How Do Ticks Breath? Through Their Skin Or Through Their Butt?

Ticks have an air hole on the underside of their body near the hind legs. They do not breathe through this constantly. They only need to breathe a few times an hour.

Another common question is whether ticks can breathe underwater. Technically they cannot, they do not have gills and they require oxygen to breath. However, they do have the ability to survive for a long period of time under water as they store oxygen for a large period of time. Also, a tick's mouth is taken inside its body when submerged in water so it would not be able to breathe anyway. It is perhaps more correct to say that the skin of the tick expands, which then envelops the mouth as the head gets bigger.

Ticks are tiny parasites in the arachnid family. They are in the super family Ixodoidea. They are actually ectoparasites, which mean they are external parasites, so are therefore 'on the outside' as opposed to parasites such as tapeworms that live inside the bodies of their hosts.

They feed on blood through hematophagy. They feed on the blood of mammals, birds and some reptiles and amphibians. Ticks can cause some diseases to occur in humans. Examples of these are Lyme disease, Q fever, Colorado tick fever, tularaemia and several others. Ticks favor humid climates so are unlikely to be found in cold or unusually dry countries.

I work in the field during the summer, so checking for ticks and removing them is a frequent thing.  The best way to deal with TIcks is to check yourself as soon as possible when you return indoors.  Check behind your knees, armpits, along your hairline, scalp, and lower back, as when they get on you they will climb up and commonly like these areas.  If unfortunately you had to use the potty outside, I would also check the privies (I am lucky to never have had one in a sensitive area, but have heard stories from co-workers...).  If you get them soon enough, they often have not clamped on yet, or just did, so they will not be imbedded and are easily removed.  Use tweezers to pull them out as they will only have their "clamps" in and you will not lose their head in your skin.    If they are imbedded, the best way I have found to remove ticks is to:  1) grab some tweezers, and make sure you grab them on the body or head as close to your skin as possible.  Pull gently so your skin becomes taut (i.e., not to hard to pull their head off, but enough so you are creating some tension), and eventually they will back out a bit because I think they get tired (although be patient as this can take time).  Wait a few mins, and grab and repeat until the tick backs out of the skin.  This will remove the entire tick (head and all).  Once removed, wash the area with soap and water (the spot where the tick was will be a bit sore or itchy, this will help)    don't yank because you will leave their head imbedded in your skin, and the body doesnt always work them out, although they usually will eventually come out on their own.  Although, I have got one infection where the head remained behind my knee and the doc had to cut it out.  Vaseline (PB or nailpolish) does not work as they only breathe a few times an hour.  don't burn them (actually ripping them out too) makes them (for lack of a better explaination) puke their secretions into you.  If you have a deer tick, this can cause an infection of Lyme disease, amoung other things (wood ticks are not known to carry lyme).  Make sure to kill the buggers once they are out so they don't climb up and find a new place to get you.    By the way, if they are wood ticks, you can even tell if they are female or male.  Look on the back of the tick for the whitish markings, female wood ticks look like they are wearing a necklace, and male wood ticks look like they have suspenders.    Hope this helps!

Ticks, like a all insects breathe through tiny holes in their skin called spiracles. They don't breathe through their butt, but there are a lot of spiracles near their hind legs. Ag ain like all insects they regularly need to close these for long periods of time to prevent water loss, so smothering them with jelly or what ever doesn't usually work, or at least would take al long time...

I've heard of putting fingernail polish on them and they back out. Peace