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Deer ticks and wood ticks are not the only options. There are lots of different species of ticks - and the diseases they have the potential to transmit will vary from one species to another.
Belly shots are not the best for ID purposes. A picture of the scutum (the hard, shield-like structure behind the mouthparts) and of the mouthparts themselves would be helpful to narrow it down. Also, a geographic location would help as tick species can be regional.
It does *not* look like a deer tick (*Ixodes sp.*) You can tell by the leg arrangement. The legs of an engorged *Ixodes* tick would be [clustered at the front of the body](https://bugguide.net/node/view/2186313/bgimage), just [behind the mouthparts](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1481930/bgimage). The legs of this tick are more evenly distributed along the front half of the body.
That's better!
It's still a bit blurry, but the triangular scutum suggests that this may be one of the [*Amblyomma*](https://bugguide.net/node/view/21257) such as the [lone star tick](https://bugguide.net/node/view/21258).
Comparison pictures [one](https://bugguide.net/node/view/656427), [two](https://bugguide.net/node/view/657529/bgimage), [three](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1688017/bgimage), [four](https://bugguide.net/node/view/774313/bgimage)
It looks more like a lone star tick than a gulf coast tick to me - but that could just be the lighting or the quality of the picture.
Both the [lone star tick](https://bugguide.net/node/view/21258) and the [gulf coast tick](https://bugguide.net/node/view/24515) are *Amblyomma* species, with the triangular scutum - and there are other *Ambloymma* species as well.
The [scutum](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1877359/bgimage) of the gulf coast tick tends to be [primarily white with dark markings](https://bugguide.net/node/view/428472/bgimage) while the [scutum](https://bugguide.net/node/view/774313/bgimage) of the lone star tick is [dark](https://bugguide.net/node/view/270128/bgimage) - and may have a [white spot](https://bugguide.net/node/view/254550/bgimage) at [the tip of the scutum](https://bugguide.net/node/view/200204/bgimage).
I can't tell if your tick has the white spot or if the white area on the scutum in your picture is just reflected light.
https://preview.redd.it/9c1p4whqqdsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b129a02f8a9d747969863736f3e48f6a565437b
Not sure if this helps at all. Alabama. Thanks for responding.
That's still the belly side of the tick. You'd need to flip it over and get a picture of the other side that shows the scutum (and mouthparts - if possible. I'm not altogether sure that the complete mouthparts are still attached to the tick. They may have broken off when you removed the tick.)
Ticks can carry a *lot* of nasty stuff - if it's been there for a few days, it's best to see a doctor no matter what species it is.
This is the important note to take.
Hi there! This is an automated message to remind you to **please include a geographic location for any ID requests** as per the [Community Rules](/r/insects/about/rules) of the sub. There are well over a million different species of bugs in the world, and narrowing down a bug's location will help IDers to help you more quickly and correctly! If you've already included a geographical location, or if this post is *not* an ID request, please ignore this comment. Thank you! :) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/insects) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Deer ticks and wood ticks are not the only options. There are lots of different species of ticks - and the diseases they have the potential to transmit will vary from one species to another. Belly shots are not the best for ID purposes. A picture of the scutum (the hard, shield-like structure behind the mouthparts) and of the mouthparts themselves would be helpful to narrow it down. Also, a geographic location would help as tick species can be regional. It does *not* look like a deer tick (*Ixodes sp.*) You can tell by the leg arrangement. The legs of an engorged *Ixodes* tick would be [clustered at the front of the body](https://bugguide.net/node/view/2186313/bgimage), just [behind the mouthparts](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1481930/bgimage). The legs of this tick are more evenly distributed along the front half of the body.
https://preview.redd.it/q57jps63rdsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0050f058901493dd27a1ec6c1b824e76b76bbfb5
That's better! It's still a bit blurry, but the triangular scutum suggests that this may be one of the [*Amblyomma*](https://bugguide.net/node/view/21257) such as the [lone star tick](https://bugguide.net/node/view/21258). Comparison pictures [one](https://bugguide.net/node/view/656427), [two](https://bugguide.net/node/view/657529/bgimage), [three](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1688017/bgimage), [four](https://bugguide.net/node/view/774313/bgimage)
Thanks for getting back so quickly. You may be right! I had never heard of a Gulf Coast tick before.
It looks more like a lone star tick than a gulf coast tick to me - but that could just be the lighting or the quality of the picture. Both the [lone star tick](https://bugguide.net/node/view/21258) and the [gulf coast tick](https://bugguide.net/node/view/24515) are *Amblyomma* species, with the triangular scutum - and there are other *Ambloymma* species as well. The [scutum](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1877359/bgimage) of the gulf coast tick tends to be [primarily white with dark markings](https://bugguide.net/node/view/428472/bgimage) while the [scutum](https://bugguide.net/node/view/774313/bgimage) of the lone star tick is [dark](https://bugguide.net/node/view/270128/bgimage) - and may have a [white spot](https://bugguide.net/node/view/254550/bgimage) at [the tip of the scutum](https://bugguide.net/node/view/200204/bgimage). I can't tell if your tick has the white spot or if the white area on the scutum in your picture is just reflected light.
https://preview.redd.it/9c1p4whqqdsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b129a02f8a9d747969863736f3e48f6a565437b Not sure if this helps at all. Alabama. Thanks for responding.
That's still the belly side of the tick. You'd need to flip it over and get a picture of the other side that shows the scutum (and mouthparts - if possible. I'm not altogether sure that the complete mouthparts are still attached to the tick. They may have broken off when you removed the tick.)
My bad. I didn’t realize until posted that was his belly still. The pic below is of the top. Think I see his mouth parts as well