There are ticks that look like bed bugs. In case you are not aware, ticks are blood-sucking parasites that require a host animal to survive and reproduce.
They tend to live in tall grass, dense brush, and wooded areas. So, dogs and cats are common hosts for ticks. Meanwhile, some people think they can’t fly or jump, they use their two front legs to quest for a host.
These legs have receptors that can detect carbon dioxide. In this article, as you read on you will know how ticks invade their host, the life cycle of ticks, and a lot more facts related to ticks that look like bed bugs.
What is a Tick?
Firstly, before we go deep into this topic “ticks that look like bed bugs”, let us clearly know what a tick is.
A tick is a parasitic arachnid that is part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and fullness.
Ticks are external parasites living by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians. Ticks are widely distributed around the world especially in warm, and humid climates.
Read also: How to Get Rid of Wheel Bugs | DIY Wheel Bug Control
How Do Ticks Invade Their Hosts?
When a host passes nearby, the tick senses it reaches out its legs to attach to the host’s body or clothing. The tick then embeds its mouth into the host’s skin and begins feeding, while feeding ticks can transmit a variety of infectious organisms to their hosts thereby transmitting diseases, including Lyme disease, rocky mountain, and spotted fever after engorging on the host’s blood. The Tick drops off and advances to its next life.
Read also: Swallow Bug: Facts, Identification, and How to Get Rid
The Life Cycle of a Tick
Ticks have a four-stage life cycle which is egg, larva, nymph, and adult. The larvae and nymphs require a blood meal to molt to the next stage.
An adult tick requires a blood meal to mate and reproduce. A female tick can lay several thousand eggs. Ticks are slow feeders and remain on a host for several days.
Read also: Bed Bugs vs Tick; Facts, Differences, Identification, and Prevention
How to Remove Ticks on your Pet Naturally
If you find a tick on your pet, remove it immediately to reduce the chance of contracting the disease.
- Use tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible.
- Pull upward, gently, slowly, and firmly, do not twist jerk, or pull hard or you may break off the mouth part leaving it in the skin where it can cause infection.
- Be careful not to squeeze or crush the tick’s body as it may contain infectious organisms.
- Wash the bite area and apply an antiseptic.
- Then wash your hands with a disinfectant soap.
- Save the tick for identification. In case, your pet becomes ill, place it in a sealable plastic bag in your freezer.
- Be sure to check your pet daily for ticks and ask your veterinarian about ticks, preventative steps to help keep your pet safe.
Read also: Ticks On The Run As Texas A&M Entomologist Plans Attack
Differences Between Ticks and Bed Bugs
Ticks and bed bugs may both be pesky pests, but they have many differences. Here is how to tell these inserts apart from this arachnid.
- What makes them different is the number of legs (bed bugs have 6 legs whereas adult ticks have 8 legs).
- Some say that bed bugs remind cockroaches to be oval whereas tick has a more round shape.
- Ticks live primarily outdoors, whereas bed bugs live primarily indoors.
- Ticks are 3-4mm in length whereas bed bugs are 8mm in length.
- Ticks are dark brown in color whereas bed bugs are reddish-brown in color.
- Bed bugs prefer their host to be humans whereas ticks prefer their host to be animals.
- Ticks can carry a disease whereas bed bugs do not carry any disease.
How to Get Rid of Ticks That Look Like Bed Bugs in 3 Steps
You have gotten to the point of you knowing how to get rid of ticks that look like bed bugs for you and your pet’s sake.
Using the solutions below, ticks are blood-sucking parasites. They rely on their host for survival but takes it much more aggressive latching on to their host.
And being very difficult to remove, ticks can also be dangerous because they can spread very serious diseases such as Lyme disease, Colorado, tick fever, or rocky mountain, spotted fever and their populations can grow rapidly.
It is important to get control of a tick infestation as soon as possible.
Identification and Inspection:
A lot of the time inspection and identification can go hand in hand because it can be difficult to determine which species of ticks infesting your home.
Meanwhile, there are 850 known tick species around the world, 90 of which live in the United States.
Luckily, there is only a handful that you are likely to come across. The most common tick types are the black-legged tick, the lone star tick, the American dog tick, and the brown dog tick.
Step 1: Identification
When identifying ticks, you are going to note their body shape, legs, and color.
Ticks have a pretty distinctive look but that doesn’t stop them from being misidentified as flea or bed bugs.
