FAQs

All of our maintenance customers have a warranty that will cover them from service to service. This means that if they should encounter any pest issues in-between any of their regularly scheduled service/maintenance appointments, Mug-A-Bug would come out and spot treat the troubled area until their next scheduled treatment.  Any one-time applications do come with a 30-day warranty, except for bed bugs, ants, and rodents.  The reason we do not offer a warranty on those pests is because those services will typically require follow-up treatments to achieve eradication, which are generally performed every two (2) weeks.

For residential customers we currently provide service in the following areas: Colorado Springs, Security, Widefield, Monument, Manitou Springs, Falcon, Peyton, Calhan, Ellicott, Palmer Lake, Pueblo and Pueblo West.  For our commercial customers, we currently provide service in the following areas:  Colorado Springs, Security, Widefield, Monument, Manitou Springs, Falcon, Peyton, Calhan, Ellicott, Palmer Lake, Pueblo, Pueblo West, Woodland Park, Castle Rock, Parker, and other surrounding areas.

All our employees are required to wear a company issued uniform that will have our logo on the upper left chest area. All our company vehicles are also wrapped with company graphics that contain our company name, phone number, and city.

Currently fourteen (14) of our full-time employees are licensed by the Colorado Department of Agriculture (https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/agplants/pesticides). We have four (4) Qualified Supervisors and ten (10) Certified Operators.  Mug-A-Bug is committed to continuing education for all of our employees to include classroom training with Sandra McDonald with Mountain West Pest ( http://www.mountainwestpest.com) that occurs annually in January, as well as online training through other various industry partners such as Pest Control Technology (http://www.pctonline.com).

We are a locally-owned family operated company, and we are the largest independent pest control company in Colorado Springs.

The National Pest Management Association requires and mandates that all QualityPro companies be committed to providing their customers with the highest quality pest control services. Customer service is the primary and main goal for QualityPro companies. All QualityPro companies receive random audits by the National Pest Management to ensure that they are still adhering and following all requirements set forth by the National Pest Management Association. The following are just a few examples of what is required to become a QualityPro company:  employing highly trained, credentialed employees, providing detailed information to the customer about the services they offer, maintaining up-to-date insurance policies, advertising truthfully and ethically, and checking employee references, driving histories, and criminal backgrounds.  For more detailed information about QualityPro companies, please visit https://www.npmaqualitypro.org

We are locally owned and operated and have been in business since 1984. We currently have seventeen (17) full-time employees, with fifteen of those being field technicians.  In 2006, Mug-A-Bug was recognized by the National Pest Management Association ( https://www.pestworld.org ) and awarded the prestigious accolade of becoming a QualityPro Company.  This achievement makes Mug-A-Bug only one (1) of three (3) companies in Colorado who meet and exceed the pest control industries’ standards for background checks, drug screenings, continuing education, licensing, etc.

Ants are multi-queened, meaning that they have several queens who are working and laying eggs every day, so the colonies can grow in size very quickly. With using baits as our method of treatment, we are relying on the worker ants to take the bait underground and feed it to the other ants and multiple queens.  Depending on the size of the colony, it may only take one treatment to gain control, but for larger more established colonies, it may require 1-2 follow-up treatments.  We generally recommend ant follow-ups to be either 2 weeks or 1 month after the initial treatment.  Our technician will make his follow-up recommendations based on the activity level that they see during their inspection.

Sprays are formulated differently than baits, in that they are used more for repelling insects and offer more of a contact kill. Baits are formulated as an attractant and are meant to act as the food source for the insects (roaches or ants), therefore making the insects take the bait back to their nest or colony and help achieve eradication below the surface, where our technician cannot see or does not have direct access.  Spray applications will kill only those workers who are on the surface and come in contact with the spray or repellent, and with baits, all workers have the potential to be exposed to the baits, whether that is directly on the surface when they carry the bait back underground, or if they are one of the workers who are feed the bait underground.

Since we bait for ants, the products that we use will be tagged as the food source for other worker ants which will attract more ants. This is why there may seem like there is a HUGE increase in ant activity after we have treated.  The increase in activity should only last 10-14 days after the initial application and should start to die down dramatically after the two-week period.  The most important tip to remember is DO NOT SPRAY ANY OVER THE COUNTER PRODUCTS AFTER WE HAVE TREATED.  Almost all over the counter products are a “repellent” and will do nothing but counteract the baits that we have put in place.  The spray will deter or repel the ants from coming to the bait that we used.

