Tick Tubes

When used as directed, Thermacell Tick Control Tubes do not have any outdoor environmental use restrictions. Unused product should not be placed in indoor or outdoor drains. Unused product should be discarded in the trash.

It would be rare for birds to find the tick tube cotton and nest with it, contact with the treated material wont harm birds.The active ingredient in tick tubes is known to be low toxicity to birds. In fact, it can be applied to birds in a powder form to prevent ticks. While animals might carry trace amounts on their fur, it doesn't harm them as shown in the extensive mouse studies conducted where mice nesting in the treated material produced normal offspring for multiple generations.

The active ingredient in tick tubes is known to have low toxicity to birds. Additionally, the EPA states that the risk to birds is below the agencys level of concern; Mice carry only tiny amounts of the active ingredient on their fur after exposure to tick tubes - enough to kill ticks, but not enough to affect birds.

Thermacell Tick Control uses a permethrin treated material targeted specifically at ticks, rather than a spray or granule that is broadly distributed. The cotton is primarily found inside tick tubes or in a mouse nest. Because the permethrin is bound to fibers, beneficial bugs are rarely exposed to Thermacell.

Permethrin is the main ingredient in our Tick Tubes and comes in many concentrations and forms. Permethrin has been approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in human and animal health products. Permethrin used at the correct dose, in a proper formulation, and according to label instructions, has been used for over 40 years by people in a variety of applications. Examples include lice and scabies treatments for humans and flea, tick and mosquito prevention products for dogs, birds and livestock and for use on/in numerous food/feed crops. The amount of permethrin in Thermacell Tick Control Tubes is sufficient to kill ticks but does not affect the mice that nest with it, other animals, or the environment. Tick tubes have been approved by the EPA and millions of tubes have been sold without any report of adverse effects.

Safety is very important to us at Thermacell. Please note that in more than 20 years the EPA has no complaints on file regarding tick tubes and cats, and there are no published reports regarding tick tubes and cats. Additionally, Thermacell has no consumer complaints about tick tubes and cats. We take cat safety very seriously because there are records of cats harmed by products made specifically for dogs that contain a high (45%-65%) liquid permethrin concentrate that is applied directly to a dogs coat. This highly concentrated liquid form of permethrin is safe for dogs but can harm cats. In comparison, Thermacell Tick Control Tubes contain only 7.4% permethrin imbedded in cotton. Our calculations show permethrin bound to cotton is much less potent than a liquid concentrate applied directly to the skin. Additionally, cat behavior shows that cats are unlikely to come in contact with Tick Control Tubes. Indoor cats would never encounter Tick Control Tubes, and outdoor cats are primarily interested in moving objects or animals that they can pounce on, play with and or kill. In contrast Tick Control Tubes are inanimate objects placed in areas not directly visible to cats and have no smell or taste that would attract a cat.Even if a cat were to find a tick tube and attempt to eat some of the cotton, it is unlikely to harm a cat. Studies show that cotton is very difficult to swallow so cats would have difficulty consuming the cotton. Cats rely on chewing to break down their food, but chewing will not break up the cotton fibers. Licking the cotton, considered unlikely, would not result in cats consuming a harmful amount of permethrin. Although unlikely, we also considered the possibility that cats might remove the cotton from the tube and play with it. Scientific review shows low risk to cats even if they were to regularly lie on the cotton the amount of dermal exposure for the cat is far below their exposure to the liquid spot flea products that cause harm to cats. In summary, Thermacell Tick Control Tubes are unlikely to harm cats from either oral or dermal exposure.

The EPA has no published reports, nor records of any incidents associated with the use of permethrin-treated tick tubes. It is very difficult to swallow the cotton from the tick tubes. Dogs rely on chewing for their food. Chewing will not break down the cotton fibers. Even if a puppy could ingest parts of the cotton, it would not contain enough permethrin to affect them.

Dogs are not likely to be harmed by Tick Control Tubes. Tick Control Tubes are camouflaged and do not have an odor that would attract dogs. Dogs tolerate permethrin well. In fact, high permethrin liquid concentration (45-65%) spot products such as K9 Advantix ll have been approved by the EPA for use on dogs. Dogs tolerate oral exposure to permethrin. When topical dog products such as K9 Advantix ll are applied to dogs (usually between the shoulder blades), the Permethrin spreads quickly over the coat[1] to protect the animal from infestation by ticks and fleas. As part of this process a significant transferable residue of permethrin is present on the coat1 and can be ingested by the dog during grooming. This behavior shows that dogs tolerate high dermal doses with concomitant oral exposure to permethrin. Toxicity calculations[2] show that even in worst-case scenarios, dogs will not be harmed by Tick Control Tubes. Assume a small dog weighing only two pounds tears apart a Tick Control Tube and mouths the cotton for ninety minutes, swallowing small bits of cotton in the process. Even in this extreme example the exposure level to permethrin is acceptable, meaning the exposure level is below the level that would produce an adverse effect. The information above is supported by the fact that in over 20 years and millions of tick tubes sold, there have been no complaints filed with the EPA regarding Tick Control Tubes.