You will know it is a tick over flee by the tick spider-like appearance. Ticks are actually arachnids just like their cousins the spider and scorpion.
They have eight legs that can easily be seen. And the best way is to look at their coloring, a black-legged tick also known as a deer tick has a flat leg. They also have an orange-like body.
Ticks are easily identifiable because they are typically dark with the white dab in the middle of their back.
Star tick will be brown but will have scattered spots streaks around the edge of its back.
The American dog tick is brown with white markings on its back and the brown dog tick is uniform brown.
Step 2: Inspection
When inspecting your property for tick activity, ticks are usually found in wooded areas and in places with lots of brushes and vegetation.
They typically climb up the grass or bush and wait for their host to pass by where they can latch on.
Ensure to check in those areas ticks are most commonly active between the months of April and June.
A neat tip to finding ticks in your yard is to take a white cloth and attach it to a stick or a broom, handle and rub it along brushy or grassy areas in your yard.
The ticks will jump on the white cloth and will be easily seen.
It’s also important to check your pets for ticks typically, they like the warm dark places, so check and spot such as under their tail, under the collar, around the groin between their toes, or under their ears and armpits.
These first two steps are very important because without confirming ticks it can make tick control very difficult.
Step 3: Control
The third step in this process is control. Ticks usually get in your home or on your property by hitching a ride on your pets.
Pet Treatment:
The first thing you are going to do is treat your pets. Do this with a combination of topical flea treatments, preferred and peck, or Elise spray, not only will these products kill fleas, but they will also kill any ticks that may be on your dog or cat.
- Spray Petco on your pet, starting at the tail and working towards the head.
- Rub their fur in the opposite direction and make sure that the spray actually touches their skin.
- To apply it on the face of an animal or on a cat.
- Your best bet is to take a cloth and spray that with a pet core and then use that to apply to the animal then use preferred.
- This is a waterproof spot treatment that will protect your pet for 30 days.
- Apply this to their back in between your shoulder blades.
How to Get Rid of Ticks Indoor
Next, you will want to get rid of ticks indoors.
First start by:
- Vacuuming all floor surfaces in the home. If you have a vacuum cleaner, you want to take the bag outside and dispose of it.
- If you have a canister type, make sure you rinse it out with soapy water.
- After that, apply Novacide spray to all your floors. And besides, Novacide is ready to use Aerosol insecticide that is made up of 4 different chemicals with the built-in insect growth regulator that will help interrupt the tick’s life cycle to use.
- Hold the can upside down about knee height and apply to all floor surfaces in a sweeping motion.
- Make sure you cover all floor, surfaces, carpet, linoleum tile, hardwood, and make sure you stay off of it until it dries.
- And a great benefit with Novacide is, it’s not just labeled for fleas and ticks. It’s labeled for many other pests.
How to Get Rid of Ticks Outdoor
You must treat the outdoors as it is important not to overlook this step because this is where your tick problem began in the first place.
- Use a combination of Bifen LP insecticide granules and Reclaim IT liquid concentrate.
- These insecticides deliver a powerful knockdown and a long-lasting residual first.
- Apply the Bifen LP granules spray guard with a push or a hand spreader.
- Be sure that you focus on those bushy areas where the ticks like to hide.
- When that is done, spray the Reclaim IT over top of the Bifen LP granules. This serves two purposes. It will help activate the insecticide granules and also offers additional protection from ticks and other pests.
- Spray around the yard focusing on bushy areas. Also, you’ll want to make sure that you spray at least 5 feet up on trees and on the side of the structure. These are places where ticks like to hide as they mold.
How to Prevent Ticks that Look like Bed Bugs
The final step of any pest control process is prevention. In this case, you have to do everything possible to discourage ticks from returning.
Below are steps to prevent ticks that look like bed bugs.
- Keeping any vegetation trim back reducing leaf litter.
- Remove other forms of clutter.
- Perform follow-up treatments with Reclaim IT and Bifen LP every 3 months.
- These insecticides help protect against ticks and many other types of pests and with any insecticidal treatment.
Conclusion
It’s always important that you read the label for proper safety and application and go and be sure to regularly check your pets for tick activity, especially after going outside to parks or wooded trails.
If you follow these steps, we guarantee you 100% success that you eliminate your all ticks that look like bed bugs, not only will you get rid of ticks on your pet but also in your home.
Keep visiting Pestclue for the latest DIY tips on pest and pest control, feel free to share!
About The Author
