Fly Strike in Rabbits

Fly strike is a condition also known as myiasis. It occurs when flies are drawn to lay their eggs on your rabbit. When their eggs hatch, the maggots that hatch out of them will start to eat the flesh for nutrients until your bunny is left with large open wounds. The condition can develop and progress quickly with large numbers of maggots eating away at their flesh at the same time. Wounds can become sizable and deep at a rapid rate.

Flies are attracted to warm, damp areas, especially when it comes to laying their eggs. Rabbit hutches can become dirty and smelly quite quickly. If your bunny is resting in their own faeces, it can leave the coat around their bums damp and smelly, which is the perfect environment for flies to lay their eggs. This is where you will most commonly find that rabbits will suffer from fly strike.

If you’re on high alert for fly strike throughout summer, it’s hard to notice any wounds, especially when they first develop as they might not even be bothering them that much. Symptoms of fly strike include:

Rabbits are prey animals so they’ll often try very hard to hide when they are suffering. You might not even notice that they’re feeling unwell until they collapse and go into shock. You might only notice them being a little bit listless at first. Behaviours like digging in the corner of their hutch can suggest that they’re uncomfortable or trying to relieve any pain they’re in.

If you suspect fly strike, try parting their fur to check them all over for any signs of wounds across their whole body.

Fly strike might not sound very scary but it can in fact be fatal. Once maggots start to cause open wounds across their skin, their chances of survival will rapidly decline so the sooner you spot it and get in touch with your vet, the better.

There’s no rapid cure or treatment you can provide from home for fly strike, making medical intervention a must. When a rabbit is taken to the vet with fly strike, they are almost always given supportive fluids to rehydrate them. They will be put under anaesthetic and have the fur around their wound clipped so the vet can better assess the damage and clean them up. The vet will remove all the eggs and maggots they possibly can and then put your four-legged friend on a course of pain relief and antibiotics. Your bunny then has to do the rest and recover with support.

If your vet clips away the fur and finds that the wounds are too severe to allow for full recovery, they’ll more than likely suggest euthanasia to make sure they’re not suffering any longer than they need to. Fly strike should always be taken seriously, it might not sound scary but it can be a matter of life or death for many bunnies who are affected by it.

Prevention is by far the best form of treatment when it comes to avoid your rabbit suffering from fly strike. There are a number of different things you can do to support your bunny and avoid them having to deal with nasty wounds.

By keeping your rabbit in their prime of health, they are less likely to contract most illnesses. When rabbits produce caecotrophs, they’ll usually eat them and keep their home a little cleaner. However, if they are in ill health and poor condition, they can become stuck in their coat. Similarly, if a rabbit is overweight they may not be able to reach far enough to keep themselves clean which means they are much more at risk of contracting fly strike.

Rabbits should be fed a constant supply of hay along with fresh vegetables and a healthy, balanced nugget diet to go along with it. By feeding your rabbit a balanced diet that manages their weight, it keeps them healthy and avoids illness.

One of the biggest risk factors when it comes to fly strike is a dirty hutch. When rabbits are sitting in soiled bedding all day it makes it almost impossible to keep themselves clean. Their hutch should be thoroughly cleaned out once a week with a pet safe cleaner like Johnson's Clean 'n' Safe Disinfectant For Small Animals to make sure all bacteria is killed off. Soiled bedding should be spot cleaned every day to avoid attracting too many flies.

A nice clean hutch will mean your bunny can stay nice and dry and avoid sitting in their own mess and should attract fewer flies. You can also use a protective spray on their hutch like Johnson's Cage 'n' Hutch Insect Spray to help ward off any bugs.

By regularly grooming your bunny, you can stop their fur becoming dirty enough to attract any flies. With daily health checks to make sure they’re fit and healthy, you can avoid any issues progressing to a point where it becomes harmful. If you check them over every day, you’re bound to notice any wet patches in their fur that they aren’t grooming and look to solve the issue before it can develop into fly strike.

If you have a rabbit that struggles to groom themselves you may need to check them over multiple times a day and help by brushing them regularly. During the summer months, you can also protect them with a spray like Johnson's Fly Strike For Small Animals.

For everything you need to keep your bunny fighting fit during the warmer months and all of your other rabbit essentials, take a look in store and online.