Ticks maybe ?

[Weasel126]

Seen some little bugs really tiny smaller then a springtail or silverfish it was whitish brownish. On the shell of my tortoise

 

[Maro2Bear]

If they were located on the shell, I’m thinking they are not ticks. Ticks need a host “animal“ to latch onto to get their nourishment (blood). There‘s no way for a tick to latch onto a tort‘s shell & suck blood.

Try to get some pix. A good soaking & scrubbing your tort will help.

 

[Weasel126]

If they were located on the shell, I’m thinking they are not ticks. Ticks need a host “animal“ to latch onto to get their nourishment (blood). There‘s no way for a tick to latch onto a tort‘s shell & suck blood.

Try to get some pix. A good soaking & scrubbing your tort will help.

Oh okay cause i read this online also but I'm not sure [The most common external parasite in this area is the soft tick, Ornithodoros sp. Of the family Argasidae. This tick is also common to wild desert tortoises. Your tortoises may remain free of these ticks but you should be on the look out and know what to do if you see them. They may be found on any part of the skin but are most common in the seams between the large plates of the shell. This is where the shell produces new material which is easy for the tick to penetrate with its mouth parts, reach the capillaries and feed. A meal will last many weeks so most ticks found on the shell are at rest, not feeding.]

 

[Tom]

Seen some little bugs really tiny smaller then a springtail or silverfish it was whitish brownish. On the shell of my tortoise

There are no tortoise ticks in Long Beach. Outside of Florida, ticks are very unusual in this country.

What tortoise species? What size? Does it live outside?

 

[Weasel126]

There are no tortoise ticks in Long Beach. Outside of Florida, ticks are very unusual in this country.

What tortoise species? What size? Does it live outside?

I have sulcatas and they stay outside in there enclosure about 8 inches big

 

[Pastel Tortie]

Oh okay cause i read this online also but I'm not sure [The most common external parasite in this area is the soft tick, Ornithodoros sp. Of the family Argasidae. This tick is also common to wild desert tortoises. Your tortoises may remain free of these ticks but you should be on the look out and know what to do if you see them. They may be found on any part of the skin but are most common in the seams between the large plates of the shell. This is where the shell produces new material which is easy for the tick to penetrate with its mouth parts, reach the capillaries and feed. A meal will last many weeks so most ticks found on the shell are at rest, not feeding.]

Is this the source of that quote?

Ticks on Desert Tortoises, Gopherus agassizii

tortoisegroup.org

 

[zovick]

There are no tortoise ticks in Long Beach. Outside of Florida, ticks are very unusual in this country.

What tortoise species? What size? Does it live outside?

Hey Tom,
Did you mean to say "county" rather than "country" in the post above? There are ticks all over this country. They can be found in all of lower 48 states plus Hawaii. Here is a link to the ranges of ticks which bite humans: https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html

 

[Pastel Tortie]

There are no tortoise ticks in Long Beach. Outside of Florida, ticks are very unusual in this country.

I think we need to clarify that a little bit. Tortoise ticks. That usually gets us thinking along the lines of certain Amblyomma species ticks.

Amblyomma tuberculatum is native and feeds on gopher tortoises in the southeastern U.S.

Amblyomma marmoreum, A. sparsum, and a few other exotic ticks prompted the federal ban on imports of sulcatas and leopard tortoises more than twenty years ago.

As far as I'm aware, the exotic ticks that infested a very small number of facilities in Florida were eradicated in the early 2000s.

 

[Weasel126]

Is this the source of that quote?

Ticks on Desert Tortoises, Gopherus agassizii

tortoisegroup.org

Yes ?

 

[Tom]

Hey Tom,
Did you mean to say "county" rather than "country" in the post above? There are ticks all over this country. They can be found in all of lower 48 states plus Hawaii. Here is a link to the ranges of ticks which bite humans: https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html

We're talking about tortoise ticks, not the ones that feed on mammals. Regular ticks are everywhere! Coast to coast.

 

[Tom]

Yes ?

And in 48 years of being around desert tortoises in SoCal, and 34 years of working with exotic animal vets in SoCal that see everything under the sun, I've never seen or heard of one single case of a tortoise tick here.

If you've truly got them, you can show me my first case ever. I'd say chances are pretty good that you don't have them.

 

[Weasel126]

And in 48 years of being around desert tortoises in SoCal, and 34 years of working with exotic animal vets in SoCal that see everything under the sun, I've never seen or heard of one single case of a tortoise tick here.

If you've truly got them, you can show me my first case ever. I'd say chances are pretty good that you don't have them.

I was just asking cause I seen something that looked like it on the shell ill check tomorrow morning talk to you soon thanks alot guys

 

[zovick]

We're talking about tortoise ticks, not the ones that feed on mammals. Regular ticks are everywhere! Coast to coast.

Your original post did not say "tortoise ticks". You should have clarified what sort of ticks you meant, then, so it could not be misinterpreted.

 

[Tom]

Your original post did not say "tortoise ticks". You should have clarified what sort of ticks you meant, then, so it could not be misinterpreted.

As usual, you are correct. Duly noted.