First, our technician will need to properly ID the ant species that are at your home. Identification is the first step for treatment because different ant species have different diets during different times of the year.  Ants have two (2) distinct diets, with the first one being sweets/sugars, and the other diet consists of proteins.  During the hotter summer months, ants will tend to feed on the sweeter and more sugary foods.  Which is why you will notice ants all over a dropped popsicle or even spilled soft drinks.  During the winter months, they focus more on protein (food crumbs and food grease).  Once we determine the type of ant, we then know which approach to take when it comes to their treatment. Our technicians will use baits (granules or gels) to treat.  While ants are out in the field feeding and foraging, they will mark their path or trail (with a pheromone) to the food source, and this path/trail is why you see ants in a straight line.  We will place our baits out along this “trail” so that the bait is tagged as a food source and other worker ants to come to the bait to feed on it and take it back to the nest or colony that we cannot get to directly, which is why baiting is the best method and application approach for treating for ants for this very reason.  There may be some instances where our technician may use both baits and sprays to treat for the ants, but that determination would be made once the technician has had the chance to inspect your home. To achieve a higher level of control, we want the worker ants to take the baits back underground and into the colony where the queens reside.

Unfortunately, bed bugs have become a world-wide epidemic in recent years, and due to this widespread problem, we are not able to offer a warranty.  Life can be very busy with traveling for work, vacations, sleep-overs, school classrooms, etc., and it is just too easy to accidentally re-infest or expose yourself to bed bugs.  Something as simple as your child having a sleep over at their friend’s house, and they take their own pillow to sleep on and bring them home.

There is no logically answer for this question, other than that some people react completely different to bed bug bites and some people show no signs or reactions at all. The most common reaction is the small round bumps, but in some cases, there will be a severe reaction to where the small bumps look and appear as larger whelps under the skin.  We have seen cases where the husband or wife is covered in several dozen bites, and the significant other has no bites or bumps whatsoever.

It depends on the severity of infestation and the amount of cooperation we have from our customers when it comes to prepping for each treatment. The better a house or room is prepared for our technician to treat, the amount of areas where bed bugs hide are more exposed and we will be able to treat those “hot spots” more easily.  If a room is only half-way prepared and most areas are not exposed, the longer it takes for bed bugs to come into contact with our products.  It is a true partnership between our customers and their technicians to achieve eradication of bed bugs.  It is important to remember that bed bugs are a process and not an overnight fix.  We typically recommend 2-4 follow-ups that are done every two weeks after the first initial treatment, and then will we recommend going 1 month until the next follow-up just to make sure that there are not any bed bugs lingering behind before we “clear” you of an infestation.  This whole process can take anywhere between 6-8 weeks or more depending on the severity of infestation.

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is also yes. Because our bed bug treatments are so detailed, and we attempt to treat every crack and crevice where they may be hiding, we tend to flush them out and you may continue to see them during the treatment.  However, the number of new bites and bed bugs that you see will dramatically reduce after the first treatment.  As much as we would like to say that you will not encounter any after we have started treatment, that is not a reality.

YES! Our office staff will provide you with a step by step checklist, that will go over in detail what areas/rooms will need to be prepared for treatment and how to go about preparing them.  Whether it is laundry or vacuuming, we have you covered on what you need to do.  If at any time you are not sure what to do, just call our office and we can answer any questions that you may have.

We will block two hours for your first treatment, but it will ultimately depend on the size of the home as well as the severity of infestation. Any subsequent follow-up treatments will normally take an hour or less.

Here at Mug-A-Bug we prefer the chemical approach to bed bug treatments. When using a heat treatment, it is extremely invasive, and many items and belongings will have to be completely removed from your home or apartment.  Electronics, pets, plants, etc. cannot be exposed to the heat temperatures for the long period of time that it takes and requires for a heat treatment to be deemed effective.  There are also no long-term residual products used during a heat treatment, so once the treatment is over and the equipment has been removed, there is nothing left behind to work or help prevent any bed bugs from reproducing.  With the chemical approach that we take, we make sure that you will have a residual product used that will not only continue to work while we are gone (45-60 days), but we also make sure that there are growth regulators used in combination with our other products that will prevent all stages of bed bugs from either developing (eggs hatching) or adult females having the ability to lay eggs.

