Message Number: SG14185 | New FHL Archives SearchFrom: sukiec@optonline.net
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2005 06:59:16 +0100 (BST)
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Subject: RE: I found a ferret & I need help!
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.
Send comments to Pam at pjdutche@email.unc.edu. Please note that this address is only useful for questions about the FHL archive. Questions about ferret health, or those intended for the FHL, should be sent to the Ferret Health List.