The EPA has determined it is reasonable to assume no harm to infants and children based on the existing data for permethrin in Tick Tubes

Cotton and Permethrin are the only ingredients in Tick Tubes.

For Tick Tubes, store at room temperature in an area inaccessible to children or pets. Disposal: Do not reuse or refill this container. If empty: place it in the trash. If partly filled: Call your local solid waste agency for disposal instructions.

Tick tubes effect on voles and moles: Voles and moles will use the treated cotton. That said, white-footed mice are the primary hosts for young deer ticks that carry Lyme disease, though voles may also transmit the disease to ticks.

Tick tubes works best against deer ticks (also known as black-legged ticks) and the diseases they carry because their immature ticks feed on mice. It does not work on ticks like lone star ticks that do not feed on mice.

Sometimes it takes a few weeks for mice to find the cotton. Occasionally tubes are placed too far out in the open so mice dont take the cotton because they are afraid of predators. Moving tubes to more protected places like in a shed, along a rock wall, or a few feet into the woods on the perimeter of the property can increase cotton collection. This video on how to apply tick control tubes may be helpful.

Field mice are nocturnal so you may not know that you have them. They are common to all parts of the US. Immature ticks feed primarily on mice in most parts of the country. If you for some reason you dont have any mice, then Tick Control Tubes wont provide the results expected. Deer provide an important blood meal for adult ticks but they dont pass on diseases to ticks. Mice feed immature ticks and ticks and mice and ticks pass diseases between one another. Therefore its important to use mice to kill these immature ticks before they pass diseases on to humans.

If you applied your first tick tubes in April or May, the best time to reapply is in July. Larval ticks hatch in July and feed in August and September. Our goal is to kill them now before they turn into next years dangerous nymphs Mice only live a year in the wild. They have babies in the spring that are adults by July (60 days only from gestation to maturity), so even if we treated in May, 60 days later (July) there are new mice to treat. Also, keep an eye on the tick tubes you have deployed. If mice take all of the cotton from a tube, then replace it with a new tube.It might mean there is a large population of mice in the area and more cotton is needed to treat them.

We recommend placing tick tubes around your entire property. Ticks can attach to mice or other animals in one part of the yard and then drop off in another part of the yard. Place tubes in protected places mice are likely to frequent such as inside sheds, under decks, along stonewalls, or under bushes.

Tick Tubes are still effective if they get wet. The coating on the outside of the tubes protects them from rain, as does placement in areas protected from weather such as under bushes or inside sheds. If the cotton does get wet, it will dry out once the weather improves. Dont place tubes in areas likely to flood.

Tick Control Tubes kill young ticks that feed on mice before ticks can pass diseases on to people or pets. Best results occur after the tubes have been used for a season so larval and nypmhal ticks can be killed. Tick Control tubes have been shown to provide greater than a 90% reduction of ticks but results vary based on a few variables including the presence of alternate tick hosts such as pets and deer which can bring ticks into the yard from the neighborhood or woods.

Thermacell Tick Tubes should be used outside the home and do not attract mice. Presence of Tick Tubes will not influence where mice build their nests.

Tick Control Tubes work best on black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks, which carry bacteria that cause Lyme disease, Powassan virus and other dangerous diseases. Tick Control Tubes kill this species of tick because young deer ticks feed on mice. Tick Control Tubes do not work as well against other tick species that feed on other animals such as dog ticks which feed primarily on dogs.

Tick Control Tubes will start to kill ticks in your yard a few weeks after you apply them. Each mouse can pick up over 10 ticks a day and hundreds in a season, so you will see a decrease in ticks in your yard as mice take up the permethrin treated cotton and use it to line their nests. Putting Tick Control Tubes out in the spring kills nymphal ticks that hatch in April and feed from May until July. These ticks are the ones that most often spread diseases to humans. Reapply tick tubes in the late summer to kill baby larval ticks that hatch in July and feed in August and September. These larval ticks become next year's dangerous nymphal ticks.;By killing both nymphal and larval ticks in year 1, you will signifcantly reduce the tick population in your yard and see a marked decrease in ticks the next summer. Reapply tick tubes each season for best results.

To make an effective barrier with the Tick Tubes, it's best to put down two rows of tubes in a grid pattern. Place the tubes every 10 yards along the border of your yard and the woods. Then put down a 2nd row of tubes 10 yards behind the first row in the woods spaced 10 yards apart. Start this 2nd row 5 yards to the right of the first row so that the tubes in the 2nd row fall in between the tubes in the first row, which makes a grid pattern.

Tick tubes can withstand sub-freezing temperatures.