uco

[nookie13]

could anyone please help......i found an insect indoors and i havent got a clue it is about 7/8mm long a body the same size shape and colour as a dried pea and the legs and head come out the front of it like a hermit crab....i have posted a pic on the unidentified picture page....please please please does anyone know what it is its really annoying me

[thunder]

Bit of a fuzzy picture, but shows enough to see that this is a tick (an external parasite that feeds on blood) - will have come off an animal - check your pets for others that may not be this big until they have had a full meal. Check yourself as well!

henrya

[clicka15]

It definitely looks like a tick. What did you do with it? The reason I ask is that they can be bad news.

Being parasitic, they carry diseases like Lymes Disease, which is not a condition that I would recommend (check it out on Wikipedia).

Ticks are most often present in livestock fields, especially sheep. They attach themselves to my wife's horses with alarming regularity at certain times of year. She removes them using a tick remover, or by smothering them with vaseline or surgical spirit - not a nice method because it kills the tick, but I think that's the aim!

I have found ticks crawling over me after crawling around in the grass taking photographs. Thankfully, they have never made contact with my skin though.

I have to say, of all the animals in the animal kingdom, the one that seriously gives me the creeps is the tick. Give me a whip-tailed scorpion anyday; just keep the ticks away!

[Venger]

Originally Posted by clicka15

by smothering them with vaseline or surgical spirit - not a nice method because it kills the tick, but I think that's the aim!

I do not suggest this as a removal of ticks on people, they tend to regurgitate into the wound, not good if they are carrying anything harmful (Lymes disease for instance) use tweezers or cotton to remove them. Get as close to the head and you, grip and pull vertically - don't twist them.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Venger

I do not suggest this as a removal of ticks on people, they tend to regurgitate into the wound, not good if they are carrying anything harmful (Lymes disease for instance) use tweezers or cotton to remove them. Get as close to the head and you, grip and pull vertically - don't twist them.

that virtually guarantees that you snap off the proboscis or if you are "lucky" remove a tube of flesh - do twist them , anti clockwise

[Venger]

Guess we have a difference of opinion eeyore

Direct post from NHS Direct:

Grab the tick as close to the skin as you can, and gently pull straight up until all parts are removed. Do not twist, or jerk the tick as you are removing it as this may cause the mouthparts to break off and remain in your skin. Also, do not use petroleum jelly, alcohol, or a lit match to remove a tick, as they won’t work.
NHS Direct insect bites

[eeyore]

like you say we have a difference of opinion

as a proffesional countryside worker i have removed in excess of 20 ticks from varying parts of my anatomy in the last ten years and in everycase they have come out cleanly by twisting - the proboscis is corkscrew shaped which tends to give a pointer as to how it is easier to get them out

they will come out if you pull slowly but it will hurt more.

the probable reason that nhs direct dont recoment twisting is that a) if you twist them the wrong way you are screwing them deeper into your flesh , and b) twisting using tweezers is a good way to break the proboscis - i use a specially made tool known as a ticktwister Remove Ticks Easily with Tick Twister® which works, in my experience, every time

[Boddie]

Originally Posted by eeyore

that virtually guarantees that you snap off the proboscis or if you are "lucky" remove a tube of flesh - do twist them , anti clockwise

Do you have to twist Australian ticks clockwise?

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Boddie

Do you have to twist Australian ticks clockwise?

no because you are upside down while you are doing it

[Venger]

Not a problem eeyore

Now people can choose I suppose - luckily I've only had to deal with 3 ticks, they came out no problem - but that doesn't mean that things might 'break'.
I'll have to get one of those tick removers - see if I can fit it in my first aid kit.

V