They prefer to stay in close proximity to where they feed, so your mattress, box spring, bed frame, and headboard is where to start. They are reddish brown in color and similar in size to an apple seed.  If you notice that you have bumps along your feet and ankles, you will want to focus on the bottom areas and portions of your bed.  Strip all bedding to include any mattress pads or memory foam toppers, leaving the mattress and box spring completely bare and exposed.  Examine all seams, buttons, folds and tufts of your mattress and you may even need to remove the fabric batting on the underneath portion of your box spring. This should expose the most commonly used hiding spots for bed bugs.  They may not be limited to just your bed, so be sure to check your nightstands and dresser drawers as well.  Another place to search is on/in other areas where you either sit or sleep for long periods of time (futons, recliners, sofas, chairs, etc.), especially if you take any blankets or pillows from your bedroom to your couch or futon as this is how they may spread to other areas of the home.

Most people do not know that they have been exposed to bed bugs until they start to see or notice small round bumps, which resemble those of mosquito bites. These bumps will tend to be in groups and clusters, or they may even look like they are in a straight line or run along your veins. The bumps start to appear within 24-36 hours of exposure, so you can attempt to retrace your steps to see how or where you may have been exposed.  Another sign of bed bugs is that you may notice blood stains or spots/streaks on your sheets when you are making your bed. You may have stayed at a hotel, stayed with someone else, or someone stay with you, it is that easy to unknowingly expose yourself to bed bugs.

Since we are not sure what products or chemicals will be used while cleaning your carpets, it is possible that those chemicals (bleaches, stain removers, or cleaning agents) will affect the products that we use, and they may breakdown or deteriorate our products much faster then normal and potentially eliminate our products residuals.

For fish we will recommend that a towel is placed over the top of the fish tank, as well as the pump to be unplugged while we are there treating, but once we have stopped treating you can plug the pump back in and remove the towels. All birds we ask that they be removed from the premises or placed in a room that you have specifically advised our technician not to treat and closed the door.  Other smaller exotic pets or reptiles can stay in the home, but if their cages are on the ground, we ask that you elevate them up off the ground or simply place a towel on top of their lids/cages as well.

The only time that we will recommend for customers to leave their homes during treatment is if they suffer from severe asthma, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder), currently on oxygen, or if they are in their first trimester of pregnancy. This is a precaution that we take as a company, even if the product label does not require them to leave during treatment, but in the instances listed above, we prefer to err on the side of caution.

All the products that we use are registered by the EPA and our technicians will apply according to all labels and laws. Normal precautions for small children and pets are to stay off the treated areas until dry, which normally ranges between 30-45 mins.  This time frame can be shortened to 20-25 mins during the hotter summer months.

Please use the following link to refer to a consumption guidelines chart on our website which will show how many dead mice your cat or dog will need to consume at one feeding (which means mouse, after mouse, after mouse, all in a row and at one time).  This chart can be found under the heading “Secondary Non-Target Exposures to Anticoagulant Rodenticide Baits”.  Most rodenticides used at Mug-A-Bug do not cause any type of secondary poisonings to other animals/pets.

They will need to know the name of the rodent bait or the active ingredient that is used in the rodent bait. All of this information can be found on the service ticket that was emailed over to you.  You can also go to our website and you will find the complete list of products that we use.  It is in alphabetical order for quick reference and you will be able to click on the SDS or Label next to each product.  You will be able to print off that information and provide that to your veterinarian.  The most commonly used rodenticide by Mug-A-Bug is DIATRAC BAIT BLOCKS (for quicker reference of this product’s SDS (Safety Data Sheet) .  Other rodenticides that are used are: Final Bait Block and Kaput Mouse Blocks.  As with most rodenticides, Vitamin K is the antidote for any accidental pet poisoning.

While our technicians make every effort to place the rodent bait stations out of the reach of your pet, there is a small risk that this can happen. If your dog does pop open our bait station with its teeth/mouth and consumes the bait, please use the following links to help determine what to watch for and when to know if you should take your dog to the veterinary clinic.  We recommend calling NPIC (National Pesticide Information Center http://npic.orst.edu ) at 800-858-7378 (M-F from 10am – 2pm MST) to speak with a pesticide professional.  They are unbiased and will provide you with what information you will want/need.  Other companies that you can contact are Rocky Mountain Poison Control 800-222-1222 (https://www.copoisoncenter.org/), or Animal Poison Control 888-426-4435.

