tick loads

I had a tick on a GCN a couple of years ago, which was unusual. It was on the back or side of the neck and had apparently caused an infection in the animal, or the animal was selected because it was already infected and weak. It was bloated all over.

And I didn't mean to cast doubt on your description of your experience; it's different from mine, that's all, and from what a lot of published warnings describe. Maybe there is a knack. Or maybe the tropical ticks are larger and not so fragile. The advice is to make them let go by touching them with a hot needle, or to drown them in paraffin or vaseline before removing. Or slide a needle under the head, between the jaws, before applying force.

There is definitely a 'best practice' for tick removal, but sometimes the situation or circumstances don't allow that to be suitable. Unless I were advising in a legal capacity, then I wouldn't wish to suggest that every other method is incorrect and will more certainly lead to disastrous regurgitation. It seems to be that the concern for the risk of ticks regurgitating has now progressed into, this will happen if you don't follow this set method. The same warnings also apply to leeches and yet also in places where I've lived with abundant leeches, the general consensus seems to be to just pull them off.

I feel like I need to separate what I said above from any reference to sand lizards, how we deal with ticks and how wild animals deal with ticks are not something I'd wish to try and link. My knowledge of how lizards deal with ectoparasites is limited, but many animals have limited ways of removal, do reptiles not?

I find the picture quite sad and also quite alarming. They look like Deer ticks which are the main vector for Lyme Disease as well as other tick born pathogens. I don't know if Sand Lizards 'get' Lyme Disease as such but I seem to recall some North American lizards being suspected of being hosts.

Be careful and check yourself for ticks after spending any time in likely tick areas, the ticks can be really hard and small, often smaller than the ones you often see on cats and dogs. Lyme Disease is widespread in the UK.

If you do get bitten by a tick then my advice is to get straight to the doctor and suggest/insist that you be treated for possible first stage, localised Lyme Disease. If you catch it very quickly then a relatively small dose of antibiotics should be enough to shift it. Some Doctors might try to get you to take a test for Lyme Disease before they offer any treatment but the test is not very acurate and you might have wasted valuable time waiting for the results (which might not even be acurate anyway) Not worth the risk IMO.

I was bitten by a Deer Tick and caught Lyme Disease at the beginning of 2009. I started treatment exactly 30 days after being bitten. I am now sympton free but it took two and a half years on doses of multiple antibiotics you would find hard to believe to get to this stage. Medical science does not yet have all the answers when it come to Lyme Disease. Don't take any chances.

will wrote: a well made point, for sure - thanks.  Most of the time I guess we tend to be well protected around the legs because of adders on heathland, but the little beggars can crawl up and find exposed flesh elsewhere.

Yes,  a large proportion of Tick bites aren't immediate, they can wait in your clothes or on your body for days or longer. The one that bit me I found imbedded in my groin area six days after I had left the site, I don't know if it had been there all that time but I think it's more likely that it just chose it's time before biting. I'm not squeemish about that kind of thing and actually thought it was quite funny at the time. I removed it by using some anti-insect cream which in hindsight was pretty stupid even if effective. Even then I waited until I had systematic symptoms before I took further action. I had a rash on the site of the bite but not the classic 'Bullseye' rash that is so often assocated with Lyme Disease.

I would have saved myself so much, time stress and money by being better educated to the risks and taking action as soon as I found the tick rather than waiting until I was ill. Actually I still consider myself one of the lucky ones.