Brown dog tick
The brown dog tick is a tiny reddish brown tick that likes to drink the blood of dogs. It is only about as big as a sesame seed. It is special because it can live its whole life inside a house or a dog kennel.
Ticks: how to stay safe
- In Estonia, the castor bean tick and the taiga tick can carry Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis.
- Ticks wait on grass stems, from ankle to knee height. Long trousers tucked into socks and light clothes help you spot them.
- After playing outside, check your body, your hair and your pets for ticks.
- Found a tick? A grown-up should take it out quickly with fine tweezers or a tick tool: hold it close to the skin and pull slowly. No oil or alcohol on it. Then wash the spot.
- There is a vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis, for children too from one year old. Ask your doctor.
- If in the weeks after a bite you get a fever, feel ill or see a red patch that grows, go to a doctor.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Brown dog tick compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It likes to hide on a dog's head, in its ears, on its back and between its toes.
A mother tick can lay up to 7,000 eggs.
It changes host three times: once as a baby, once as a teenager and once as a grown-up, and drinks blood each time.
Tick babies have only six legs. They get their eighth and last pair of legs later.
Checking and brushing dogs often is the best way to keep these ticks out of the house.
Most asked questions about Brown dog tick
?How big is a brown dog tick?
A grown-up tick is only about 2 to 3 millimetres long, as small as a sesame seed.
?Can brown dog ticks live in a house?
Yes. Unlike most ticks, it can live its whole life indoors, in houses and kennels.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Rhipicephalus sanguineus
- Group
- Scorpions, ticks and friends
- Family
- Ixodidae
- Classification
- Arachnida > Ixodida > Ixodidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Kennel tick, Pantropical dog tick
Where the facts come from
- Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by unknown author. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Emperor scorpion
Lone star tick
Deathstalker
Itch mite
Eyelash mite
Deer tick
Pigeon louse fly
Apache paper wasp
Cowpea weevil
Yellow slug
Horse botfly
Hide beetle