Maggoty rabbits

Oh my tail and whiskers, it is that time of year again!

Heat and humidity make bunnies’ bottoms sticky, flies circle,land and lay eggs in the matted mess and then the horror starts. As the eggs hatch and maggots start to search for food they have something succulent close to hand. Fly maggots have either chewing or hook-like mouth parts depending on species, the chewers chew and the hookers tease apart skin and flesh and both of them make their way through the skin and into the flesh of their unfortunate host. Unless stopped these holes get bigger and bigger and eventually the animal’s life can not be saved, which is sadly what happened to our last client of the day yesterday.

Please bunny owners, check your rabbit’s bottom every day and help keep it clean and dry if it can’t manage on its own ….. and please all other pet owners realise it isn’t only rabbits which can be at risk. Any animal with matted, dirty, food encrusted or constantly wet (ie sweaty bits) could be attractive to flies as places to lay eggs and that is where the problems begin.

This entry was posted on 18/08/2011 at 12:30 pm and is filed under M&T Mutterings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.