From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2005-06-02 05:59:16 UTC
Subject: RE: I found a ferret & I need help!
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <5123105.1117691956021.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Well, I found a few that are not multi-host, but can't find any which fit the descriptions if what are seen are eggs, and if i am reading the timing right.
If something else is being mistaken for eggs then maybe these ferrets actually got into a newly hatched batch of seed ticks and you just are not noticing them until they get large enough?
http://www.familyvet.com/tick.htm
describes what happens with several types of commonly encountered North American ticks:
>The female will detach and lay thousands of eggs in the environment.
>(Up to 2000 at a time!) These eggs hatch into larval ticks called "seed ticks"
>which sometimes are seen by the thousands on some dogs. Seed ticks
>must feed on blood from a dog or other mammal, then they fall to the ground
>and molt into a "nymph" stage. Again, the nymphs must find a mammalian
>host, feed on blood, and again fall to the ground and molt into adults.
BTW, if any ticks seen on ferrets are full of eggs the eggs of ticks take about 2 weeks to hatch after being laid in the environment, so treating the surroundings becomes important. See:
http://www.drjaffe.com/website/ticks.htm
which also notes:
>TICKS CAN LIVE IN THE ENVIRONMENT WITH OUT A HOST FOR
>UP TO 3-5 MONTHS. TREAT THE ENVIRONMENT ALONG WITH THE PET.
Though written for humans there is a lot of excellent tick info in this article to help any species:
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CID/journal/issues/v32n6/000509/000509.text.html?erFrom=5479890640797774897Guest
Okay: here is a great tick site. There are 3 types of one-host ticks mentioned (one of which is hoped to be eradicated from the U.S.). Most ticks are multi-host, but the more I read the more i keep finding. Anyway, for those who benefit from knowing the types of ticks which can attack animals in the U.S.:
http://www.cvm.okstate.edu/instruction/kocan/vpar5333/533ot2aa.htm
http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/rbkimsey/tickbio.html
Has an excellent series of tick life cycle diagrams about half way down the page.
I still can not find any instances of ticks laying eggs in fur... They drop off and typically find cracks in which to lay eggs.