Posted by:
WALL2WALLREPTILE
at Tue Mar 25 18:14:23 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by WALL2WALLREPTILE ]
Steve,
Ticks are external ONLY parasites.
You may have treated the animals for ticks.....however some survived.
( I do not treat gravid snakes for ticks or mites...this treatment should postponed until after your snake lays it eggs.)
I doubt that they were in your incubator.
These adult ticks were hiding on your snake. "SURVIVORS".
When your female ball python lays her clutch of eggs, the adult ticks ( both males and females) sense the pheremone cues.
They instinctivly migrate toward the ball python's cloaca.
Then (if the tick have not already bred) they will migrate to the eggs....breed and/or lay their tick eggs on your ball python eggs.
The Adult ticks migrate back to the female after the eggs are laid.
The tick eggs ( on your ball python eggs) will hatch shortly before the ball python eggs hatch.
Now, the baby ticks will move to your baby ball pythons and start the whole life cycle anew.
I have recently taken video clips of the ticks that migrated onto eggs during ovoposition. Then we collected the female ticks.
I placed the tick into a small container and placed it into the incubator next to the eggs. The tick laid her eggs shortly thereafter....inside of the tiny container.
Then, I gave them to a friend who is a Professor at MSC.
(Dr. Gary McCallister.) He is an entomologist and parasitologist. They are taking scanning electron micrographs of the tick and her eggs. Then they preserve the adult tick...and we incubate the tick eggs.
Eventually we will also photograph the hatchling ticks and they will also then be preserved. Fun and interesting stuff.
So now you know about the tick on your eggs.
DO NOT TREAT AGAINST THE TICKS OR EGGS in the presence of your incubating ball python eggs.
Just wait until the snakes hatch and then treat them after they have had a chance to grow a little.
You can treat the adult female ball python after removing her from the clutch.
I hope that information is helpful.
Good luck.
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
970-245-7611
970-255-9255
[ Hide Replies ]
- Ever have TICKS on a clutch of eggs? - steve_harrison, Tue Mar 25 16:22:28 2008
- RE: Ever have TICKS on a clutch of eggs? - brhaco, Tue Mar 25 16:31:22 2008
- Problem is, all externals were gone! - steve_harrison, Tue Mar 25 16:42:58 2008
- RE: Problem is, all externals were gone! - NoahHart, Tue Mar 25 16:53:23 2008
- RE: Problem is, all externals were gone! - PHLdyPayne, Tue Mar 25 17:10:00 2008
- A few problems here... - steve_harrison, Tue Mar 25 17:33:20 2008
- Steve- - brhaco, Tue Mar 25 17:53:03 2008
 Lets Clear this issue up. - WALL2WALLREPTILE, Tue Mar 25 18:14:23 2008
- Thanks Harlin - brhaco, Tue Mar 25 20:40:39 2008
- Harlin, - RoyalVariations, Tue Mar 25 23:44:46 2008
- RE: Harlin, - WALL2WALLREPTILE, Wed Mar 26 08:51:19 2008
- RE: Harlin, - RoyalVariations, Wed Mar 26 20:22:01 2008
- RE: Ever have TICKS on a clutch of eggs? - EricIvins, Tue Mar 25 17:11:03 2008
- RE: Ever have TICKS on a clutch of eggs? - jnjreptiles, Tue Mar 25 17:50:54 2008
- Correct! - brhaco, Tue Mar 25 17:56:45 2008
- Great post.. - zefdin, Wed Mar 26 19:23:41 2008
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