How to breed a tick? - briefly
Maintain a suitable host (e.g., rabbit or rodent) in a chamber set to 22‑25 °C and 80‑90 % humidity, allow engorged females to lay eggs on a moist substrate, then incubate the eggs until larvae emerge and transfer them to fresh hosts for successive stages.
How to breed a tick? - in detail
Ticks can be propagated in a laboratory setting for research or control‑program development. Legal permission, biosafety level assessment, and ethical clearance must be obtained before any work begins. All procedures should occur in a sealed arthropod‑containment cabinet or dedicated room with filtered ventilation.
Essential equipment includes:
- Temperature‑controlled incubator (20‑28 °C)
- Relative humidity controller (80‑95 %)
- Transparent rearing chambers with mesh lids
- Host animals (small rodents, rabbits, or chickens) certified free of other ectoparasites
- Sterile forceps, fine brushes, and dissecting microscope
- Protective clothing and double‑glove system
Host preparation:
- Quarantine and health‑screen each animal.
- Acclimate for at least 48 hours in the containment area.
- Apply a shaved or depilated patch on the dorsal surface to facilitate attachment.
Egg handling:
- Collect engorged females after feeding; place them in individual vials with moist filter paper.
- Maintain vials at 25 °C and 90 % RH for 2–3 weeks until oviposition completes.
- Transfer eggs to a separate incubator set at 24 °C and 85 % RH; monitor for hatching after 10–14 days.
Larval rearing:
- Distribute newly hatched larvae onto the prepared host patch; typical density is 200–300 larvae per host.
- Allow feeding for 3–5 days, then remove hosts and collect engorged larvae.
- Place engorged larvae in clean vials with a thin layer of moist substrate; incubate under the same conditions as eggs.
- Molting to nymphs occurs within 7–10 days; repeat the feeding cycle on a new host.
Nymph and adult stages:
- Follow the same host‑attachment protocol, adjusting density to 100–150 nymphs or 30–50 adults per host.
- After engorgement, separate individuals by stage, provide fresh substrate, and keep under controlled temperature and humidity.
- For colony sustainability, retain a proportion of each stage to serve as breeding stock; replace the remainder with newly molted individuals.
Colony maintenance checklist:
- Verify temperature stays within ±1 °C of target.
- Keep humidity between 80 % and 95 % to prevent desiccation.
- Inspect hosts daily for attachment sites and remove excess ticks promptly.
- Clean and disinfect rearing chambers weekly; replace substrate to avoid mold growth.
- Record developmental times, mortality rates, and feeding success for each generation.
Adhering to these protocols yields a stable, reproducible tick population suitable for experimental investigations.