Flea & Tick Exterminator Services in Greater Austin, Texas

In Greater Austin Texas,A-Tex Pest Management has been providing pest control services to local commercial businesses and residential homes since 2002. We are fully insured and licensed and our experienced and certified technicians have been applying their trade for over three decades. Continuing education and training on newly evolved techniques and protocols as well as advanced technology helps us improve our craft. Among the many pests we specialize in, ticks are included. A-Tex Pest Management is the leading pest control company in the Greater Austin area. For convenience, you will want to bookmark our web page and save our contact information in your phone.

Understanding Ticks: Insects or Arachnids?

Ticks belong in the Arachnid family, which includes; spiders, scorpions and mites due to their eight legs and two body segments. General insects are equipped with six legs and three body segments by adulthood. Ticks are parasitic that feed on blood. There are quite a few species of ticks. The most common found in your Greater Austin, Texas home are the Lone Star Tick and the Brown Dog Tick. A-Tex Pest Management also encounters the Deer Tick and the American Brown Dog Tick at times.

Lone Star Ticks: What You Need to Know in Greater Austin

Lone Star ticks are brown in color and range ¼”-1/3” in length on average. However, after a bloody meal, they can increase their size to ½” when they are engorged with blood. The females are adorned with a distinctive white star on their backs. Lone Star ticks, as with most ticks, have three life cycles. Starting from an egg, they hatch to larvae, where they find a host to feed on, cycle to the next stage where they will drop off and shed the skin to be nymph. Again they find a new host to feast on until they drop off to their final stage, and cycle to adulthood; and then find a new host. Larvae and nymph Lone Star ticks prefer smaller animals to attach to such; rodents or birds, and will rarely feed on the same host. In adulthood, Lone Star ticks go bigger and will banquet on deer, canines, bovines and horses. In all three stages Lone Star ticks will devour the blood of humans, but will generally chose a different human at each stage.

Health Risks: Lone Star Tick Bites & Lyme Disease

Initially, the bite administered by a Lone Star tick isn’t painful, but after awhile, the bite could become swollen and hurt quite a bit. Lone Star Ticks are potentially hazardous to your health, and can spread the following diseases and illnesses: 
– Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis, 
– Tularemia 
– Southern Tick Associated Rash Illness (STARI) 
– Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

Brown Dog Ticks: Are They in Your Home?

Brown Dog ticks are small and brownish in color. This tick is the only tick believed to evolve all three life cycles indoors. Brown Dog ticks will feed on the blood of humans and other animals if need be, but their preferred host is canines and will only settle if one cannot be found. Meal times are fairly important to the Brown Dog tick, as they generally only feed hardily three times a year just before each life cycle; from egg to larvae, to nymph to adult. They live on their hosts, and will only drop off to molt into the next cycled stage.

Brown Dog Tick Diseases: Protecting Humans & Pets

They too have the potential to spread diseases and tick borne illnesses. In dogs and cats they can transmit ehrlichiosis, along with canine babesiosis in dogs. Although rarely seen in the United States, Brown Dog ticks can give their human host rickettsial diseases.

Comprehensive Tick Inspections & Control Across Texas 

No matter the ticks that are offending your home, property, loved ones or pets; A-Tex Pest Management has you covered. We provide in depth inspection services along with thorough exterminating control on ticks found in Texas. Contact us today if you suspect any kind of ticks or other pests around your home or business.