Bot Flys

[Joanni]

Hello,
I'm new to your forum but have been looking for information online to teach myself about rabbit care.

I adopted 3 rabbits from a shelter last May. They are all females and young. I get many conflicting stories on how to care, what to feed, getting them "fixed"........

My main concern is my 5 month old girl. Her cheek swelled up and it took her into the vet. They shaved the spot and it turned out to be bot fly larva. It did so much damage to her face but they had enough skin to close the wound. She's healing slowly but getting better every day.

I live in Northern Illinois and am now worried to take the rabbits outside. I don't want this to happen again. The vet seems to think that she got the bot fly larva before I even adopted (I had her about 2 1/2 months) her but we cant be sure. Does anyone know if this is a common thing in Illinois?

Joanni

 

[fuzz16]

you need to worm them...i dont think i have ever heard about rabbits getting bot flies but i know in horses you have to worm against it.
someone else should come shortly with worming instructions if they see that as the best fit.

what did your vet say.

 

[naturestee]

Welcome to the forum!

Worming rabbits doesn't prevent bot flies. Something like Revolution might but I'm not sure. Do you have a lot of wild animals in your yard? That could be how the bot fly eggs are getting there. I don't usually hear about too many bot fly problems in pet rabbits taken outdoors but obviously it does happen sometimes. Usually the worst cases are in stray rabbits (and sometimes cats too) because they come in contact with them more often.

There's more info in the Library here:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12921&forum_id=10

Don't be shy about asking questions. We're here to help.

 

[ra7751]

Cuterebra are quite common almost all over the world....the adults are big fuzzy flies. The larvae are known by various names including bots, warbles, wolves and others. The eggs of the fly can be laid on the animal by the fly or on vegetation that the animal comes in contact with. So an animal doesn't have to be outside to get contact with cuterebra.

Other than preventing contact with the actual fly or egg, there is no other prevention. Normal treatment for them once they are in the body is to suffocate them with something like Vaseline and then have them carefully extracted. It is essential to never compromise the body of the larvae inside the host as that usually caused anaphylactic shock and many times, the death of the host. In most cases the damage to the skin will self resolve. Some cases may require a systemic antibiotic if there is any infection. A topical like SSD cream will aid healing.

Randy