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Home and Garden > Pest Control > Ticks on April 23, 2012

Getting Rid of Ticks

Tick on SkinTicks can be troublesome for humans and pets. This is a guide about getting rid of ticks.
     

Solutions: Getting Rid of Ticks

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Removing Ticks

The most recent information on tick removal is to simply grab the little bugger with tweezers. Grab them behind the head so you hold the whole body with the tweezers, and pull it right straight backwards, out of your skin. Don't twist it, just pull straight out. Put the tick into a baggie or clear tape to take to the doctor, and wash the bite with soap and water. Take the tick to the doctor to be tested for Lyme Disease, which can become a chronic problem.

Source: Girl Scout and Boy Scout outdoor trainings

By Eileen from Elk Grove, CA

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Questions

Here are questions related to Getting Rid of Ticks.

Ticks

How do you safely keep ticks off your children and animals. I'm concerned about some of the insecticidal chemicals but don't want my daughter getting Lyme disease either. Does anyone know of any good natural methods for treating large areas?
- Mary

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Most Recent Answer

By lynn71 05/13/2011

I use seven dust. It's what you use in a garden to keep bugs away. I sprinkle it on my dogs. You can also sprinkle it in your yard and on the floor in your house. Leave on for ten minutes and vacuum it up, it wont hurt the kids. My grandaughter plays with the dogs after they have been treated and it hasn't harmed her.

Getting Rid of Ticks in the Yard

Dog lying in the grassTicks are over-abundant this year, and I live around lots of trees. Is there any good solution for getting rid of them in the yard? I keep the grass cut short. I distributed borax in the yard, which gets rid of fleas very well. I am hoping it works well for ticks too! There are cats and squirrels around our house that I think are bringing them into the yard.

By Sarah

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Most Recent Answer

By muttmom 05/12/2012

You and the neighborhood would benefit if there were several clutches of guinia hens. They wander but neighbors shouldn't mind when they find what beneficial birds they are. They will clear a mountainside of ticks given time. They are smart as well. Not as vulnerable as chickens.

Getting Rid of Ticks in Yard

How can I get rid of ticks in my back yard?

By asp

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By Jacketbacker 05/21/2012

Either put out Borax in your yard (Mule Team Borax, like clothes are washed with), or sevin dust. Both will help rid the yard of fleas and ticks.

Getting Rid of Ticks

My yard is infested with ticks and I have 2 dogs. What's the best and safest way to get rid of them?

Hardiness Zone: 10b

By Simone from Turks Caicos Islands

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Most Recent Answer

By soraxcloud 05/31/2011

You can try growing a plant called pennyroyal. We have a tick problem that isn't anywhere near as bad as yours but bad enough that it's annoying. So, I've been doing some reading up on possible remedies and it seems this plant scares off ticks and can also be used as a flea repellent on dogs and can be used as a general bug repellent on people. However pregnant woman shouldn't go anywhere near it and I'm also reading it can be poisonous to cats.

Getting Rid of Dog Ticks

I live in Mesa, Arizona and I have never had ticks on my dogs growing up. Now that my wife and I have a house of our own we have ticks like crazy all over our 3 dogs. They come in the house and in one sitting I can kill 10 on the floor. We have tick collars on all three, have given them baths with the tick soap, and put the oils down their backs. Please help. I need ideas to get them gone.

By Jimmy

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Most Recent Answer

By fuzzytufts 10/31/2011

To rid yourself of both, the cheapest way is to get a product called Talstar it is fairly cheap and you will like it. I used it this year and only treated my dogs. The time I used the Talstar and fleas and ticks are gone. Yes, you must get rid of them in the house but you can safely spray Talstar there to.

Getting Rid of Ticks in My House

I live in West Texas and my yard and the inside of my house are infested with ticks. I just had to take a litter of gsp to the shelter because I thought they would have a better chance. I've treated my yard with Orthomax, Sevendust, and Orkin. I have dipped my dogs, powdered them up, cow tags, you name it. The only thing I could treat the puppies with was K9 Advantix and that didn't even work. Help please.

Victoria from West Texas

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Most Recent Answer

By dizzy 06/13/2011

I just found 5 of the nasty pests on two of my dogs & started research on getting rid of them & some other nasty bugs as well. Diatomaceous earth (food grade only, the other used for pool filters is HIGHLY toxic!) is one good way to get rid of them.

You can get it in a powder form that you can actually use on your dog to get rid of the fleas & ticks! I found it on 'dirtworks.net'. I also found that nematods can not only get rid of these nasty pests but get rid of a few other garden critters as an added bonus!

They will not hurt you or your pets butlove the bad guys! Arbico Organics has many different ones to help get rid of these pests. You might also want to consider natural oils to help in the fight as well. Fleasmart.com can help with that if you don't want to use chemicals on you or your pets.

