Ticks

[Mags63]

hello, what is a reasonable tick burden for an adult hedgehog? One of the visitors has a couple of large ones visible on/near his face. Last night when he was close to the trailcam in the feeding box, I was able to see quite a few others on his flank/underside. I would guess around 10-12 that I could see. He is one of the regular visitors, eats well. How long do ticks hang on before they drop off? Many thanks

[stef]

It’s normal for a hog to carry quite a few ticks. It totally depends on the tick as to how long they hang on, but basically until they are full.

However if you can see that many ticks on a trailcam then I would suggest getting your hog to a carer as that could indicate something else if going on. There will be a lot more ticks you cannot see.

It is nothing for me to remove hundreds from a sick hog yet you may only see a few.

Unless you know what you are doing please do not attempt to remove them yourself

[Mags63]

thanks Stef, will keep an eye out in evenings and first thing in the morning although the usual times for my hog visitors is when I am tucked up in bed! Looking at last night’s footage, I think the really big tick near the eye has dropped off. Wouldn’t try removing them myself – have enough struggles when I have to de-tick yself or my partner never mind a hedgehog!

[Nic]

Hi Mags63

If there is a tick problem there, don’t forget to also clean any hog feeding boxes out regularly and use boiling water especially in the joints. The cracks in wooden feeding boxes can be a good place for eggs and then young ticks to hide and consequently reinfest the hogs. A tick which has dropped off a hog still seems able to lay eggs, so it’s a good idea to check daily that no ticks are in the boxes – they are quite tiny to begin with.

[Mags63]

hi Nic, many thanks. Will take extra care when cleaning the feeder

[LynHH]

This is good to know, thank you. Any idea how long they stay on for? I was using them to identify which hogs are caught on my trailcam. If its more than 24 hours then I have 2 hogs visiting, as all the tics shifted around overnight!

[Kassie]

And another thing is watching the hhs on a trail camera scratching away! What sort of stress would it have being caught, taken to a Wildlife Centre and for them to remove the tics? Does that outweigh the original problem? They’re scratching, but nothing visible.

[Lindaluvdup]

Does anyone know if there are better boxes to chose than wooden boxes, then? Does anyone make smooth, plastic ones for hedgies, as there are for chickens when they’re concerned about parasites?

Thanks everyone.

[Nic]

Hi Lindaluvdup

Wooden boxes are really better than plastic as it’s possible to use boiling water to clean out the wooden ones (which should kill parasite eggs) – there is the risk the plastic may melt. It’s best to avoid any chemicals where hogs are concerned.

[Nic]

Hi LynnHH

The ticks may stay on a host animal until they are fully engorged with blood. The time will depend on how big they were when they first latched on to that animal. So can’t really give you a definitive answer.

[Nic]

Hi Kassie

It depends how many ticks there are. Lots of ticks may be a sign of an underlying problem, but also a large number of ticks sucking the hogs’ blood is likely to weaken them. But a hog could probably cope with a few ticks.

Please see Stef’s reply of 15th February 2022 above.

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