Removing botflies

[ioujc]

One of my rabbits had a huge lump on it's throat. Initially I thought it was an abcess from a cut or bite, but as I looked at it, I saw there was something in it. It was GROSS!!!!! It was moving!!! First I pressed on the lump, but couldn't get anything to come out. So, I took the thin blade of a knife and picked at whatever it was....I could almost pull it up to where I could get hold of it, so I pulled it up some more. After three tries, I had pulled it up enough to grab it with a pair of pliers.....UGH!!! I pulled out a hairy worm, that was about 2 inches long and about 3/4's of an inch around!!!! DISGUSTING!!! After some research on the web, I discovered it was a botfly larva.....TOTALLY DISGUSTING!!!!
Here's a link if you want to see what it looks like:
http://entomology.unl.edu/images/botflies/rabbitbotfly2.jpg

I filled the big hole it left with "Nu-Stock", (a FANTASTIC medicine we found on E-bay, which is for ANYTHING that causes a dog to lose it's hair, ie. mange, allergies...anything (it WORKS!!!) ) I filled up the hole by pushing the salve down inside with a Q-tip and continued to fill it until it was totally full. Then I smeared salve all over the wound and put the Bunny back in his pen. We had to be out of town for 5 days and someone else was feeding my rabbits, so no further treatment was possible. When we got back last night, I checked the bun, and he was fine!! The wound only had a small scab, which I pulled off to check if it was abcessing, and how deep it was still. It was only about 1/8th of an inch deep and about that long also, compared to when I left, when it was AT LEAST 1 inch deep, and about an inch long! Bun is eating, hoppimg around, doing fine....just thought some of you who raise rabbits might want to know about these GROSS bugs/larva.....

 

[FollowTruth]

ioujc- sounds like you did a great job of handling your bunny's problem, although that sure wouldn't be my favorite experience! However, I always appreciate knowing what to do 'just in case'.

My sister married a man from Maui and they lived in a rural part of the island were lots of people, including my sister, had horses. Botflies were quite a problem there, too.

One neighbor taught my sister how to get rid of botfly larva from a horse (this would probably work for most larger animals). He took an empty beer bottle and with one hand firmly held the mouth of the bottle flat against the abcess. With the other hand he really smacked the bottom of the bottle (the same way you smack a ketchup bottle) and that nasty, ol' botfly larva just shot into the bottle...my sis said it was totally gross! But as I like to say, better out than in.

Thanks for passing along your information.

FT

 

[cipher]

IOUJC, What state are you in? I'd like to know the area(s) of the country where botflies are still a problem.

From what I have read, they are totally gross, and also painful and irritating to whatever animal they live in.

 

[ioujc]

I'm in Southeast Missouri, in the Ozark hills. Very wooded and hilly.

 

[Ought Six]

What is even more gross it that people get infested with botfly larvae, too.

 

[theoutlands]

I've had two pets end up w/ them (north Louisiana) - a dog and a cat. We removed the one in the kitten (which is in large part how I ended up w/ "Doc" added to my nick in chat), but the one in/on the puppy "emerged" before I could tend it. My dad (from waaaaaaaay rural Louisiana) said they used to pour turpentine into the "air-holes" of the larvae (called "wolf-worms" here) and, unable to breathe, the larvae vacate the premises. My understanding is that letting one "emerge" runs the risk of the animal going into anaphylactic shock and dying. My research indicates "chronic unclean living conditions" prove the most likely hosts for the flies to lay eggs, but that doesn't seem to necessarily hold true here.

 

[ioujc]

Yes Outlands.....

they call them "wolves" here, and they are a chronic problem on deer in the forest, also squirrels. That's why you always wait until after a good cold spell to hunt, as the "wolves" make the meat mushy.
And yes, Ought Six, humans can and DO get them, although it is a totally different looking type of infestation. One year I was out of work due to many factors and was down to nothing to eat except what I could kill or pick in the woods....and of course those 12 jars of home canned green beans....which were left from the 80 or so I had canned the year before...just couldn't eat anymore of them right then......
Anyway, I was doing alot of hunting in ther woods and then picking blackberries too. After spending 2 days picking blackberries, I found that I had some horribly itchy sores on my arms that just would not go away. I tried everything on them, and finally found that Avon's Skin So Soft Bath Oil would completely kill them. It also repels them from getting on you in the first place! I am now convinced that they were botfies.......UGH!!! Now I use the SSS creme or Stick (like a deodorant skick) EVERYWHERE on my skin if I'm going to be outside. Over by the lake, where I used to live, they are EVERYWHERE...not just in the woods. It seems to be that the infestations arte severe where ever there are large numbers of deer. And I definitly had deer all over my yard every evening and morning when they came to graze! It was a very secluded, hilly area.

 

[driveshesaid]

Ioujc,

You need to worm your buns with Ivermec occasionally. It kills bot-flies. Use the same paste as you use on horses, just give the bun a little pea-sized amount. Some folks smear it on a raisin, and give it to the bun. We just go for the shove it down the throat method. We do the buns and the horse at the same time. Get a quantity discount on the paste.

Oh, some folks do use the injectable. I believe the dosage is .1 mg, but check with your vet first. I just hate sticking needles into my big white buns.


drive

 

[ioujc]

Thanks Driveshesaid....

I was sorta scared to try that, but I guess I will have to do something....flies are getting to be a problem, even though we try to keep the droppings scooped up and underneath the cages covered with powdered lime. I've also heard that putting three drops of Ivomectin drench on their necks works too. The person said use cattle drench, but I have some goat & sheep drench left over from when I had Angora goats....I was wondering if that would work too. I don't know, I just thought that was a sort of radical way to deal with it....they are really pretty small...compared to cows or goats anyway. Are you sure it won't hurt them??

 

[driveshesaid]

I haven't used the drench. Rabbits clean themselves like cats, so they wind up licking and swallowing the drench. That bothers me. Then again, there's some folks on the yahoo/meatrabbits board who swear by putting a small dose of the injectable down the buns throat!! I CAN'T go there!!

Half of my buns are NZW. 10 or 12 pound meat rabbits. The other half are Holland Lops. 3 to 5 pound rabbits. I just give the little ones a smaller ball. I don't worm fryers, just breeders. We slaughter food young, 8 to 12 weeks, and I keep the young in fine meshed grow out cages, so that cuts down on flies for them. And we're almost past fly season. Haven't gottten our first frost yet, but will be soon. That'll take care of flies. I worm once more after the flies all disappear, and then don't worry about it until it warms up in spring.


drive

 

[ioujc]

OK,

I wondered about the fact that they groom themselves too. I will go ahead and try thr paste ....mine are all NZ BIG buns.....(BTW, what you said about not wanting to inject your big wite BUNS was pretty funny!!) Sounds like that's the safest way....
Thanks for the info...a bunch