Ticks

[Trudy]

never did find a little thing to remove them with.

So minus the tick remover tool, what is the best way to remove an embedded tick.

Just noticed one in the fold of T's ear.

 

Plucked one off from Jet earlier today that decided to just walk over her.

[HopeForHounds]

At Sandy Paws a couple of years ago, GIJenn and Cathie showed us how to take them off using our finger nails. Here is the same info using tweazers, it's a site for parents of children, but the method is the same

 

Clicky here

 

Click on the box part way down the page.

[Trudy]

went with the normal tick removal with tweezers and instead of killing it, offered it to the ducks. Ally enjoyed her first tick

[Greys4Us]

Our group sells these:

 

http://www.tickkey.com/

 

We love them and have not heard one complaint about them. We can't keep them in stock. You don't have to touch the tick.

[Guest Energy11]

went with the normal tick removal with tweezers and instead of killing it, offered it to the ducks. Ally enjoyed her first tick

 

 

NOW, THAT is amazing! Recycling a tick! Love it! Love your duckies, too!

[GeorgeofNE]

Pulled out my first tick when I was about 8 I think--Dad showed me how. Just grasp it as close to the skin as possible and pull it out.

[CaliforniaGreys]

Our group sells these:

 

http://www.tickkey.com/

 

We love them and have not heard one complaint about them. We can't keep them in stock. You don't have to touch the tick.

 

 

Someone here suggested the key before so I bought a couple. I haven't had to use it but my BIL has used it several times and he said it's great

[nyGreys]

I have pulled out to many of those nasty little buggers, with my fingers!

I usually flush them, but then I get paranoid about them crawling out & getting on me.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I just use my fingers. I put my nails as close to the skin as I can and just yank.

[Guest Houndstown]

If it's embedded and you don't want to touch it, you can saturate a cotton ball with alcohol and lay it on the tick. The tick will un-embed on its own so you can pull it off easily.

[DesiRayMom]

I know ticks are living creatures, but can anyone tell me if they have any good purpose anywhere? Duck food perhaps?

[pabozem]

Hettie, thanks for the link to your group. I just ordered two of the tick keys!

[greyhoundlady]

Ewww. Can't stand the suckers. But then, who does. I use tweezers as others mentioned, and get as close to the skin as possible. Once I have the nasty thing, I drop it into the flame of a candle - it is gone quick. As to other methods of de-ticking, if you have the patience, I understand that putting soft soap on a cotton ball and covering the tick with it will cause the tick to release or back out of the skin in a very short time. Guess that it feels suffocated. I have not actually done this because I want them gone as quickly as possible, but perhaps if tweezers are not available, this would work. I give those credit that grab with their fingernails. ekk.

 

Here is something I found as to their purpose, as someone asked: (Doesn't make me feel any better about them though.)

 

Ticks play an important role in the food chain of an ecosystem. Ticks and other small parasitic insects are a favorite food of birds which will often pick engorged ticks right off the body of host animals. Ticks also fall as prey to a number of predatory insects like spiders and parasitic wasps and are often infected by predatory species of nematode and fungus. Ticks are a strong and important link in the food chain as they take nourishment from large host animals high in the food chain and transfer that energy down the chain to lesser organisms.

 

Read more: What Purpose Do Ticks Serve in the Ecosystem? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5149803_purpose-do-ticks-serve-ecosystem.html#ixzz0y1tIB3sY

[Guest GentleHugs]

Just an odd off the wall scientific question here but for the warm bodied animals who eat ticks - if the tick is infected with a tick borne disease, would the warm bodied animal who ate said infected tick get infected, too?

 

And staying on topic - I HATE ticks. I've used my fingernails before along with a pair of tweezers. If I remove them with my fingernails, I immediately put the tick in alcohol and also wash my hands in alcohol, too. They say there's a chance you can become infected with a TBD if you touch it or crush it with your bare hands.

 

My next door neighbor got bit by a tick last year after I warned them about contracting a TBD through tick bites. His answer to me was "no big deal". Of course, he thought he a macho kinda guy, too, until he landed in the hospital with his liver enzymes so high they thought his liver was failing. He was admitted while his Dr did a tick test on him. Sure enough - he had Erlichiosis. He was in the hosp for almost a week being given doxy over that.

[Guest K9_Lady]

Our group sells these:

 

http://www.tickkey.com/

 

We love them and have not heard one complaint about them. We can't keep them in stock. You don't have to touch the tick.

 

 

Someone here suggested the key before so I bought a couple. I haven't had to use it but my BIL has used it several times and he said it's great

 

I purchased one from my group and used it the same day, lol! They do work!

[Guest mcsheltie]

You shouldn't put anything on the tick to kill it or back it out. That will cause the tick to inject a burst of saliva, which contains the bacteria. I always use my fingers. But have been told not to because that can push saliva and blood containing bacteria into the wound. You should use a tweezers and SLOWLY pull it straight out. Don't twist it or it's head may come off. Once you get it out, check to see if all it's parts are there.

[Guest iconsmum]

oh my god...I'm up here in Toronto and we wouldn't know what a tick was if it walked up and shook hands. Although I hear that lyme disease is being diagnosed more often up here now, it used to be that our doctors would have no clue what those symptomatic actually had because it was unheard of. We need a bit of educating. If I found a tick on me or my dogs, I'd have a heart attack....useless owner ))