Bait stations work just like a fast-food drive-up. The mice can go in, feed on the bait, and then exit the bait station.  It does not catch or keep the mice inside.  We cannot control where the mice go after they have feed on the bait that is inside, and there is a very small risk (less than 1%) that the mice will die inside your home.  There should not be an odor unless they die under a direct heat source such as the refrigerator motor or the furnace. Should the mice exit your home, they will use the same avenues that they used to gain access inside your home.

The EPA has a list of requirements that a bait station must meet in order to be classified as “tamper resistant”. This means that the bait station must be an unbreakable black plastic box, although some may vary in color, with a locking lid.  It must be strong enough to prohibit entry or destruction by dogs and children under the age of six years of old, by using their hands, feet, paws, or objects commonly found in the environment (sticks, stones, broken glass, etc.)  The type of bait stations that we used are classified as Tier 1. https://www.epa.gov/rodenticides/choosing-bait-station-product-household-use.  As with any animal, there are always exceptions to the rule when it comes to pets.

It is not uncommon for our technicians to recommend a few monthly follow-ups for 2-3 months to make sure that we achieve eradication. Since the bait stations are a food source for the mice, if the bait station has bait inside, it will continue to work.  Once the bait is consumed, the bait station is no longer working for you.  In severe infestations, our technician may recommend a follow-up in two weeks, but once a month should be more than enough to keep the baits replenished and working for you.  Once we notice that the bait is no longer being consumed, or reduced feedings is observed, we can switch your service frequency to bi-monthly (every other month) or quarterly (every three months).  If we should see increase again, we would recommend that you go back to more frequent service.

We use a few different methods of treatment for mice, and each method would depend on the type of account and what environmental factors may be present. For almost all residential accounts, our technicians will use our tamper resistant rodent bait stations.  These stations are a hard-black plastic “container” that will lock closed and we will have to have a special key to open the bait station.  We will place them in out of reach areas where children and pets cannot readily access the bait.  In some instances when dogs are present, we may not place bait stations in the back yard or in areas where dogs can easily get to them.  Other methods include tin cats, but those are generally used in commercial kitchens.  Rodent bait stations are placed both inside and outside of the home.  On the interior, they are going to be placed in out of reach areas such as: under the kitchen sink, bottom of your pantry, behind the stove, under the refrigerator, under the bathroom sink vanity, in garage corners or behind garage shelves, etc. For the exterior they will be placed around the garage door, each corner of the home, beside man doors going to the exterior of the home from the garage, etc.  They may also be placed in/around a shed/storage area.

It only takes ¼ of an inch for mice to squeeze into your home. They will squeeze and flatten themselves out to make it inside an opening that small.  The most common access points are your plumbing penetrations or electrical conduits around your home.  Garage doors that do not close all the way or that have weather stripping missing are also other avenues that mice use to gain access. A good rule of thumb is that when you are inside your garage and the door is closed, if you can see daylight coming in around the bottom of the door, that is all mice need. As part of our initial treatment of your home for mice, our technician will also complete a thorough inspection both inside and outside of the home to see how the mice are getting in.  Any small avenues that we can correct or repair for you by using steel wool or silicone, our technician will do that, but other larger avenues or construction deficiencies, our technician will point those out and make recommendations to have them repaired.

Multi-unit apartments are difficult to eradication due to the shared common walls and shared plumbing between units. The shared plumbing makes it easy for roaches to travel along the pipes and into other units.  Also, as previous mentioned, in some cases tenants will take it upon themselves to try to treat and use bug bombs of foggers, which will only drive and push roaches to other rooms or units that did not previously have an infestation.  In any multi-unit situation, you have to locate the source unit and eradicate from there, otherwise, without treating the source unit, the infestation may be an ongoing issue.

Depending on the severity of the infestation, it will normally take between 3-5 follow-up visits after the initial application. Our technicians will recommend treatment every two (2) weeks at first, and then once eradication is almost complete, we will recommend a follow-up treatment one (1) month out instead of the two (2) weeks.  A normal roach infestation should take roughly 6-8 weeks to achieve eradication.

