Posted by:
WALL2WALLREPTILE
at Wed Mar 26 09:25:44 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by WALL2WALLREPTILE ]
Hey Steve,
I am sure you are GREAT at spotting ticks.
(but they are easy to miss, even though they are usually fairly easy to see.)
The tick that I obtained this year, came from a captive hatched import which was raised to adulthood in captivity by Al Zulich.
I purchased this animal from him as an adult.
Unfortunatly, it also came to me with mites!
I looked it over for ticks...and I did not see any.
(I am pretty good at finding ticks too.)
I treated the animal externally for parasites. (P-A-M)
(I should have used Black KnightII!!!)
And kept it quarantined.
There were no longer any mites...and I found no ticks either.
Later, I paired the snake up for breeding with a captive bred male. (A male I hatched and raised.)
Apon ovoposition, I found a tick crawling from the adult female snake to the snake eggs.
Somehow, (unbelievably) there was a single survivor tick!
I do not know if ticks are capable of sperm storage.
I did not see any male ticks...which are usually less than half the size of a female tick.
Often (with import gravid females) you can see male and female ticks breeding and laying their eggs on the ball python eggs.
But in this case, I only found a single engorged female tick.
Perhaps the tick eggs will be infertile? Perhaps they will hatch? Time will tell.
I think you should be able to safely treat your female again for tick. If I might suggest, try some Black KnightII!
It really works wonders!!!
I prefer using Black KnightII over Ivermectin...or P-A-M.
( I understand that your snake has already laid eggs) however...
While Ivermectin is effective....if you use it on a female that is cycling it could impair folicular development.
Also, Ivermectin is usually less effective if used topically.
(not an advertisement)
But, Black KnightII works GREAT topically!
Give it a try.
I am glad that you shared your experience with us.
It has been a fun and interesting topic.
If you are concerned that the ticks may have laid eggs on your snake eggs.
Wait until the snakes have hatched and the neonates (snakes) have a little size on them before treating them.
I have also noticed this tick life cycle with import Reticulated Pythons. (Likely it is the normal life cycle for most ticks which infest snakes.)
Best of luck!
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
970-245-7611
970-255-9255
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RE: Harlin- couple more q's - WALL2WALLREPTILE, Wed Mar 26 09:25:44 2008