What To Do If You Find Only One Bed Bug In Your Home

What should I do if I have found only one bed bug? We have had a firm to the house and they examined the bed and surrounding area and could not find anything? We have added encasements and leg trap moats for tracking but have not seen anything in five days? Do we need the service or should we continue to monitor?

Suggestion From Our Editor on Monitoring After Seeing One Bed Bug

It’s great o hear that you are being proactive - yu had your home inspected, added encasements, and set up leg trap moats—these are all great steps!

Here’s how I’d suggest approaching the situation:

Finding Just One Bed Bug

Finding a single bed bug doesn’t necessarily mean you have a full-blown infestation. Bed bugs can hitchhike into homes on luggage, clothing, or even used furniture. If your professional inspection didn’t find additional evidence (e.g., live bugs, eggs, or fecal stains), it’s possible this was an isolated incident.

Should You Get Treatment?

Since you’ve taken preventative measures and haven’t seen any signs of activity for five days, it’s reasonable to continue monitoring rather than opting for treatment right now. Here’s why:

Encasements and traps: These will help catch any bugs that may still be present, giving you early warning if there’s a hidden issue.

Professional findings: If the exterminator didn’t find evidence of an infestation, they likely didn’t see enough reason to recommend treatment.

Continue Monitoring

Keep the encasements and leg trap moats in place for at least a month. Bed bugs feed about every 5–10 days, so a longer monitoring period will help confirm whether the single bed bug was an isolated occurrence. During this time:

Inspect weekly: Check your traps and surrounding areas for signs like live bugs, shed skins, or fecal stains.

Reduce hiding spots: Declutter the area around your bed and vacuum thoroughly to eliminate potential shelters for bed bugs.

When to Call Again

If you see additional signs—like another live bug in a trap, bites appearing consistently, or evidence in the encasements—it’s worth having the pest control firm back for a follow-up. Early intervention is key if an infestation develops.

Stay Vigilant

You are doing everything right. Monitoring and preventive measures should be enough to ensure that a single bug doesn’t turn into a larger problem.

Best,

Jeff
Editor and Publisher
Bed Bugs Handbook