There is some preparation that we require in some instances for treatment and our admin staff or service technician can provide you with a copy of our preparation checklist prior to your treatment.

No! This is the worst thing that you can do during our treatment process.  Bug bombs or foggers will only push roaches into wall voids leading them to spread to other rooms that did not have an issue before.  Any over the counter products will only delay and hinder our treatment process.

Similar to our approach for ants, we also use baiting as our primary method of treatment. The bait will act as a food source for roaches to feed on.  The baits used for roaches has a domino effect, in that since roaches are cannibalistic and they will feed on other dead roaches as well as fecal matter of roaches who have ingested the bait.  By doing so, the bait is spread quickly to other roaches and killing them as well.  Roaches do not have to directly feed on the bait itself to receive a lethal dose.  In some instances, our technician may use a spray mixed with a growth regulator, as well as baits, but baiting is our primary treatment method.  DO NOT USE ANY OVER THE COUNTER SPRAYS OR PRODUCTS AFTER WE HAVE TREATED.  Any products that are purchased over the counter are repellents and will only deter or repel the roaches away from our baits.

There are several ways that you can be exposed to roaches, but the most common ways, and the least suspecting ways are through purchasing used products and/or furniture. Electronics that are purchased used in a store or used online can easily be infested unbeknownst to you the customer.  The same can be said for purchasing used furniture or other household goods.  People visiting and people moving in and out of homes can also bring roaches if their homes were infested where they had previously lived.

Not necessarily. As we mentioned before, our technicians are trained at where to apply products and chemicals so that weather does not affect them directly.  We will focus around the windows, door frames, and eave areas, which are normally protected by the overhangs and eaves of your home. Inclement weather does not affect any treatments to the interior of your home whatsoever, so in most cases when we have rainy or snowy days, we can still come and treat the interior of your home.  Most insecticides are designed to adhere to the surfaces to which they were applied.  If you really think about it and if the weather did truly have such a huge impact on the products that we used, we would literally have to go back out and re-treat every single house and account after each rain/snow storm. The manufacturers have created product formulas, many which are water-based, so a little rain does not hurt or wash away your treatment.  As always, we understand our customer’s concerns and will reschedule at their request, however, we can press on and treat as we normally would come rain, snow, or sunshine.

During the fall and winter months, pests and rodents begin to look for and seek shelter for the upcoming cooler months. This is also the time when we see spiders and rodents (mice) make the biggest push indoors so that they can overwinter and survive the freezing temperatures at night.  We want to make sure that your exterior perimeter and first line of defense is in full force with no areas or gaps/lapses in services during this time.  Winter is when we will shift our focus to your rodent bait stations to inspect and replace any necessary bait stations and rodent bait to maintain your rodent coverage through the colder months.  We will also shift our focus to the interior of your home as well for treatment.

Yes. The reason for this is that we offer full home warranties or protection for our customers who are on a maintenance program, and especially for those who are on a quarterly service program.  Why have to pay for a technician to come back and treat a troubled area on the inside if that should happen? When you are on one of our maintenance programs, and we are only able to treat the exterior of the home, most issues that should arise on the inside would be covered at no additional charge if we should need to return to your home.

Yes, unless you specifically tell us not to treat your home when you’re out of town. If you are enrolled in one of our maintenance programs, your home will automatically be under warranty and for us to keep your warranty in effect, we will need to treat your home.  We cannot offer you a warranty if we have not been able to treat your home.  If you are gone on vacation or away during the winter months, it is important to keep your warranty in effect so that whenever you do come home or return for the season, you will still be covered under your warranty.  We also offer an outside service with an interior guarantee as well, so you will always be covered here at Mug-A-Bug.

Again, all our customers will be grid on a specific day each month.  We also offer all our customers several different ways of being reminded and notified of their upcoming services.  We can now text, email, or call you based on the specific number of days prior to your scheduled service that you would like.  Whether that be a text message 3 days before, or an email as far as 30 days in advance, we can customize your service package 100% based on your preferences.  With our text and email programs, it is as easy as replying with either “yes” or “no”. If you reply with yes, our technicians know that your scheduled day is ok for service and they will call you the night before with a narrowed-down time window (between 9-10am or between 2-3pm).  If you reply no, we will automatically receive a notification that the regularly schedule day does not work for you and one of our admin staff will reach out to you to get you rescheduled at your earliest convenience.

