Help! I'm scared!

[jonesy]

Recently I have noticed there arequite a few flies in my house lately. I kill them when I see them but I'm terrified of fly strike! I never see them near Charlies cage but I'm still scared. I read online it has to be hot enough for eggs to hatch; he has an AC near his cage and it's always cool does that help. He doesn't have poopy butts either. Charlie is an angora lionhead and is very furry so I wouldnt notice then immediately how do I check if ajythings wrong? I keep it clean in his cage but I want to be extra careful. Is he safe? I don't know where they are even coming from I have a clean house and closed windows. Please give me every precaution you can think of!

 

[sgbinky]

In Singapore, temperature is humid. We do have flies usually from the little pan. I change them daily to minimize the problem. I used to have them when i was using Breeder Celect. I mop my floors with antiseptic solution. Now my house is free from them

 

[naturestee]

If you clean frequently and check for poopy butt or other problems regularly, your bun will have a very low chance of getting flystrike. Since he is long-haired, comb him on a regular basis to make sure he doesn't get any mats.

You can also get fly traps and put them up to catch the flies. They're not always pretty, but just use them as needed and replace them before they look icky.

If you lived near me, I'd lend you my cats! Sometimes we leave the door open to let flies in on purpose so they can chase and eat them. Yummy!

Edit: I should add that flystrike is pretty rare among indoor rabbits. I think it's different fly types.

 

[jonesy]

Great! Those are good ideas I feel a little better now. Thanks!

 

[wawacrates]

I could be wrong on this, but I'm pretty sure a specific fly, the bot fly, is the one responsible for fly strike. bot flies are quite different from the common housefly, and while the housefly doesn't pose the same dangers a bot fly does, they are still rather unsanitary and a concern for rabbits.

I'm having the same problem right now due to the increase in temperature here. It's rather difficult to break the fly cycle but it just takes time

 

[Runestonez]

Bot flies are basically harmless.
They lay one larvae under the skin of the animal in question, which forms a "warble" in which it lives until mature....the adult fly emerges and the warble collapses. They use the animal as a host to mature but cause no specific harm unless infection sets in.

Fly strike is caused by your basic fly.
If the bunn in question has urine or feces on their coat the fly will lay its eggs there, using the urine and feces as a food source for its young.
The larvae hatch and begin eating. When they run out offeces and necrotic skin they will begin to eat live flesh.

This is why it is so important to keep your bunns litterbox and home clean so they don't have dirty fur. If there is no place for the fly to lay its eggs...

If you take care good of your bunn...you really don't have to get too worried.
We hang up fly paper strings near the windows in the summer if we start getting too many roaming around the house. Our windows are older so they sneak in around the edges of the screens.

I know vets will euthanize cases of fly strike...as a wildlife rehabber we treat animals that have flystrike. So I am not sure what the vets criteria are for treatment versus euthanasia.

 

[wawacrates]

I don't know if I would consider the bot fly harmless..It's obvious that a larvae maturing inside human or animal tissue is going to need some form of sustenance. that sustenance is obtained through consuming dead or living tissue. it should be noted that flies that require a host to lay eggs, such as the bot fly, are one of the many types that cause Myiasis. The common housefly, while not requiring a host to lay eggs, can cause a self explanatory condition called "accidental Myiasis", which ultimately results in full blown myiasis.

edit*

yes, the houseflies will use urine and feces as a food source if accidental myiasis occurs, but bot flies (and others) will specifically target wounds or openings, infest, and feed off tissue, and infection will almost always occur due to the lacerations and tunneling into the tissue

 

[sgbinky]

Any insect infestation is not good for the rabbit. I too agree we need to keep the place nice & clean. I just can't tolerate flies. Sometimes I poked the vacumn cleaner hose into the air.... chasing flies across my hall with it...

 

[Nancy McClelland]

One thing not touched on is the source. They have to be coming from somewhere or have an access point. Eliminating that will help decrease their number and a flyswatter will take it to zero once the access/ source is eliminated.

 

[Pipp]

Check our Library for more info on Fly Strike, here:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12865&forum_id=10

And Bot Flies here:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12921&forum_id=10

The flies to watch out for are especially the ones known as blue-bottles and green-bottles, also called blowflies. Those are the fly-strike kind.

The bot flies (Cuterebra) are more of a yellow color, some species I think look a little like bees. They're easier to deal with in some respects because they are easier to see, they aren't drawn by feces or wounds, but the rabbits can pick up the eggs outdoors without direct contact. It also takes awhile for the rabbit to get infested.


sas :bunnydance: