Tick Controls Tubes User Manual
CONTROL TICKS
THAT MAY CARRY LYME DISEASE
Welcome to a new level of tick protection!
For over 15 years, Thermacell has provided top-rated backyard mosquito protection. Now, we’re proud to introduce a solution that helps protect against another menace – the tick.
Because ticks can carry Lyme and other serious diseases, they are not only annoying but dangerous. Each year there are over 300,000 cases of Lyme disease reported in the U.S and that number is rising.
Thermacell Tick Control Tubes provide an easy to apply, no-spray way to kill ticks in your backyard. By working with nature, Thermacell kills young ticks early in their lifecycle before they can harm people and pets.
This booklet explains how the product works, along with when and where to use it. Please contact us with any questions, comments or suggestions at tickhelp@thermacell.com.
Allegr Loa witt General Manager
QUICK START GUIDE
Placing Thermacell Tick Control Tubes in your yard is easy and can be done in a few minutes. No preparation or cleanup is needed.
Simply put the tubes around your yard in places with coverage, such as flowerbeds, bushes, woodpiles, stone walls, and sheds. Place tubes no more than 10 yards apart twice a year – once in the spring and again in late summer.
HOW THERMACELL TICK CONTROL TUBES WORK
Young ticks feed primarily on mice, while adult ticks feed on pets, deer and humans.
Thermacell Tick Control Tubes are made from biodegradable cardboard filled with a specially treated material that kills ticks. Mice seek out this ideal nest material and collect it to line their nests underground.
Mice get the material on their fur while moving around the nest. Ticks feeding on the mice die from exposure to the treated material.
Thermacell Tick Control Tubes interrupt the tick lifecycle, killing ticks before they can harm you or your family.
HOW TO APPLY TICK CONTROL TUBES
Thermacell Tick Control Tubes are simple to use. With no set-up or cleanup needed, it only takes a few minutes, twice a year.
Simply put the tubes around your yard in places with good coverage where mice frequent, such as flowerbeds, bushes, woodpiles, stone walls, and sheds. The tubes should not be placed more than 10 yards apart.
In areas that typically harbor ticks, such as along the border with a woods or in places with thick undergrowth, position tick tubes in a grid-like arrangement or at closer intervals of less than 10 yards.
Mice prefer to use dry nesting material. Therefore, it is important to place tubes in areas with good drainage away from marshy ground or areas that flood easily.
How Many Tubes Should I Put Out In The Yard?
| Property Size | Each Application | For The Year |
| 1/4 Acre | 6 Tubes | 12 Tubes |
| 1/2 Acre | 12 Tubes | 24 Tubes |
| 1 Acre | 24 Tubes | 48 Tubes |
As an example, 6 tick tubes on average will cover a 1/4 acre property. If you have a yard with an above average amount of shrubs, tall grass or woods, you may need additional tubes to cover your property.
When you find empty tubes, you’ve discovered a good spot for mice to find the specially treated cotton. Move untouched tubes here or put down an additional tube.
The Best Time To Put Out Tick Tubes
Tick tubes should be put out twice a year – once in spring and once in late summer. The first application kills nymphal ticks that emerge in the spring and the second application kills larval ticks that hatch in late summer. It is essential to set Tick Tubes out both times of the year to achieve best results.
Spring applications should be made in April or May (Mid-Atlantic and further south in April; New England and northern areas in May). Summer applications should be made in late July.
The summer application is critical in order to kill larval ticks hatching in early fall that turn into next spring’s nymphal ticks. These ticks will feed on mice making new summer nests. In order to kill the ticks you must treat these new nests with tick tubes’ specially treated material.
SMART LANDSCAPING FOR TICK CONTROL
In addition to using Tick Control Tubes, you can make your yard less attractive to ticks through smart landscaping. Here are some simple landscaping techniques that can help reduce tick populations:
- Clear tall grasses and brush around homes and at the edge of lawns.
- Place a 3-ft wide barrier of wood chips or gravel between lawns and wooded areas and around patios and play equipment. This will restrict tick migration into recreational areas.
- Mow the lawn frequently and keep leaves raked.
- Stack wood neatly and in a dry area (discourages rodents that ticks feed on).
- Keep playground equipment, decks, and patios away from yard edges and trees and place them in a sunny location, if possible.
- Remove any old furniture, mattresses, or trash from the yard that may give ticks a place to hide.
- Keep deer away from your yard. Fencing is the most effective method.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
No. You don’t need to place tick tubes on mowed lawn. Instead, place Tick Tubes near bushes, stone walls, and flowerbeds – especially near woods or fields.
After only a few days or weeks, you will notice that mice have removed the cotton from the Tick Tubes. Replace empty tubes with new ones.
If the specially treated material is sticking out from the ends of one of the tubes, it is best to leave the tubes where they are. A mouse or several of them have already crawled into the tube and are removing the material for their nests. The specially treated material is already on the fur of the mice, and their transformation from tick host to tick killer has begun.
If it’s been a few weeks, place the Tick Tube in another part of the yard. It’s important to place Tick Tubes in places where mice frequent, usually in places with good cover.
Yes. Ticks don’t move more than a few feet, so they can’t move from your neighbor’s yard to yours on their own power. However, they could get into your treated yard on the back of a larger animal –for example a dog, cat or deer. So in the ideal world, your neighbors would also treat their yard with Tick Tubes because the larger the treated area, the greater the protection. That said, the most important thing is to continually treat your own yard.
The material is treated with permethrin, an ingredient recommended by the CDC to kill ticks.
The EPA has determined that based on the existing data for permethrin, it is reasonable to assume no harm to infants and children.*
Yes. The EPA has approved permethrin for use in a number of popular canine products that treat and prevent tick infestations
Permethrin should not be applied directly to cats. However, the EPA has no published reports, nor records of any incidents associated with the use of permethrin-treated tick tubes. Furthermore, a toxicity study shows that a small cat of 3 or 4 pounds would have to eat more than 100 permethrin-covered mice per day to show any adverse effects. Most cats don’t eat more than 6 mice per month, indicating the risk of exposure is minimal.
Thermacell Tick Control Tubes target ticks using specially treated cotton material bound with permethrin. When Permethrin is bound to fiber it greatly limits the exposure of non-target insects.
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 may be discarded in the trash or offered for recycling.
No. Neonatal mice, when exposed from the time of birth until weaning to the specially treated material exhibit no reduction in survival or reproductive success when compared with non-exposed mice.
*U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Reregistration Eligibility Decision for Permethrin, 2009, Pgs. 20-21
Under the promotion code TICK10, customers will be given 10% off their Thermacell Tick Control Tube purchase. Discount only applies to select items. Customer will be required to give the promotion code to qualify for the offer. Offer expires 11:59pm EST July, 31st 2018. All shipping charges, additional, overweight, etc. fees will still apply. Offer cannot be combined with other offers, prior purchases or sale items. This offer is not valid at retail locations.
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