We take all that pressure away. Once you have signed up for one of our maintenance programs, our office will grid your home based on your service area and zip code.  This means that you will have a regularly scheduled service day based on the service frequency that you enrolled in.  For example, if you were a monthly customer and your service day was the 2^nd Tuesday of each month, you could go out and mark your calendar for the 2^nd Tuesday of each month and that is when you would expect to see us again.  The same goes for our quarterly customers, in that if they are on the schedule for the 3^rd Wednesday, they would just mark the 3^rd Wednesday based on their quarterly schedule (i.e.: 3^rd Wednesday in February, May, August, and November).  The only time that your scheduled service would change would be if your normally scheduled service day were to fall on a holiday, or if your service area and zip code changed and you are assigned to a new technician.  With new accounts and customers being added daily, we analyze and optimize our technician’s routes on a quarterly basis to keep their schedules balanced, so your service day/schedule may change from time to time as we tighten up and re-zone our customers.

Not a problem at all. We ask that you let your technician know which areas you do not want to be treated before we start our treatment on the inside.  Normally, the customer will advise our technician that they do not want certain rooms (children’s room or master bedroom treated), and they will let the tech know that they have closed the doors to those rooms, so that our tech knows to just skip that room and go on to the next.

We will focus on those areas where pest pressure is going to be at its highest, around your windows and door thresholds, garage areas, window wells, and around the exterior perimeter of your home.  Your home is our main area of concern and your biggest asset to protect. The best method of prevention is to have a solid exterior program in place as your first line of defense to keep them from entering inside your home.  Should you need treatment on the inside of the home, our technicians will treat along the baseboards, up in corners of ceilings, and ground level floors first and then work our way up if you would like treatment on the upper levels of the home.  Remember that most insects are crawling insects and will start from the ground and work their way up, so if you have the first line of defense along the perimeter you will stop most infestations head on before they enter your home.  If a basement exists, then that area will also be covered and treated as well.  Crawlspaces can be treated at an additional charge.

Not really, however, there are times when we are treating a crawlspace or unfinished basement area where there are a lot of stored items or boxes, we would recommend that you center those items in the middle of the room if possible, to provide our technician with proper access to maneuver and treat around those items. Some services (roaches and bed bugs) do require preparation for treatment, and our admin staff or service technician would provide you with that information when scheduling, but your other normal pest control treatments do not require any preparation at all.

Yes and no. This all depends on you as our customer.  Some customers prefer to just have the exterior of their home treated, while other customers prefer both the inside and the outside of their homes treated.  Obviously, to treat the interior of the home someone of legal age (18+) will need to be home to let us in to treat.  We also have several customers who are considered “key” accounts and they have given us permission to enter along with a garage code or hide-a-key and our technician will treat their homes when they are not home.  We leave this option completely up to you.  We are an insured and bonded company, and we want you to have trust in any of our field technicians.

This will vary based on the type of pest issue that you are experiencing. One-time applications for your general crawling insects (ants, crickets, spiders, etc.) we typically recommend blocking at least an hour of your time for our technician to come in, inspect, and treat your home.  With other pests such as roaches or bed bugs, we will normally recommend 90 minutes to 2 hours, but this would be depending on the severity of the infestation and the size of the home or area that we will be treating.  Most maintenance services will average 30-40 minutes each service.

We pride ourselves on our quick response time. In some cases, we can offer same day services, but typically our normal response time is within 24-48 hrs.  Summer as you can imagine, is our busiest time of the year, so our response time may be within the next three (3) to four (4) days, but we do our absolute best to respond in a quick and efficient manner.  Our service technicians are grid and assigned to certain zip codes and areas, so at any given time, we will have a technician in or near your area.

No, we do not. We have service agreements that we request our customers to sign so that you will know exactly what type of program you opted to enroll in and what services would be included in your program.  We believe in transparency and no hidden fees. We are a performance-based company, so if you do not feel as though we are performing or meeting your expectations, you can cancel at any time, we just ask for a 30-day notice when cancelling.  However, there are NO early termination fees or penalties, and we do not make you buy out of your agreement.

We offer several different types of service packages so that our customers can choose the right program that fits their needs and schedules. Our customers can choose either a one-time application (on-demand), monthly services, bi-monthly services (every other month), or quarterly services (every three (3) months), and finally our seasonal program (April – October).  As you can see, we have a program for everyone.

