Bed Bug Bites | How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs | Bed Bug Pictures

We have a ton of visitors asking how they can verify a bed bug infestation; they wake up with bites, but no matter how hard they look, they can’t find any bed bugs. Well, we have just the solution for you – do it yourself bed bug traps!

WIN $100 for your Bed Bug Trap! I’m going to be giving away $400 in prizes. Did you build my trap and catch bed bugs? If so, take pictures of your trap (from start to finish) with a complete explanation of your situation and send them to badbedbugs@gmail.com. I’ll pick from four of the best submissions. Don’t worry about editing out any personal content, simply take the pictures and if you want me to remove anything that might identify you, just let me know – my main focus will be on clear pictures of a trap, captured bed bugs and a complete story.

Things you might cover:

Did you have a pest control company come out before hand? What did you find?Did you look for and not find bugs before the trap?How do you think they might have come into your home?How severe were your bites? Anyone else being bitten?How much did everything cost?What have you done for treatment?How long has this been going on? All the materials needed for a bed bug trap (dry ice not shown)

We are going to place a thermos with dry ice on top of a glass bowl sitting inside a litter box. Bed bugs zero in on the CO2 you give off when sleeping which is exactly what dry ice gives off as it warms. Being heaver than air, the CO2 drops down into the box and overfills into the room – it’s like a loud dinner bell!

The bugs climb up the box, fall inside and can’t get out. The outside cloth helps them climb up and drop into the box but once in, the power and plastic sides prove too slippery to escape and they become trapped.

It takes less than an hour to make and you can do it with products from your local dollar store. You’ll need a plastic cat litter box, glue, white paint, baby power (avoid powder made with cornstarch), scissors, cloth, foam brush, dry ice, insulated thermos with spout on top and small round glass bowl.

Note, I already had some products, but when I went to the dollar store, I found they had everything I needed ($1 each) except for the dry ice which I purchased from Meijer’s grocer for $2.00.

Let’s get started building your bed bug traps.

Paint the bottom of the litter box white (I used white gloss) so that the trapped bugs are easy to identify. I used fast drying paint and a hair dryer to speed up the process.

Once the paint has dried, cut the top of the box off so that edges are straight. My top had a lip that would have made it difficult for the bed bugs to climb inside.

With my $1 towel, I cut sections that would fit on the outside of the box and glued them in place taking care to not leave any gaps between the cloth and side where the bugs could hide. Make sure the cloth goes the entire length of the side so that as you lay the trap on the floor, it touches the carpet (or wood, etc). This makes it easy for the bed bugs to climb up the side.

Once you have glued the cloth on, apply a light dusting of baby power to the bottom and insides of the trap. Also apply a light coating to your glass bowl. The small bowl will sit on the inside of the trap acting as a base for your thermos and prevents the bed bugs from climbing up the thermos.

Showing how CO2 flows into bed bug trap

This next part can be Dangerous as dry ice can severely burn your skin; use thick insulated gloves, grill thongs or pliers to handle the ice. Placing dry ice in a sealed container without ventilation will cause pressure to build until the top blows. Dry ice releases carbon dioxide which could cause asphyxia so only use one of these traps per average sized room. A 1/3 gallon bug trap is said to be the equivalent of two adults sleeping. Keep away from children.

To test your trap, place some dry ice in the thermos, add a quarter cup water, close the lid and learn the spout angle to determine levels (closed, part way and completely open).

The final step is to place the dry ice in the empty thermos, screw on the cap, open the spot half way and place it on the glass base inside the litter box around 10:00pm. Place the bed bug trap next to the bed. Note: if the spout directs the CO2 away from your trap, you can hang a piece of paper over the spout to redirect the flow downward and into the trap (without blocking the spout).

In the morning you’ll see any bed bugs that were in the area. You should set the trap multiple times over a two week period. NOTE: If you move this trap to another room, make sure to seal it in a plastic bag and freeze it to make sure you don’t accidentally transport the bugs to another room!

When you catch them, please, take pictures and send them to badbedbugs@gmail.com. We’ll post your pictures and story on www.badbedbugs.com so that others can learn from your experience.

Thanks to Dr. Changlu Wang, an entomologist from Rutgers University who came up with the idea of using dry ice to trap bed bugs!

Trap didn’t work and still being bitten? Visit BadSpiderBites.com and compare your pictures, they may not be bed bugs!

Need to download and print out the instructions for this bed bug trap? Here it is: http://www.badbedbugs.com/bedbugtrap.pdf

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