'Set the location and properties of the ticks.
At most one of the options from ``values``, ``spacing``, or
``number`` can be specified.
Parameters
values : iterable, optional
The coordinate values at which to show the ticks.
spacing : float, optional
The spacing between ticks.
number : float, optional
The approximate number of ticks shown.
size : float, optional
The length of the ticks in points
color : str or tuple
A valid Matplotlib color for the ticks
exclude_overlapping : bool, optional
Whether to exclude tick labels that overlap over each other.'

def set_ticks(self, values=None, spacing=None, number=None, size=None, width=None, color=None, alpha=None, exclude_overlapping=False):

    if (sum([(values is None), (spacing is None), (number is None)]) < 2):
        raise ValueError('At    most    one    of    values,    spacing,    or    number    should    be    specified')
    if (values is not None):
        self._formatter_locator.values = values
    elif (spacing is not None):
        self._formatter_locator.spacing = spacing
    elif (number is not None):
        self._formatter_locator.number = number
    if (size is not None):
        self.ticks.set_ticksize(size)
    if (width is not None):
        self.ticks.set_linewidth(width)
    if (color is not None):
        self.ticks.set_color(color)
    if (alpha is not None):
        self.ticks.set_alpha(alpha)
    self.ticklabels.set_exclude_overlapping(exclude_overlapping)
