Do Bed Bugs Multiply Quickly Once The First Few Take Hold?

Do bed bugs multiply quickly? If you’re suffering through an infestation, this may seem like the case. The truth is that while these bugs breed relatively quickly, they do not breed as fast as other pests. Below we’ll explain what we mean by this.

Yes, bed bugs multiply quickly

Many pests breed at an exponential rate. A good example of this are cockroaches. A single female cockroaches can produce about 300 offspring in a year. Mice are almost as fast. Mice give birth to about 5-6 babies, and produce about 5-10 litters a year. This means a mouse can give birth to almost 60 babies per year. Not only that, these mice can mate right after giving birth. This is why mouse populations often seem to increase at an exponential rate.

By comparison, bed bugs multiply quickly, but no nearly so quickly. Most female bed bugs only lay one egg per day. In some cases, they may lay 5-7 eggs, but this is only in optimal conditions. These eggs then need about 2 weeks to hatch. After this, the bed bugs must go through several nymph stages. It’s only after this that it becomes mature, and can then reproduce which makes it hard to get rid of them completely.

So for the people wondering if bed bugs multiply quickly, the answer is really yes and no. They breed relatively fast, but not at an exponential rate like some pests. The issue is that people usually take their time when dealing with these pests when you pick them up from public places.

Don’t ignore the signs of bed bugs!

What happens is that people usually ignore the symptoms when bed bugs live in beds and other places. They may see brown spots on their bedding and think nothing of it. They may have one or two bites and ignore the issue. They may even find a bug in their bed, kill it, and then forget about the whole thing. The problem is that people are lazy and don’t want to take the time and effort to solve this issue.

The other issue is that this gives bed bugs the necessary time to breed. That’s when a pair of bed bugs turn into dozens, and then hundreds. That’s why it’s so critical that you handle this problem immediately. Do not hesitate for a second. Call your pest controller the very minute that bed bugs symptoms are spotted. The longer you wait the more time the bed bugs have to breed. Bottom line: yes, bed bugs multiply quickly, but not so fast that you cannot do anything about it.