Tick Twister®

Tick Twister® is the safest and easiest way to remove ticks. Tick Twister®/ O'TOM® was invented and designed by a French veterinarian in the 1990's in two sizes, one for removing very small ticks and one for removing medium and large ticks. They are made of injected plastic (polyoxymethylene=POM). This polymer plastic was chosen because it is recyclable, can be incinerated without pollution (no chlorine fumes during combustion) and for its solidity and resistance to ether and most solvents. Tick Twister® can be disinfected with regular disinfectants (alcohol is one example) or they can be sterilized in an autoclave at 284 degrees F (140 degrees C).Tick Twister® is unbreakable, hard-wearing and indefinitely reusable and carries a Life Time guarantee: if you damage your Tick Twister®, contact us and we will explain how to get your Tick Twister® replaced free of charge.

How does the Tick Twister® work?

There are two very important ways Tick Twister® works:

• The tick's body is not compressed while detaching it from the skin. Squeezing or crushing the body of the tick may force infective body fluids through the mouthparts and into the wound site.
• The tick is rotated instead of pulled. When ticks bite, they insert their long, central mouth-part (called the hypostome) into the skin. The hypostome is covered with sharp, backward-facing barbs (similar to a harpoon) which help keep the tick firmly attached while feeding. The twisting motion of the Tick Twister® removes the tick while keeping the tick's mouth-parts intact. Pulling on a tick with ordinary tweezers can leave the mouth-parts embedded in the skin.
• IMPORTANT: Contrary to popular belief - DO NOT apply substances such as petroleum jelly, finger nail polish, finger nail polish remover, repellents, pesticides, or a lighted match to the tick while it is attached. These materials are either ineffective or worse, might agitate the tick and cause it to force more infective fluid into the wound site.

Caution: Although tick removal with Tick Twister® minimizes risks, it doesn't guarantee that you (or your pet) haven't been
contaminated by tick-borne micro organisms: this contamination may have occurred before the removal.