FAQ

1. What can I do if I am worried about a tick found on myself, my family or my pet?

You can take a picture of the tick following our photographic guideline or our short video tutorial, and submit the picture on eTick. We will get back to you within one to two business days to let you know the species of tick, as well as associated information about the tick species identified including what actions, if any, can be undertaken.

2. How can I prevent tick bites?

Tick bite prevention is important as ticks can transmit diseases to people and pets. Various preventive measures for adults, children, pets, and the yard can be implemented to reduce the risk of tick exposure. Researchers at the University of Montreal and eTick have collaborated to develop TickTOOL; an online interactive tool providing practical information on how to implement preventive measures to reduce the risk of tick bites and associated diseases. Click HERE to visit TickTOOL and learn more.

3. Is the tick identification service free of charge?

Yes, tick identification and all other services offered by eTick are totally free of charge. If ever your tick is requested, you will have to pay the price of shipping the tick to one of our labs, though information will be given on how you can reduce shipping costs.

4. What are the advantages of signing up for an eTick account?

Creating an eTick account will allow you to consult and/or edit all your submissions and will also facilitate communication with site administrators in case more information regarding your submission is required.

5. Will my name or any other confidential personal details be visible to visitors or other users of the platform?

No, your name, username and contact information will not be made visible publicly or accessible by other users. The only items visible to the public are the self-reported tick pictures, date of tick collection, locality of tick collection, host type, and tick species as identified by our trained personnel.

6. Why can’t I complete my submission?

Please ensure all required fields are entered (you will be prompted if required information is missing). Also ensure that your pictures are in a jpeg or png format, as other formats are not supported on our platform (you can convert your image format to jpeg or png for free online). You may also simply have encountered a random bug, which can be resolved by signing out and signing back into the platform. If using the app, deleting and re-downloading the app may fix the issue if the solutions provided above fail to resolve the issue. If you are still encountering problems, please contact us at admin@etick.ca and specify the issue you have encountered and the steps you have already taken to resolve it.

7. I have submitted my pictures; why am I not getting a response email?

You should receive a confirmation email for the submission of your specimen immediately after your submission is complete. It will then take one to two business days for your submission to be processed. If you have not received a confirmation email, identification results, and/or a communication from our team regarding your submission within the time frames listed above, check your email’s spam/junk folder first and contact us at admin@etick.ca if you still can’t find your messages.

If you have an eTick account, you can also verify that your submission was successful by viewing its status under “My submissions” found by clicking your username in the top right corner of your screen (or under “My eTick” on the app). If you do not see your submission there, the submission may have failed, in which case we suggest submitting again. If the problem persists, please consult question 5.

8. How long does it take to submit a tick image and get identification results?

The submission process takes on average less than 3 minutes, and we aim to provide species identification within one to two business days. If you have not received a tick identification email within this timeframe, make sure eTick messages are not ending up in the spam/junk folder of your email, and verify whether you have been contacted by our admin concerning possible submission issues (through email and/or your inbox on the website). If you have not received any messages, please contact us at admin@etick.ca.

9. If eTick sends me a request to mail my tick, will it be tested for Lyme disease?

No. Tick specimens are mostly requested for identification (if the specimen is too small for photography, shows atypical features, or is damaged), validation for quality assurance purposes, or when they belong to species or life stages rarely reported in Canada. However, some specimens could eventually be tested for various pathogens in the context of other research projects. If you do not want your specimen to be used for other research purposes, please do not mail it.

10. What should I do if I keep running into technical problems on eTick?

Our website is optimized for three Web browsers: Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. If you happen to be using another browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, Edge), we strongly encourage you to switch browsers when using eTick.ca. Note that the Android and iOS apps are supported on most devices, but that older models or less common phone brands may not be able to run eTick properly. Please check the app store to see if your phone model is supported. If you are already using one of our recommended browsers/devices and you still experience problems, please contact us at admin@etick.ca.

11. Why can’t I sign into my account?

There can be a few reasons for this:

1. Account verification. Have you verified your account? After signing up, you should have received an email asking you to activate your account using an embedded link in the email (this email may take a few minutes to send; make sure to check your spam/junk folder). If you cannot find this email, you can click the “Resend activation email” option on the sign in page. Note that if there is a typo in your email address you will not receive this email, in which case we can fix the situation following point b) below.
2. Typos. Sometimes there is a typo in either the username, email or password. If there is a typo in your password and you wish to reset it, you can do so by clicking the “Forgot Username/Password” option on the sign in page. This option will also provide you with the correct spelling of the username associated with your email address (note: you cannot change your username yourself and should contact us at admin@etick.ca if you wish to do so). If you have not been receiving emails due to a typo in the email address, please contact us with the desired email address, specify the issue and we will correct the typo for you.
3. Sign in route. If you are trying to sign in via Google or Facebook but have prevented these websites from sharing your information, eTick will be unable to create an account for you. Allowing these websites to share your information to our website should fix the issue. Alternatively, you can create an account using the same email you use for either platform, and you should be able to use the Facebook or Google sign in once the account is successfully created. **Please note that the Facebook sign up and sign in options are currently disables. If you have used this option to create an account, please contact us at admin@etick.ca to have your account converted to a regular account.
4. Other issues. Although less common, sometimes users have issues signing in for other reasons. To further investigate this, please contact us at admin@etick.ca and provide us with information regarding whether you are using the website or the app, what phone model you are using (if applicable), and/or any error messages you have received.