Brown Dog Tick Infestation

Preventing a Brown Dog Tick Infestation

Ticks are arachnids, closer to spiders than to insects, and they need blood meals to grow and reproduce. The brown dog tick is the one Florida homeowners meet most often indoors, because it travels on dogs. A dog can pick it up at a park, groomer, boarding kennel or shelter, or from a neighbor’s dog, and carry it home. Unlike most ticks, this species can breed inside a house as long as a dog is there to feed on, and unfed ticks can last for months between meals. Prevention comes down to a year-round tick preventive and a quick check of your dog after time around other dogs.

Signs Your Home Has a Brown Dog Tick Problem

The clearest warning is finding ticks on a dog that rarely goes into woods or tall grass, or finding them again just days after you removed the last batch. A dog that keeps scratching its ears or licking between its toes deserves a close look. Other signs:

• Ticks crawling up walls, curtains or door frames. This species tends to climb, so it often turns up high on walls and even on ceilings.
• Clusters of tiny six-legged ticks, the larvae, on the dog or near its bed.
• Gray, bean-shaped ticks on the dog. These are fully fed females, which can swell to about 1/2 inch.
• Ticks tucked behind picture frames, baseboards, furniture and window trim.

Where to look: Start where the dog sleeps and rests, including crates, beds, couches and kennels. Check cracks along baseboards and the seams of upholstered furniture. Outdoors, look around doghouses, porches and the foundation near shaded spots where the dog likes to lie. Unlike most Florida ticks, this one is rarely found out in tall grass or woods.

When it shows up: Because the entire life cycle can happen indoors, an infestation is not tied to a season and can build at any time of year in Florida. Warm, sheltered homes suit this tick well, and numbers can climb quickly once a few fed females have laid eggs. Next steps are on the how to get rid of brown dog ticks page.