I keep it refrigerated in an empty cottage cheese container and add just a pinch at every feeding. That size container lasts about four months with the seven mouths (and occasional rescue guest) to feed.

Not sure about ticks. We don't have them at our altitude and lattitude...yet. That said, I have had tremendous success cutting down on trespassing by giving up on the No Trespassing signs and instead using a Tick Infestation Area sign, complete with 50k magnified images of a deer tick. Tourists see that and turn right around! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Pete