Eeeewwwwwww!!!!!

[OneAcreFarm]

Last night I went into the shed to take care of the bunnies. While I am in
there, I hear two more sneeze so I go to take them out to quarantine until I can
cull them. One of them has a spot on its upper eyelid that looks like a scratch.
The fur is missing and so I look closer...there are three things that look like
whiteheads. I take the kit to the table to see better and I am feeling and there
is also something under the skin there...(can you say "bot fly"?) So I take the
kin inside to get DH to help me investigate. I use a needle and some tweezers to
try to pull whatever it is out...It keeps slipping off but the last time I tried
when it slipped off...it disappeared into the hole. Yup, some kind of fly
larvae. I am going to cull anyway, so I will dissect it well and take pictures.
Another kit from the same cage had one on its cheek that was coming out fairly
easily, but then it tore off, so gross! I was so freaked out I did not take
pictures. It did not look like the big, brown cuterebra but smaller, thinner and
pale colored. Maybe just early bot fly and has not had time to get really big?
It isn't fly strike as the rabbits are clean with no sores, etc.

 

[MaggieJ]

Eeeewwwwwww, indeed!

Shannon, you are certainly having a rough initiation into rabbit breeding. The silver lining is that before long you will be able to handle just about any situation that might crop up.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

True, nothing like trial by fire, right? Well, I was not able to really get any pictures. I forgot to take the camera out there before I got started cleaning. We ended up butchering four rabbits tonight, the two that we knew about and then another sneezer and the smallest buck. I have a feeling that most of these rabbits will go. We are getting some other new ones from a breeder in Dallas and will keep those separate from all our others. An Altex buck and doe, and two proven NZW breeders and maybe a couple of Altex/NZW mix does. I will likely get another Cali buck from a friend and so I can breed him with the mixed does. All in all, I am learning alot and even though it was not what I wanted to happen, I would rather it happens now than later when I have a whole lot more rabbits to lose.

 

[hoodat]

Just a tip when pulling out botflies. Don't pull too fast. They need time to lose their grip and come out. Just keep a steady pressure on them and they will come out whole.

 

[fuzzy9]

YUCK!!!!!!

I would rather it happens now than later when I have a whole lot more rabbits to lose.

So true!!! We're in the same boat right now. It's not as easy as one would think, it's not just a matter of sticking some rabbits in a cage, and magically having them multiply. Things do go wrong, and you have to learn to deal with them.