# Ticks and fleas and fake furs?



## ChickO'Dee (Oct 4, 2011)

For the first time in my life, our family dogs have ticks. I've dealt with them before because of a slob i moved in with for a while...but anyways!
I know ticks dont really go to humans if they have dogs around, but what about fursuit fur? I'm in the middle of making a suit for charity use and to use around elderly people at my job (retirement home) and kids (halloween stuff/charity) so the LAST thing I want to do is spread ticks to people >< The dogs stay out of my room (with the furs) but Ive seen those little buggers climbing up walls before, so heck, as far as I'm concerned they can be anywhere ><
I was just wondering if A) people have had ticks infest their fursuit furs B) if so, what can I do without spraying the hell out of the furs or picking them out one by one and C) if there is anything I can do to PREVENT it from happening. I've tried bagging everything up in multiple plastic trash bags, but hell I found one in there too when i lived with the slob. (it was in my blankets , not my fursuits)
I guess the same thing can be asked about fleas in case anyone has that problem. 

TL;DR, My dogs have ticks and I dont want them in my fur. whatdo?


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## Volkodav (Oct 4, 2011)

Okay first things first.
Ticks are not only on dirty dogs/dirty people, they don't care about cleanliness. What a tick or a flea does is it sits on a branch or leaf and waits for an animal to come by. It detects changes in the air and then drops on the animal. They also sit on leaves and when an animal comes by, they brush off into the fur.
There are different kinds of ticks. There are deer ticks [found mainly on deer], dog ticks [found mainly on dogs], soft ticks [found mainly on birds and bats], and winter tick [found mainly on horses and cattle]. *They can all bite people*. They just have a favorite.. prey.. each

The ticks CAN get into your fursuit fur! Once they realize that they can't eat anything on it, they will crawl off or die. 

My recommendation: First and foremost, treat your dogs/house/carpets/etc for ticks, meaning put medication on the dogs and vaccum/wash the fuck out of everything.
As for your fursuits, I don't know if you can put them in the washer.. but if you can't, put them in garbage bags, squeeze all the air out and throw them in a chest freezer for a couple days.

People don't really take ticks seriously when they should. Ticks can and do carry Lyme Disease.


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## Fay V (Oct 4, 2011)

Clayton covered it. Get your dogs and house treated for ticks and get them the fuck out of there. Wash your suit. 

Before you wear it next try and prepare it. Basically you ought to be doing this anyway, but turn the suit inside out and check every inch of the backing and the seams. Next turn it fur out again and take a fine tooth comb and gently brush every inch of fur. 
This is important A. to make sure there's no issues with the suit anyway, and to be sure it looks nice when you wear it, and B. if there's anything like a tick on it you can find it and remove it.


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## ChickO'Dee (Oct 4, 2011)

Clayton said:


> Okay first things first.
> Ticks are not only on dirty dogs/dirty people, they don't care about cleanliness. What a tick or a flea does is it sits on a branch or leaf and waits for an animal to come by. It detects changes in the air and then drops on the animal. They also sit on leaves and when an animal comes by, they brush off into the fur.
> There are different kinds of ticks. There are deer ticks [found mainly on deer], dog ticks [found mainly on dogs], soft ticks [found mainly on birds and bats], and winter tick [found mainly on horses and cattle]
> 
> ...


oh trust me, room mate already ran out to get medicine for them lol.
I didn't even think of the freezer idea, and I might just do that, considering I've tried the bag thing itself and they still ended up in there -_-
Now I just have to find room in our tiny freezer to stick a giant dog head in there DX
Luckily our house is mostly tile, not a lot of carpet, just a few area rugs :/
But thanks, I'll try storing it in the freezer until it all calms down XD
Just figured it would be a helpful tip to anyone else who has this problem too.
we RARELY have fleas, and have NEVER had ticks in this house before, so I'm way too worried XD


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## Volkodav (Oct 4, 2011)

ChickO'Dee said:


> oh trust me, room mate already ran out to get medicine for them lol.
> I didn't even think of the freezer idea, and I might just do that, considering I've tried the bag thing itself and they still ended up in there -_-
> Now I just have to find room in our tiny freezer to stick a giant dog head in there DX
> Luckily our house is mostly tile, not a lot of carpet, just a few area rugs :/
> ...


I hope it works for ya  That's what I did when I found clothes moths in my rooms and was afraid they were going to eat my [real] furs


Just don't take em out of the bags until you're 100% certain you got rid of the ticks.


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## ChickO'Dee (Oct 4, 2011)

Clayton said:


> I hope it works for ya  That's what I did when I found clothes moths in my rooms and was afraid they were going to eat my [real] furs
> 
> 
> Just don't take em out of the bags until you're 100% certain you got rid of the ticks.


Ick didnt think of my real furs either >>
so they're safe in the freezer?
But thank you ^^ Like i said, didnt even think of the freezer *derp*

I know a lot of suiters have pets, so I've kinda wondered how they get around that little problem lol!


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## Bir (Oct 4, 2011)

Medicine for ticks? You don't need medicine unless it gets infected. Just buy a tick key, and then pour alcohol on the bite. 

Then, spray for ticks and check your dogs when they go outside. You know, rinse and repeat. xP

AS for fursuits... Your fur does not have blood in it. If they bite and there is no blood, they're going to drop off and attach onto something with blood. Just brush your fursuit thoroughly before you use it and remove whatever is attached, and keep it safe when you're not using it.


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## Volkodav (Oct 5, 2011)

ChickO'Dee said:


> Ick didnt think of my real furs either >>
> so they're safe in the freezer?
> But thank you ^^ Like i said, didnt even think of the freezer *derp*
> 
> I know a lot of suiters have pets, so I've kinda wondered how they get around that little problem lol!


 yes  I bagged ALL of my real furs and stuck em in the freezer each for ~ 3 days. I bagged them one at a time and when their time was up, added them to the big collection bag so they weren't exposed to any moths again.

Ticks won't do anything to your real furs, the only reason why i bagged mine for moths was because clothes moth larvae will destroy real fur. I was cleaning around my skulls and noticed a budgie/parakeet feather I own absolutely shredded down to the shaft, then I panicked and bagged all my furs and froze em.



Bir said:


> Medicine for ticks? You don't need medicine unless it gets infected. Just buy a tick key, and then pour alcohol on the bite.
> 
> Then, spray for ticks and check your dogs when they go outside. You know, rinse and repeat. xP
> 
> AS for fursuits... Your fur does not have blood in it. If they bite and there is no blood, they're going to drop off and attach onto something with blood. Just brush your fursuit thoroughly before you use it and remove whatever is attached, and keep it safe when you're not using it.


 
Errr sorry, not medicine. Tick drops. Tick/flea drops you put on a dog's neck


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## Urbanwolf (Oct 9, 2011)

We had the same problem and I found fleas in my fake fur as well. the best thing to do is wash the fabric or even put the flea spray meant for couches and furniture after your have solved the problem on your pets first.


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## Volkodav (Oct 9, 2011)

Urbanwolf said:


> We had the same problem and I found fleas in my fake fur as well. the best thing to do is wash the fabric or even put the flea spray meant for couches and furniture after your have solved the problem on your pets first.


Excellent idea with the couch/carpet flea stuff


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