I hadn't seen ticks for a very long time so I suspect they are being brought in by the over abundant number of mice, squirrels & rabbits that are taking over this year. If you live in the country, or even near the country they may be one of the reasons you are having to fight these crawlies.

Mice could be bringing them in so you might want to trap & get rid of them as well. I hope this will help any of you that are having this nasty & dangerous problem! Best of luck!

Removing Wood Ticks

Someone had suggested putting some kind of lotion on the tick and it will back out. I can't remember what it was. Help!

By Anne

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Most Recent Answer

By foxrun41 05/07/2012

In case you did'nt read all of my earlierpost.

"Do not apply any substances to the tick before removing it - no alcohol or nail polish, no petroleum jelly or other ointments, and do not try to burn it out or otherwise convince to let go of you. It won't let go. It will just happily keep on sucking your blood and pumping pathogens into you."

Killing Ticks in the Yard

How do I kill ticks in the yard?

By Linda

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By liz Mickey 05/30/2012

Thanks for the info. I think our chickens eat ticks too, as we aren't over run with them.

Getting Rid of Ticks

My brother and his wife live in Florida. They are having a lot of trouble with ticks in their yard and in the house. They have two small kids and animals. What can they use to keep the ticks away? The kids have gotten up and had one crawling on them help!

By Jami T

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Getting Rid of Ticks Naturally

How do I kill ticks on my wooded property without killing everything else?

By Deborah

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By muttmom 05/29/2012

Guinea hens will clean them up for several houses around.

Childsafe Remedy For Ticks

For the first time in my dogs life he has ticks and now they are infesting my home. What can I do to get rid of them? What can I do? I have a 3yr old and need a safe remedy.

Tami from Mesa, AZ

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Most Recent Answer

By cheri (Guest Post) 06/23/2008

Food-grade diatomacious earth can be obtained at your local feed store. it's non toxic, but lethal to ticks. you simply dust it on your animals (it's like powder). Research it online, there's lots of info out there. Good luck!

Getting Rid of Ticks on Dogs

Can anybody give me a home remedy for getting rid of ticks on a dog?

By Gladys from Chelsea, MA

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Archives

Here are archived discussions related to this page.

Getting Rid of Ticks in My House

I live in Central Florida and am battling ticks indoors and out. We have a large Shephard and a 2 year old daughter. We have professionally sprayed a number of times. I have had my dog shaved and dipped. He has a flea collar and we use Frontline. I am going crazy!

Emily from Central, Florida


RE: Getting Rid of Ticks in My House

Try using Borax on your carpets and baseboards with vacuuming. Make sure to leave it on there for at least 20-30 minutes to penetrate the fibers. You can easily find directions online or on the box.

Borax is great for cleaning fleas, ticks, bugs, etc. When I make my carpet cleaner/deoderizer I always add Borax to it to help with the insect/bug problem in my area of Florida.

Hope this helps! (01/11/2008)

By bjgould1213

RE: Getting Rid of Ticks in My House

I feel your pain Emily! My home is infested with ticks right now too. We have a 10 year old daughter and a 90lb. German Shepard. The feeling of seeing these ticks crawling up my walls and out from under baseboards is VERY disturbing. We have spent over $400 in the past 4 weeks on pest control to rid us of this and still we are getting up to 20 ticks a day that we pick up and flush. I was wondering if you tried the Borax thing yet? Did it work. I am desperate! My dog is treated with Advantix and a collar so he is getting bites but they are not sticking to him. Thank God. Just wondering if since you posted this a week ago if you've tried anything thats worked? (01/18/2008)

By Melissa

RE: Getting Rid of Ticks in My House

Get some bug killing "granules" from Wal-mart or other garden center. The granules last longer. Everytime they are wetted down they release more. Just spread around the yard with spreader and wet down with hose or sprinkler. Make sure they are labeled for ticks. Be sure you get around under any trees and shrubs well. There is a tick collar called "Preventic". It lasts for about 3 months for your adult dogs. It does nothing for fleas and you have to get it from your veterinarian, but it does work. (01/19/2008)

By junebug_000

RE: Getting Rid of Ticks in My House

I have done an experiment and found the 20 mule borax does not kill ticks. I placed 2 live ticks in a small container of borax and the next morning they where still walking around, so that does not appear to work. (03/10/2008)

By wre11

RE: Getting Rid of Ticks in My House

I too live in Florida and I too am having problems with Ticks this year. I have the dogs on k9-advantix and on the preventics colar, which works pretty good except for their feet. The ticks are hiding in their toes, are there any treatments or things that can be done to stop them from going there?

