The right way to remove a tick

Use a bespoke tick-removal tool or fine-tipped tweezers and wear rubber gloves. In the absence of gloves, shield your fingers with a tissue or paper.

Using tweezers to grasp the tick. Lift smoothly and ffirmly upward.

  1. If using tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the host’s skin as possible and pull upward with steady, even, pressure. Do not twist or jerk the tick as this may leave the mouth parts embedded, or cause the tick to regurgitate infective fluids. Remove any embedded mouth parts with tweezers. If using a bespoke tick-removal tool, follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
  2. Do not squeeze, crush, or puncture the body of the tick, because its fluids (saliva and gut contents) may contain infective organisms.
  3. Do not handle the tick with bare hands, because infective agents may enter through mucous membranes or breaks in the skin.
  4. After removing the tick, disinfect the bite site and wash your hands with soap and water.
  5. Save the tick for identification in case you become ill within several weeks. Write the date of the bite in pencil on a piece of paper and put it with the tick in a sealed plastic bag and store in a freezer. Your doctor can use the information to assist in making an accurate diagnosis. Although not every tick carries Borreliosis or any of the known co-infections, immediate removal of an attached tick is recommended.

Do not use ‘petroleum jelly’, any liquid solution, freeze or burn the tick, as this will stimulate it to regurgitate its stomach contents, increasing the chances of infection.

For further detailed information on all aspects relating to ticks, and tick-borne diseases, together with a selection of information leaflets and posters to download, visit the BADA-UK web site.

Approved method

The following organisations endorse this method of tick removal.


Scottish Gamekeepers Association

Royal Environmental Health Institute Scotland
Scottish Association for Countryside Sports

Reforesting Scotland
The National Gamekeepers' Organisation
The Mountain Rescue Committee of England and Wales

The Heather Trust
British Association for Shooting and Conservation.

National Sheep Association.
Ferret Education & Research Trust
Scottish Wildlife Trust.
     

Join the approval list

If any other organisation or association would like to join in, helping to promote these tick-removal techniques, please contact us with your details and an image file of your organisation's logo.