Whether you find ticks in the house or out back, we have a game plan to help you reduce your health risks and prevent an infestation on your property.
By Glenda Taylor and Bob Vila | Updated Jun 8, 2022 3:04 PM
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To prevent brown dog tick infestations in your home, always be sure to protect your pet using an appropriate topical tick killer, especially before taking it to be kenneled.
[S.E. , Commerce City CO]: “We removed about 10 ticks from our small Chihuahua on October 2 but didn’t know what they were. Three days before finding the ticks on the dog I found a tick crawling up our wall. Not knowing what it was, I discarded the weird creature. I’ve since been told they are “Rocky Mountain ticks” and I’ve found them on our computer desk, in the bathroom, on the kitchen curtain, on the baby’s playpen, and even on the baby. Some are small, but one found crawling up the wall in my son’s bedroom was full grown but flat, not blood fed. Where did they come from and how do I get rid of these horrible things. This infestation is driving me up the wall!!”
We’ve gotten a number of letters with pleas for information that often go something like this one:
[TickEncounter]: While most ticks live outdoors and occasionally make it into the house, this sounds like brown dog ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) which are the only tick that more typically completes its lifecycle entirely inside of the house or kennel. This tick prefers warm, dry conditions and mainly feeds on dogs. A house infestation usually begins when one or two brown dog ticks come home from a kennel or other infested area on the pet dog. When the infestation is in its early stages, few ticks are present and they largely go unnoticed. This situation can change relatively quickly—one to 3 months after the ticks came in with the dog. As the infestation builds, ticks of different sizes are usually seen biting the dog and crawling up the walls and curtains.
Getting an infestation under control may take several months and several treatments. It probably is best to call in a trained professional with experience controlling brown dog tick TERC recommends a 4-step process:
Keep in mind that tick infestations are rare indoors.
Ticks thrive in moist and humid conditions where the humidity is 90 percent or higher, and most cannot survive in a climate-controlled house for more than a few days. Indoors, they simply desiccate (dry out) and die. Merely being inside can dramatically shorten a tick lifespan. In fact, the University of Rhode Island’s Tick Encounter Resource Center (TERC) reports the results of a study in which immature deer ticks that were exposed to indoor humidity levels of 75 percent died in about 8 hours. While a tick might live a couple of days in a hamper full of moist clothing, it won’t be long enough to reproduce.
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An innocent walk through the woods with your pup can result in ticks entering your home. Many varieties of ticks arent prone to making a home indoors. Deer ticks, for example, typically die within 24 hours, and can only survive short periods in places where moisture content is less than around 90 percent. Brown dog ticks, however, can make their nests and thrive indoors. Ticks are detrimental, sure, but these 12 most dangerous bugs that you need to look out for this summer wreak their own havoc. So, if you find a tick in your house, be sure to then keep these things in mind. [rd-video id=”282052″ /]