Also what are the granuals that where mentioned for the ticks in the yard, as I believe the ticks are in the hedges around the house, should the leaves be treated or just the base? Any product work better then any other? I was given something by the vets but that does not seem to be slowing the ticks down. (03/12/2008)

By wre11

RE: Getting Rid of Ticks in My House

I sympathies with all of you suffering tick infestations. I live in the Tampa area and spent $1,600 and probably 200 hours of my time getting rid of ticks over the last year. The good news is that it worked and my 2 dogs were totally tick free for 8 weeks. The bad news is they're back now, but not out of control yet.

Don't spend money on professional pest services. I did, and it did not work. Once the ticks are out of control, it's extremely difficult to get rid of them. Have your dogs shaved. Hair grows back. Bathe the dogs once a week with tick shampoo from Petsmart. Use a tick collar. Advantix did nothing for me. Remove ticks from the dog daily. Siphotrol is a spray you can buy from your vet to use inside the house. Spray once a week until they stop crawling the walls.

Keep the carpets cleaned and vacuumed. Pick up all clutter so there is no where for ticks to hide. Wash pet bedding weekly. Rake leaves and all ground cover from the yard. I finally removed every bush from the back yard so there was no place that couldn't be easily treated. Unfortunately ticks like shade and I have alot of trees. Bayer granules can be purchased from Lowes to spread in the yard. Use weekly for a month, then monthly. I'm switching to Bayer spray now because the ticks have become immune to the granules. If your neighbors don't treat their yards, the ticks will come back.

All I can say is if I see a single tick now, I don't waste any time going all out to get rid of them. There is no fast, easy solution. Good luck to you all! (06/19/2008)

By Tired of Ticks

RE: Getting Rid of Ticks in My House

We live in Naples as well. Tonight we pulled 3 ticks off of our dog a yorkie/ weener dog mix. Tonight we found another 9 in our bedroom on the carpet and one on the sheet in our bed (wife's side) when we pulled back the covers to look. My wife is now sleeping in another room. Our thoughts are to call Truly Nolen tomorrow - should be interesting. I've heard that eucalyptus works perhaps a spray is available. (06/22/2008)

By Phil

RE: Getting Rid of Ticks in My House

Do a search on Diatomaceous Earth. It is 100% natural and effective against ticks, while still being safe for humans and pets. Buy only Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth - there is a "filter grade" that is not safe for pets and people. (06/25/2008)

By Mammajenni


Getting Rid of Ticks - Our Yard Is Infested With Ticks

Our yard is infested with ticks, so bad that we can't let our kids out there to play or let the family dog out. Is there a home remedy to control the infestation of the ticks?


Getting Rid of Ticks - Our Yard Is Infested With Ticks

I live in Kansas and I am having a terrible problem with ticks in my yard. I live right next to a weed and tree infested lot, out in the country. We have a dying pine tree that needs to be removed this summer. Are ticks attracted to this as well? What is the best way to treat the yard?

By Sunnie from Wichita, KS


RE: Getting Rid of Ticks - Our Yard Is Infested With Ticks

I assume you have dogs or some kind of host for these insects. Are you using Frontline? Regular use along with spreading ant granules on the yard should eliminate them. Make sure you buy granules that also kill ticks. Frontline kills ticks, not just repels them, so leave the dog out. The more Frontline treated animals in your yard the quicker the problem leaves. (05/15/2009)

By kelhawk

RE: Getting Rid of Ticks - Our Yard Is Infested With Ticks

I don't know if this is a possibility, but guinea hens eat ticks. Many people get them for this reason. (05/15/2009)

By AmyMart

RE: Getting Rid of Ticks - Our Yard Is Infested With Ticks

(submitted via email) Kerosene is toxic to humans and pets, and I wouldn't recommend using it on your dog's skin/fur to get rid of ticks or fleas. The commercial flea and tick collars (Frontline included) are full of dangerous pesticides and other chemicals that can cause sickness and disease in your pet. The best way to get rid of fleas and ticks is by shampooing them with a tea tree oil shampoo once a week if necessary, or use another natural remedy.

Lorrie (08/06/2009)

By Sappie


Getting Rid of Ticks - Our Yard Is Infested With Ticks

We have a pond at the bottom of the property and we have found ticks and scorpions. We have a Pomeranian (long hair) and a Siberian Husky. Help.

By Red from La Grange, CA


RE: Getting Rid of Ticks - Our Yard Is Infested With Ticks

Food grade diatomaceous earth, found at home improvement stores. Not pool grade. Sprinkle it all over, even on your pets and in the house. Some even recommend putting a bit of it in your pets' food. Dave Owens, our local garden guy, even puts a bit in his mouth on TV to show it is harmless except to bugs. I use it all the time.

Pat in Arizona where we have lots of nasty little bugs. (04/18/2010)

By desertgal

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