Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 3,196

3 members and 3,193 guests
Most users ever online was 6,337, 01-24-2020 at 04:30 AM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,031
Threads: 248,489
Posts: 2,568,442
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, isismomma
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 21
  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran Lana's_mom's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-26-2011
    Posts
    370
    Thanks
    51
    Thanked 44 Times in 32 Posts

    Tick on Ball Python?? What to do?

    I was just in checking on my snakes before turning the lights out for the night and noticed what looks like a small tick on one of my girls. Its greay with the darker area by the head of it. What do I do? Fleas and ticks are a big problem in the area of Texas I am in right now do to the fact that we had no winter. My reptile room is right next to my grooming room so I can only guess that a client dog brought it in. I never would of thought about a tick traveling to the reptile area, and going for a snake rather than a warm blooded critter. Or a mouse could have brought it in??? I am in the country and no matter what I do wild mice are a fact of life I could live without. So do I use tweezers and pull it off? What do I do and what can I used to prevent this from happening again?
    Last edited by Lana's_mom; 04-10-2012 at 09:51 PM.

  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran RestlessRobie's Avatar
    Join Date
    08-10-2011
    Posts
    1,576
    Thanks
    363
    Thanked 600 Times in 523 Posts
    Images: 4

    Re: Tick on Ball Python?? What to do?

    Pull it off with tweazers if you can would be my recomendation
    Robie


    2.0 Normal Ball Pythons Peek a Boo & Dezmond
    1.0 Black Pewter Ball Python Pepe Le Pewter
    0.1 Piebald Ball Python Slinky
    0.1 Siberian Husky Danadog
    2.5 Fancy Rat's Patch, Robin Hood, Lucky, Lucy, Bolt, Cinnamon, Patcheta
    1.1 Great Kiddo's
    0.1 Wonderful Wife
    1.0 Awesome Dad (me)

  3. #3
    BPnet Veteran satomi325's Avatar
    Join Date
    08-15-2011
    Location
    In a galaxy far,far away.
    Posts
    6,423
    Thanks
    2,429
    Thanked 3,969 Times in 2,446 Posts
    Images: 5
    I don't suggest just pulling it off. If the head gets stuck, it can continue to bury itself into the skin and cause infection. So unless you can pull the head out, don't try anything. I suggest just leaving it the tick alone and let it fall off by itself.

    Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by satomi325; 04-10-2012 at 10:02 PM.

  4. #4
    BPnet Veteran Lana's_mom's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-26-2011
    Posts
    370
    Thanks
    51
    Thanked 44 Times in 32 Posts
    It will fall off by its self? It is right behind her jaw, I admit I am a bit freaked out by it. She just shed last night so I couldn't of been on her long. Is there any risk to her if I leave it alone to fall off? It already looks like it is trying to burrow into her skin.

  5. #5
    BPnet Veteran Inarikins's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-24-2011
    Location
    Western SD
    Posts
    1,067
    Thanks
    301
    Thanked 296 Times in 213 Posts
    You can buy something called a tick key. We use it on our dogs, but it's designed to pull the tick out head and all. Don't know if it would be safe on a snake, but it should be.

    http://www.tickkey.com/

    If you leave it it will eventually pull off when it's full but it could just leap onto you or a dog or something and it might start multiplying. You're better off getting rid of it while it's still there.

  6. #6
    BPnet Veteran satomi325's Avatar
    Join Date
    08-15-2011
    Location
    In a galaxy far,far away.
    Posts
    6,423
    Thanks
    2,429
    Thanked 3,969 Times in 2,446 Posts
    Images: 5
    It will fall out when its full and can't drink any more blood.
    Just note it will get really engorged.

    Are you sure its a tick and not a mite?

    Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by satomi325; 04-10-2012 at 10:16 PM.

  7. #7
    BPnet Veteran Lana's_mom's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-26-2011
    Posts
    370
    Thanks
    51
    Thanked 44 Times in 32 Posts
    Ok. I went ahead and pulled it off. I have a lot of experience of getting ticks off of dogs, so I tried it. I am pretty confident that I got it head and all off of my girl. It was big enough to see easily and to grab with tweezers, and it looked like a tick. It was about the size of this "o". Maybe just a tad smaller. To my understanding, correct me if I am wrong, but a mite is more the size a period on the page, right?

  8. #8
    BPnet Veteran Lana's_mom's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-26-2011
    Posts
    370
    Thanks
    51
    Thanked 44 Times in 32 Posts
    I will be keeping a close eye on my girl, and I checked everyone else over and no one else appeared to have any. So tomorrow I am going to bleach the groom room and deep clean the snake room. I normally clean my groom room pretty heavy anyways after grooming dogs, but I will go over it with a fine tooth comb with bleach tomorrow.
    Last edited by Lana's_mom; 04-10-2012 at 10:36 PM.

  9. #9
    BPnet Senior Member WarriorPrincess90's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-04-2011
    Location
    Sarasota, Florida
    Posts
    1,262
    Thanks
    670
    Thanked 515 Times in 424 Posts
    Images: 17
    Did you check to make sure you managed to get the head out? And also, I personally would never leave a tick on any animal until it voluntarily let's go. The longer it is attached, the greater the chance of transmitting pathogens. You did the right thing. Just make sure you keep that area clean and check her regularly for signs of infection. Nasty little buggers. We're having a similar problem here in Florida. Yuck!


    - Nakita

  10. #10
    BPnet Lifer mainbutter's Avatar
    Join Date
    09-30-2008
    Location
    Washington, DC
    Posts
    5,690
    Thanks
    269
    Thanked 1,374 Times in 1,053 Posts
    Images: 7
    I take ticks off of our dog regularly, and myself on rarer occasions as even the best tick-proof clothing can eventually fail. It's not that hard.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1