out of hand as the centipedes are uncountable. When it gets to this point, you should think of poisoning them using an insecticide,

There are varieties of insecticides available on the market you could use for this purpose. After you settle on the one that interests you the most, be sure to read and follow the instructions that come with the insecticide.

Exercise caution when using the insecticide to pose a danger to you or your loved ones. If it's poisonous to insecticide, chances are it might have some devastating effects on humans' health. Either way, follow the guidelines carefully so that you're not taking any chances.

5. Carrying and Releasing the Centipedes in the Outdoors

You might be thinking, if these creatures don't pose any challenge to your health, why should you become hostile to them? That's you?

Well, you don't have to kill them if you're not comfortable with the idea. Instead, you can opt to carry them out and release them in a place you're sure they won't find their way back into your house or enter any other.

However, this solution will only work if there are only a handful of them you've come across in your bed. Usually, that's likely to be the scenario if you're discovering this problem just when it's starting.

After you've taken the few that you find in an environment, they'll freely thrive without being a nuisance to the human population, and it's a good idea to take some time to "sweep" your house and ensure that there aren't others hiding in some dark corner.

Next, you probably should think about getting a dehumidifier or installing bathroom fans so that you're sure the problem will not persist. If you ignore them, you're likely choosing not to do anything when there are pointers that the problem might just be getting started.

6. Call in Pest Infestation Control Service

This is usually the last option after you've tried everything else and got unsatisfactory results. You might also consider this the best solution available if you discover the infestation when it's already gone too far and none of the other methods we've discussed seem like they'll offer a faster remedy.

Many pest control services will first set up an appointment with you so that they get to understand the details of the problem you need them to handle. Depending on the service provider of your choice, the appointment might be via call or in person. Still, some prefer to start with a phone call, after which they'll dispatch a team to assess the situation on the ground and give their recommendations based on the nature of the damage.

A quote will then follow that. If you agree with their terms of service, they can then initiate the actual process of centipede removal. There's one more benefit as to why pest control service works better than many other options. As they thoroughly fumigate your house and the surroundings, the poison will also exterminate the other insects that might have been giving you sleepless nights.

After you've done the fumigation, it will take a couple of years before your house might need another treatment. In the end, it's cost-effective and yet delivers quick results.

Conclusion

Those are some of the available remedies you can pursue to stop centipedes from getting into your bed now and then. As you've seen, many of them are total no-brainers and you can pull them off yourself without needing extra assistance.

As you must have also realized by now, many of them use the set-and-forget kind of approach. Good examples here are the use of air dehumidifiers and the installation of bathroom fans. That way, you don't have to keep going over the same routines time and again.

Once you've put that in place, all you'll need to do is sit back and enjoy a centipede-free come. And when you feel overwhelmed by the situation, there are always pest control experts to reach out to for help.

But the most important thing is to know that the kind of method you chose will be highly dependent on the infestation extent. That means you'll need to first assess the situation either by yourself or with a professional's help before you can tell the method that best fits the given conditions.

How To Get Rid Of Centipedes In Bedroom

Source: https://homeardent.com/ways-keep-centipedes-out-bed/