We live in an area that is very prone to ticks.  We try to be very careful about getting ticks, but sometimes it is inevitable that we will find one on us or our clothing.  Over the summer we took my daughter to the park and were very concerned when we found a tick on her leg in the car.  Unfortunately we did not have a tick removal product in the car (but we will be sure to always have one now!).  We were not near home and had to try several stores before we were able to find a tick remover.


The Product

We tried several stores, actually looking for the "Ticked Off" tick remover that we have at home, but the stores had no tick removers at all (in August).  We were told to try a local pet store and ended up buying the Tick Twister there.  I don't remember how much we paid but it was only a few dollars ($3-4 I think).  I have not seen this before, but it can be tough to find any tick removers unless you are specifically looking at particular stores.


My Thoughts

This tick remover is easy to use, and is pretty straightforward.  You don't have to read lots of instructions either.  You simply slide the "fork" prongs around the tick so it is between the tines, and then you twist until the tick has released from the skin.  Just like if you were try to remove a tick without a tool, you never want to just yank on a tick as it could leave parts of the tick behind in the skin.

The tick that my daughter had on her leg was extremely tiny.  We found it was kind of tough to get the Tick Twister on the tick so that it was stuck in the tines.  Of course we were trying to get the tick off quickly because we are talking about a two-year-old that is getting agitated quite fast since she isn't quite sure what is going on.

I felt this tick remover was a little more bulky than the Ticked Off remover that we have (which of course we had at home, and none in the car - lesson learned!).  It was tough to "pinch" the tick in the tines, no less slide it down through the notch.  It took a while of sort of picking at the tick with the Tick Twister before we were able to remove it.  Once we were able to secure the tick in the Tick Twister, we were able to twist it off.

Removing a tick with a product like this doesn't seem to be painful.  My 2-year-old daughter wasn't bothered by it and although was a little anxious as to why mom and dad were picking at her leg, she had no discomfort.

This product does come with a hole in the top so you can attach to a key ring, hang, etc.


Overall

It is a must to carry a tick removal tool on you, in the car, or at home if you live in an area like I do - it seems like we find ticks on us or our clothing regularly.  The Tick Twister seems like a good design, but we prefer the Ticked Off tool a little better just because it seems to remove smaller ticks more easily.



Tick Twister: http://www.ticktwister.com/
Ticked Off: http://www.tickedoff.com/

Recommended: No