Fly Help

I hadn't until yesterday read anything about fly strike. I had seen it mentioned but had absolutely no idea. I am now completely horrified and could not sleep last night due to the images my imagination had conjured up.

I have seen two things mentioned as prevention that I have questions about.

First, fly strips. I know what they are and we have used them in our garage before. Thumper is an indoor rabbit and is not an at risk bun but I would rather be safe than sorry. Can you use any fly strips or are there certain safe ones to use. I of course would be hanging any from up high where Thumper would not come in contact with them but could they still be a problem such as with fumes?

Using vanilla extract. I have read the exact amount added to drinking water is not so important but I do not want to cause possible stomach upset by using too much. Thumper has yet to have any tummy issues and I would like to keep it that way. His dish I believe holds two or three cups of water. I could check to find the exact amount. Would a drop be enough for this amount of water if a teaspoon per gallon is right?

We do occasionally have flies enter our home in the summer by flying in the door when the kids come in and out and I will be killing everyone I can immediately but don't want to take any chances.

If your bunny is inside, I wouldn't worry too much about flystrike. If you are killing any stray flies that come in, that'll be helpful. I try to be sure that I never see an indoor fly anywhere near my rabbits' litter box. If I do see one, I clean out the box. If you keep the box extra clean during those times when there seems to be more flies around, then they won't be attracted there. We want to keep them from laying any eggs in the litter box. You can also check your rabbit's bum more and make sure it's clean there so as not to attract flies.
But with the simple cautions above, I don't see a need for fly strips or adding anything to Thumper's water.

See a fly, kill a Fly--simple as that with indoor bunnies.

Agree with the others, with an indoor bunny I really don't think you have much to worry about. Since indoor bunns usually have their trays cleaned more often and kept a close eye on their poops. What is a problem with fly strike is when a rabbit has soft poo that sticks to their rear, that then attracts the flies in. I kept an outdoor bun (without fly protection) for four and a half years (and we have terribly hot summers with plenty of flies) and I never encountered fly strike, perhaps I was lucky, but if your bun is eating healthy and has healthy poo that doesn't stick to fur, then you've already got a hugely reduced risk.

My outdoor hutch is now flyscreened, but that's more for the mozzies, we get an incredible amount of mosquitoes at this house, it's a pain

shortly after getting my rabbits, I asked my vet about something I'd heard about for flystrike prevention (because I'm *super* paranoid about it after having it happen to my rabbit as a kid when a fly laid eggs in a cut he had on his shoulder)... he assured me that flies will have NO interest in laying eggs on your bunny as long as the bunny's bootie is totally clean and dry (which a healthy rabbit's butt always will be) and the bunny has no cuts or open wounds.

I see no harm in using fly strips as long as they're out of the rabbit's reach and secure enough that there's no way one could fall down into the bunny's area to get chewed on. I wouldn't add anything to the bunny's water.

basically, when a fly is searching for a place to lay their eggs, they need to lay them where their nasty little offspring will have a food source after the eggs hatch - raw "meat" (which can also be the flesh right around an open cut or wound) or organic waste (human/animal corpses, poop, garbage that includes discarded food, etc.). no food source = no fly eggs. keep your bunny and their area sanitary and a fly won't have any interest in bothering them.

as a note, since there apparently *is* something that can be used to prevent flystrike if the rabbit can't be kept in a condition where flies wouldn't be interested in them, I would ask your vet about that if your rabbit ever happens to get a cut or something.

All but one of our rabbits stays outside and in the 4 years we've had them we've never had a problem with flystrike (knock on wood). We keep flystrips hanging around the cages when the weather warms up and we try to clean/wash the pans pretty regularly. Our rabbits rarely have a poop related problem which helps a lot to not make them a target!