Kricket wrote:
I've been reading about this Fly Strike that can be deadly to rabbits.... What is the worst climate for this? Is this most likely to occur in hot & humid climates? Does the weather make no difference in the likely hood that this will happen?
Most fly strikes occur during the summer when there are more flies about, but can occur anytime the insects have access to rabbits. I would imagine hot, tropical climates would be the worst for this, tropical and/or desert and do not think the weather itselfaffects the propensity to infect the bun, but the availability of flies to attack it.
The worst offender, I believe, is sometimescalled the Botflyor Warbles,in which fly eggs arelaidon the surface of a rabbit, or sometimes on,usually dirty, damp bums or open wounds. The resultant maggot(s)burrows beneath the skin presenting a cyst-like appearance on the exterior of the rabbit. There the rabbit's flesh is eaten away by the parasites, all the while releasing toxins that are dangerous to the bun in and of themselves.
If the rabbit survives this ordeal (many don't), the maggot will become a fly, exit the rabbit and continue the cycle. To treat the infestation, one must remove the maggot surgically or by plugging up its breathing hole on therabbit's skin with something like Vaseline, until the maggot comes up for air and grabbing it then with a tweezers or the like. The breathing hole appears like a black dot or hole. For a graphic description and picture of this condition, link to:
*graphic*
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/1,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-26354--,00.html
*graphic*
Many other, more common flies, can leave their larvae upon tender bunny parts like dirty bums. When the maggots finish eating the refuse, they will attack the bunny's flesh. If you don't handle your bun much this may go unnoticed for the bun will have a tendency to back into a corner when not feeling well, especially if it's their rear end that's hurting. Being prey species, bunnies try to mask any physical ailment so they are not easily targeted by predators.
Treatment is simple done by removing maggots with tweezers and the like, being sure to leave none or no parts thereof behind, then treating as one would for an open wound of any kind...if you catch it in time! If not caught propitiously, it can be fatal.
Acquaintance of ours left her buns in a sitter's care during a relatively long vacation. When she returned, she noticed nothing amiss. After several days, though, she noticed her most favorite bun hadn't seemed to move much from one corner of his cage. When she removed him from the cage, much of his rear was one, open, bloody wound. Veterinary care came too late to save his life.
She attributed it to "some creature" like a rat or raccoon gaining access to his cage, then leaving without leaving any sign of entry, nor exit. I did not have the heart to tell her, then, what it was, nor how easy it would have been to treat if the sitter or she had physically checked the rabbit more frequently.She's owned and bred rabbits, in an amateurish way, for years and never had the experience before, not since. I much later advised her of a "new" thing I had learned called "fly strike" and mused that maybe that was what had taken her bun that time.
One partial, if not complete,remedy for fly strike that many of us use is to add vanilla extract flavoring, real or artificial, in the amount of a couple of drops per quart of drinking water.Apparently many flies find the vanilla odor and taste not to their liking when encountered in the bun's excretory fluids and solids should the latter get embedded in fur on the rump, but this not a guarantee, nor does it prevent flies from laying eggs on portions of rabbits that are not soiled. Only close inspection on a regular basis can insure freedom from fly strike.
Given, this condition ismost likely to occur to rabbits housed outside, but flies do get into homes as well. Chances are, though, that it would be more readily noticed in a house bunny because they usually have more close contact with humans, but that doesn't always necessarily happen either.
In my 8-10 years of rabbit keeping with a total of 11 inside and outside bunnies, I have not experienced the condition personally, so I don't want to unnecessarily scare bunny owners. I would add, though, I use vanilla in the drinking water in the summer months.
Buck
