The requirement of multiple hosts for blood feeding during each developmental stage complicates tick rearing, and is time and cost intensive 5, 6, 7. Therefore, live mice and rabbits are used most frequently as hosts for rearing immature (larvae and nymphs), and mature stages (adults) of ticks, respectively. The complex interactions that take place between ticks and their hosts over several days of attachment and feeding are nearly impossible to replicate using artificial feeders, and are unlikely to provide enough numbers of fed ticks for mass rearing 2, 3, 4. Each active stage feeds on a vertebrate host. scapularis, consists of the egg and three active stages: larva, nymph, and adult. The life cycle of all hard ticks (family Ixodidae), including I. Therefore, the production of healthy laboratory-reared ticks is essential to studies on tick biology, and tick-pathogen interactions. scapularis as a disease vector, collecting these arachnids in abundance from the wild for studies in the lab is not always feasible. miyamotoi), human granulocytic anaplasmosis ( Anaplasma phagocytophilum), and babesiosis (Babesia spp.). Ixodes scapularis is responsible for transmission of several pathogens such as the causative agents of Lyme disease ( Borrelia burgdorferi) relapsing fever ( B. In the United States, at least 11 species of ticks are vectors of pathogens of public health importance 1. Ticks are obligate hematophagous ectoparasites of vertebrates and are distributed worldwide. We modified the existing protocols for decreased stress on mice and increased tick feeding success and survival by using disposable cages without mesh bottoms to avoid contact of ticks with water contaminated with mice urine and feces. Here, we demonstrate a simple, cost-effective protocol for immature tick feeding on mice. However, to understand tick biology and tick-pathogen interactions, the production of healthy, laboratory-reared ticks is essential. This dependency on several different hosts and the lengthy attachment time for engorgement complicates tick rearing in the laboratory setting.

Larval ticks attach to their host for 3 - 5 days for feeding and drop off the host when fully engorged. This species is a three host tick that requires a blood meal from a vertebrate host for each development stage, and the adult females require a blood meal for reproduction. Ixodes scapularis, the vector of Lyme disease, is one of the most important disease vectors in the eastern and Midwestern United States.

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