Botflies

[CaseyGalaxy]

I am fairly sure that Casey has a botfly maggot under his skin. My other rabbit had one last year and it seems like the same thing. I am calling the vet first thing in the morning, but is there anything I can do for him tonight?

 

[whitelop]

Is there a lot of fur around where you think the maggot is?
If there isn't, then you can put some tape over the hole and try to suffocate the maggot. Thats why they do for people with botflies under their skins.

 

[CaseyGalaxy]

I have heard that it isn't good to kill the larva while it is still inside the rabbit because it will release toxins that could kill the rabbit. Do you know anything about this?

 

[LakeCondo]

I hope you can get it taken care of & find out how to prevent them in the future.

 

[whitelop]

No I don't. I've just seen things about it with people with the larvae in them.

I just read a few things that said don't try to take the larvae out yourself! So don't do it!
It said that its an emergency though when they get bot fly larvae under the skin. So as soon as you can get your bun to the vet the better.
I found this thread somewhere else and maybe it can help you.
http://familycow.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rabbits&action=display&thread=14867

 

[mshill90]

I just had a run in with botfly larvae on all 4 of my rabbits. It's been rather humid and them wet here, then it cooled off way quickly, and that's when they all started emerging.

I am a vet tech by trade, but do not work in the field anymore because of the area I live in.

I first thought these were bites, but upon further inspection it was botfly larvae.

I took a shot at taking care of them on my own...

Brought the rabbit inside, shaved all hair away from the area (clipped the hair if not in a shaveable area).. I had the following items on hand:

Peroxide, Neosporin, tweezers (blunt tips), qtips, paper towels, and latex gloves, needle less syringe, iodine

With the help of my husband (holding the rabbit) we were able to safely remove the larvae and clean the wounds.

We held the rabbits like babies in a towel, holding the ears back, which caused them to enter a sleep state, shaved area, applied iodine to area, grabbed the base of the "lump" and squeezed until a good portion on the larvae came out of the area, IMMEDIATELY grab the worm with your tweezers- IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT LET GO!!!- Pull the worm out (discard worm)- squeeze lump and use paper towels to remove any infection/puss etc that should excrete out- Fill syringe with peroxide- insert into "hole" and flush wound out; several times- Wipe area clean, apply neosporin with qtip into and around the wound.

Keep an eye on the wound, and clean as necessary.

All of my rabbits wounds have healed in about 3 days, and are showing no signs of infection. All are acting normal and showing no adverse affects.

Botflies CAN become an issue if you don't remove the fly in time, or if you try to remove the worm, and you end up killing the worm in the process and do not remove the entire thing from the wound.

It is essential that you CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN the wound and keep it CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN!!!!!

**I just removed everyone's larvaes last weekend and everyone has healed up and you can't even tell there was an issue other than the shaved fur part. LOL**

There is a botfly larvae on my momma rabbit that I will be removing tomorrow morning (husband isn't here, and I can't do it myself being 7 months prego) so I will take step by step pictures and post a thread about it if anyone needs help!

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

My mini rex Speckles had one of these years ago. I took her into the vet and he did a great job, quickly and easily removing it, and sent us home with Silver Sulfadiazine cream to put on twice a day for I think two weeks. Everything healed up well and we didn't have a problem with that again (with her)

Several years later our other mini rex got 2 at the same time. We tried to suffocate it with nailpolish (I do NOT recomend this...it was a bad idea!!!) Eventually the larvae came out and thinkfully it didn't end up infected but it just wasn't the best thing or esaiest. I think it even ended up reoccuring and she got one more. Eventually they were all gone.

 

[CaseyGalaxy]

Thanks for the responses! We took him to the vet last week and he seems to be doing great now. He had one larva still alive, one dead, and one spot where the larva had already left. The vet sent us home with some oral antibiotics and also some ointment to apply daily to the site of the wounds.

mshill90: thanks for the tips, we may have to do that ourselves should it happen again, the vet visit cost just over $100 and is not something I will be doing often, but am glad that Casey got the great care that he did.

 

[Blue eyes]

I've never dealt with this with any of my rabbits. Can indoor rabbits get this as readily as outdoor? How did you recognize it?

 

[KittyKatMe]

Do they have botflies in SD?

 

[whitelop]

Botflies don't usually lay the eggs themselves, they're too big. So what they do is, grab a mosquito and deposit the eggs onto the underside of the mosquito, so when the mosquito lands on you or your animal the eggs will fall off onto the new host. They hatch and burrow into the skin, thus growing into larvae. As gross as it is, its pretty genius.

So I would say that if a mosquito that has botfly eggs on it gets into your house, then you could have a botfly issue if it landed on your animals in the house. Botfly eggs are little tiny yellow eggs that really stick to the fur.

I'm not sure what kind of climates they live in, but I think its warmer more humid climates.

 

[mshill90]

Household rabbits can get them if given time outside, but getting them being inside only, is pretty rare, and one of the last things to worry about.

 

[Blue eyes]

mshill90 wrote:

Household rabbits can get them if given time outside, but getting them being inside only, is pretty rare, and one of the last things to worry about.

That's good to know!

Love the Sherlock & Watson names for your buns. I'm a fan of everything Holmsian.

 

[KittyKatMe]

I basically live in coastal desert, and we have lots of termites but not mosquitoes.

 

[mshill90]

Haha, yeah.. their names fit them perfectly too.

Sherlock is such a trouble makes, and Watson just kinda sits by and watches. haha