In today’s society, where time and life only get faster and faster, we provide our customers with several different methods of payment. We are a paperless company, so all of your service tickets and invoices will be emailed directly to your preferred email address, or through the postal service if you prefer the old-fashioned way.  If you chose to receive your invoices via email, there will be a direct link to our website for our online bill pay.  Just follow the screen prompts and fill out the necessary fields and you are done.  We also take all major credit cards, check, money order, cash etc.  Some customers have enrolled in our auto-pay program in which they will put a credit card or ACH information on file in a secure and encrypted site, and our system will invoice and bill ONLY when a service has been completed.  We do not bill for any services that are NOT completed. 

We are a family-owned company and we truly believe in our employees having lives outside of their jobs.  We enjoy our down time and our weekends just as much as our customers!  Since we do not offer weekend services, we do offer early morning appointments to our customers.  Some of our technicians can start as early as 4:30am on some days, so we can easily accommodate your schedule to treat your home before you head off to work.

This will vary based on the species of spiders, but for black widow spiders, there are roughly 200 individual eggs inside one egg sac. Typically the eggs will hatch inside the sac about two weeks after they are laid, and will remain inside the egg sac for several additional days.

Spiders seek shelter during the colder months. This can be the inside of your home, or underground burrows or hollowed areas where they will be sheltered from direct exposure to cold temperatures.  While most spiders lay their eggs in the fall, those spiders who are able to find shelter and are able to feed on other insects year round, will be able to continue to reproduce and lay eggs year round.

Cobweb spiders, cellar spiders, funnel weaver and grass spiders are the most common spiders found in homes, and are generally seen during late summer and early fall. For more information on spiders that are commonly found in CO, please visit: http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/spiders-in-the-home-5-512/

Common first aide practices are what we generally recommend customers to follow. First, be sure to clean the area of the bite thoroughly to prevent any potential infection, apply ice to reduce pain and swelling, or if serious symptoms develop such as increasing pain or swelling, we would recommend to seek medical attention.  Try to save a sample of the spider if possible, in the cases of black widows, medical doctors are able to provide you with an antidote, but are only able to do so when positively identified as a black widow bite.  Spider bites are difficult to diagnose as there are other medical conditions that create the same symptoms.  Spider bites in general, specifically those who are diagnosed as a “brown recluse bite” are greatly overdiagnosed in the State of Colorado.

Black widows produce a toxin that affects the nervous system, and muscle pain and tightness of the chest are some of the most common side affects to a bite. Swelling can be seen in some extremities, but is rarely observed at the location of the bite.  Other symptoms that may occur after being bite by a black widow is restlessness, sweating, difficulty with breathing and speech.  While most symptoms are severe only the first day, some may continue for several weeks or a month after the bite, but after the first 2-3 days, the symptoms will usually decline.  In most cases, black widow bites typically affect the extremely young or elderly more severely than the rest of the general population.

Black widow spiders rarely bite humans, and typically only do so if/when they are provoked. Most bites occur when you inadvertently come in contact with widow spiders, such as sitting down on a rock outside where their web may be, or moving stacked fire wood or wood debris piles.  Most widow webs are commonly found in cool, dark, undisturbed sites such as wood piles, corners or garages, crawlspaces, sheds/storage areas, or rodent burrows that are no longer active.  Female black widows do not leave their web to forage or find food.  They strictly eat and feed on what is caught in their webs.

Brown recluse spiders are the most commonly misidentified spider in CO. We have several common species here that look similar to the brown recluse spider.  Some of the most common household spiders that are mistaken for the brown recluse spider are: Funnel Weavers, Cellar Spiders, Wood Louse Spider, and Wolf Spiders.

Recluse spiders are not indigenous (native) to Colorado, and it would be a rare occasion to have one in your home. Our cold winters and dry climate make it difficult for them to live in our environment.  For more information regarding the Brown Recluse Spider and CO, please visit: http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/brown-recluse-spiders-in-colorado-recognition-and-spiders-of-similar-appearance-5-607/  Brown recluse bites in Colorado are very rare.

