7 ms·
> you squeeze their contents through their mouths Whenever someone recommends removal using tweezers, I wonder if the person offering this advice has ever remo
by mgerdts 3mo ago
> you squeeze their contents through their mouths
Whenever someone recommends removal using tweezers, I wonder if the person offering this advice has ever removed a well attached tick. I’ve found tools like a Tick Tornado work better, but are still problematic with smaller ticks.
https://www.zenpetusa.com/tick-tornado https://www.zenpetusa.com/tick-tornado
- CamperBob2 3mo agoWe always covered them with coal-tar ointment (ichthyol / ichthammal) for a few minutes. They detached without a problem after that, with nothing more than a subtle hint from the tweezers. Just breaking out the tweezers and yanking away was most emphatically not recommended. It can leave the mouth parts behind, if nothing else.
- aorloff 3mo agoOn dogs my friend likes to strike a match, touch the extinguished tip to the back of the tick, and then pull it out with tweezers. Seems to work
- sciencejerk 3mo agoFrom experience, you might end up with 2nd degree burns and burn the bugger into a hot crispy pile of ash.
- LargoLasskhyfv 3mo agoNow that you say it... Makes me wonder of what would happen when you'd use the tips of two blank wires connected to a 1.5V battery? ZAP! Could be made into a small USB-gadget, to have it always available? Zaptastick!
- bookofjoe 3mo agoI like this. Better: ZapStick!
- LargoLasskhyfv 3mo agoI actually searched for things like that after posting. It's already a thing*, in many different variations. Some use piezo-electrics, advertised as 'battery free'. And countless other stuff, many with some variation of Zap(p) in their names. *Sort of, didn't see small 'passive' ones powered by USB. Edit: Thinking about it, one could abuse and modify one of the countless e-vapes for it? Small enough in most cases, and self-powered.
- bookofjoe 3mo agoThis is your ticket to $$$. All you need is a friend with Steve Wozniak-like capability and Bob's your uncle.
- LargoLasskhyfv 3mo agoNot interested in $$$/€€€. Already have enough of those. As a personal project probably. But not commercially. That would be too much of a hassle. Which I also have enough of, already ;->
- qup 3mo agoZapsTick
- bookofjoe 3mo agoOMG YES GENIUS!
- Foobar8568 3mo agoConsidering how often dogs in my area were covered with ticks, I am surprised we never got one as teenagers, we were running or biking in the same place. 30+ years ago we would use ether to remove them, and I enjoyed burning them afterwards, it was so satisfying...
- LargoLasskhyfv 3mo agoIn my experience it works the same way by simply using a drop of dishwashing detergent on them. After 30 seconds max they want to get out with wriggling legs. Works on me after jogging, on my cats, at the back of their neck. Any other place they can take care by themselves, and do.
- mireg 3mo agoI always carry a tick removal card in my wallet. Perfect removal every time. Even the tiny ones.
- lukan 3mo agoThe cards I found close to useless. The tools in the link from the parent poster, which are actually for pets, work much, much better. And tiny ones are easy to remove with finger nails and some spit. But it requires some skill, do not stress out the ticks while they are attached and be careful to not partially remove it. (Just had to remove 3 ticks on me I failed to spot after a late night walk yesterday, bigger and medium sized ones with tool, the small one with fingernail) edit: and found a 4th one, but a tiny one(nymphe), they don't carry lyme disease as only ticks who have previously bitten a infected animal before will have it