Yes! Starting January 1, 2015 ALL new VA/FHA loans would be required to perform and complete a termite treatment at the home.  This requires a form to be filled out by the builder (NPMA Form 99A) which states that the builder has completed a termite treatment at the home, as well as a form from a licensed pest control company (NPMA Form 99B). The Form 99B is completed by the licensed pest control company stating that they did in fact perform and complete a termite treatment at the home.  Although the rule was set to expire in May of 2018, many lending institutions are upholding this rule and are still requiring that homes be treated.  https://npmapestworld.org/resourcecenter/hud/

Yes! We perform and complete hundreds of WDIR’s on a yearly basis.  The commonly used form that the lender is looking for is the NPMA-33 form.  When we inspect your home, we are looking for Wood Destroying Insects ONLY.  We will not note any other insects or rodents.  The purpose of this form is to let the lender know if there is any termite activity at the time of the inspection.  An important tip to remember or know is that only a company who is licensed in the Wood Destroying Organisms Category (Category 301) with the Colorado Department of Agriculture should complete your inspection for you.  If you should hire a company who is not currently licensed in the Wood Destroying Organisms Category, and they find evidence of termites, they will not be able to make any recommendations for treatment or how much a treatment should cost. They will only be able to advise you to contact another company who is licensed to treat termites.  Mug-A-Bug would be able to provide you with both the written report as well as a termite bid proposal, if we should find wood destroying insects at the property.

Yes, if the warranty is up to date and each optional renewal has been paid in full, Mug-A-Bug will transfer your warranty over to the new owner of the home.

All our termite treatments come with a one-year warranty from the date of service.  We also send our annual renewal warranty options during the winter months (January-April) so our customers can decide if they want to renew and extend their warranty for another year.  The products that we use for termite treatments will start to break-down over time (roughly 6-8 years) and it may be recommended to do another treatment, but we leave that up to our customers to decide.

If your next-door neighbor has termites at their home, that only confirms that you have termites in your area. It does not automatically mean your house currently has termites, or that you will get termites.  It only means that your home is a greater risk of getting termites or needing a termite treatment in the future.  We would advise you to contact our office to schedule an appointment with one of our termite technicians to come out and do a free inspection for you.  Remember, only the distance of your home to your neighbors will reveal how far active termites are from your home.

Yes and No. Yes, for the scenario in which you are remodeling, and you found what you thought was termite damage or termite activity, or your neighbor has just been treated and you want to know if your house has termites. No, in the case that you request a termite inspection and you require a written report that will be used for a real estate transaction, there will be a charge for that written inspection.  The cost deciding factor will be if you need something in writing which states yes/no as to whether at the time of the inspection we found evidence of termites or other wood destroying insects/organisms.

As we mentioned before, the most commonly found termite species in Colorado is the Eastern Subterranean Termite. You may see visible evidence of termites which includes: mud tubes, flying or swarming termites in a certain room of your home, small pin like holes in drywall, crumbling or damaged wood, or active live termites when removing or opening walls. Termite swarming season normally happens once a year in the Spring and is usually after a “warm” rain or spring snow, in which the temperatures will climb to much warmer temperatures, especially during spring snow storms in March or April.

Termite swarmers (flying termites) are most commonly mistaken as “flying ants”. There are two huge factors that will help easily identify if you have a swarming termite or if you have flying ants, which are also called swarmers.  The first factor is that swarming termites will have a single body (think long grain of rice) and swarming ants will have a “pinched” waist or a curvy figure.  Termite swarmers also have one (1) set of wings that are equal in length and size.  Swarming/flying ants also have wings, but they have two (2) sets of wings that are not equal in length or size, as the front pair of wings is longer and bigger then the back set of wings, which are shorter and much smaller in size. Visit http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/termites-5-532/ for a quick visual reference and termite facts.  Visit our termite page (https://www.mugabugpestcontrol.com/pest-services-colorado-springs/termite-control/termite-info/) for more pictures and information regarding the different type of classes/workers of the termite colony.

Absolutely! (http://www.termite.com/termites/termites-colorado.html) Here in Colorado Springs we have the Eastern Subterranean Termite, which means that the termites are underground, and most of our homeowners and customers did not even know that they had termites until they opened a wall during remodel/construction, or they found a termite mud-tube (think subway train system) about the width of a pencil climbing up their wall or foundation.  There are certain zip codes or areas of the City that seem to be more prone to termites than others.  We believe this to be based on the different water tables, soil content, and moisture levels.  80918 and 80917 are two of our most popular zip codes when it comes to finding live and active termites.