First Bot Fly--photos included *GRAPHIC*

[Mini Lop Fan]

Sooooo, today I had a *pleasant* surprise, my super sweet NZW buck has a bot fly maggot burrowed in his testical.... This is my first bot fly problem ever, and I am not sure how to treat it. I have been doing some research, and I know the basics. I think I am going to opt for the treatment described in this article: https://iamcountryside.com/homesteading ... s-rabbits/ Mostly because I am extremely nervous about pulling it out of his testicle, I don't want to damage anything.
Has anyone had to deal with that? I need some tips on what medicine those of you who have gone through bot flies have used.

Also, I took some pics of the what it looks like. Poor guy, it is super swollen. Anyway, I have question, what is that yellow pus on the far right on his swollen testicle?

 

[michaels4gardens]

Normally ..( And i do not recommend this) you enlarge the opening the bot has made, and carefully pull the bot out with a tweezer or hemo..
In this case, i would treat the infection.
, And let the bot mature and leave. With out sutures and lots of follow up, the buck could become castorated, and or infected.

 

[Dood]

Because of location, I also think you should let it emerge on its own or just treat the infection and be sure no other flies lay eggs in the wound AKA "fly strike"

For bots in less sensitive areas of the skin, you can pack the wound with salt, add a tiny bit of water to get the salt down deep, and after a few minutes, the bot practically crawls out on its own and it at least makes it easier to pluck them out

Salting the scrotal sack will likely damage the testicles but is an option if you want to chance it

 

[Mini Lop Fan]

Thanks both of you. I may try doing the salt, it depends on how long it takes for them to come out. One is already out and another one looks to be very close to coming out. I am treating it with Vetercine, is their any other medicine I should be using?
And does anyone have any advice on bot fly prevention? I do NOT want this to happen again.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I use injectable bovine ivermectin,[sub -Q] a couple of weeks after i first see bot flies in the cage area,
so much easier than dealing with a bot larva.
If you notice an infection, i would treat with an antibiotic, [and probiotic].
Just in case you don't know, if you are pulling a bot out - be careful, the reason i enlarge the opening is.. if you rupture/ rip the bot,
it quite often, causes the rabbit to go into shock and die.

 

[Mini Lop Fan]

Thanks! It definitely seems to be getting better and healing up fairly quickly. I sincerely hope I NEVER have to deal with this again.

 

[Heartbased Homestead]

Hi all, sorry to pick up this old thread but I just want to make sure external visible testicals are normal? I don't think this is a bot fly or inflammation, is this what happens when the weather gets warm?

 

[Alaska Satin]

Hi all, sorry to pick up this old thread but I just want to make sure external visible testicals are normal? I don't think this is a bot fly or inflammation, is this what happens when the weather gets warm?

Yes, that's a warm, healthy buck.

 

[Heartbased Homestead]

Yes, that's a warm, healthy buck.

Thank you! I thought the testicals were always internal, what a surprise!

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

I hope you realize, you just instigated me to go out and look at my bucks testicles. Yep. They have them on the outside basking in the cool evening air.

 

[tambayo]

Thank you! I thought the testicals were always internal, what a surprise!

Only in pigs if i recall right. Semen needs to be a little cooler than bodytemperature, so outside (and often without hair so just skin) it is.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Only in pigs if i recall right. Semen needs to be a little cooler than bodytemperature, so outside (and often without hair so just skin) it is.

Pigs don't carry them internally...

Many mammals' just hang outside - as @tambayo pointed out, it's a temperature issue - but rabbits can retract or descend their testicles. Interesting point: in judging, both or neither testicle must be visible on bucks.

Birds, however, carry testes internally, aerodynamics trumping thermoregulation of the semen. An interesting thing in that regard, however, is that the testes grow and shrink dramatically depending on the season. In the mating season a bird's testes can be inches long, while in non-breeding times they can be almost impossible to find. (This is assumed to be related to the cost of carrying them in flight.)

 

[Scooter1A]

If testicles are internal then that would be a deformity.

 

[Heartbased Homestead]

Many mammals' just hang outside - as @tambayo pointed out, it's a temperature issue - but rabbits can retract or descend their testicles. Interesting point: in judging, both or neither testicle must be visible on bucks.

Birds, however, carry testes internally, aerodynamics trumping thermoregulation of the semen. An interesting thing in that regard, however, is that the testes grow and shrink dramatically depending on the season. In the mating season a bird's testes can be inches long, while in non-breeding times they can be almost impossible to find. (This is assumed to be related to the cost of carrying them in flight.)

Very informative. Thank you. Those pig testicals are a hoot! And it makes me wonder why we eat mountain oysters but not mud oysters.

During my early research about meat rabbits, while I was only mostly learning from YouTube, I was misinformed that rabbits testicles were always internal. But this same guy said that low fat and low cholesterol diets were healthy so I should've taken everything else he said with a grain of salt. He also swore that meat rabbits couldn't work without commercial pellets. The audacity of some of these educators! That bunk channel is the reason I came to rabbit talk, so I suppose alls well that ends well.

 

[kusanar314]

Very informative. Thank you. Those pig testicals are a hoot! And it makes me wonder why we eat mountain oysters but not mud oysters.

Most male pigs that are destined to be food (not for breeding) are castrated young, like days to weeks old. The only time you would get an "oyster" worth eating from a pig would be if you decided to process a breeding boar and there is a thing called "boar taint" from them getting "interested" in the ladies that permeates the meat, so not many breeding boars would go to a processer because it would possibly contaminate all of the meat that it came in contact with.

 

[RabbitDad]

Pigs don't carry them internally...
View attachment 36360
Many mammals' just hang outside - as @tambayo pointed out, it's a temperature issue - but rabbits can retract or descend their testicles. Interesting point: in judging, both or neither testicle must be visible on bucks.

Birds, however, carry testes internally, aerodynamics trumping thermoregulation of the semen. An interesting thing in that regard, however, is that the testes grow and shrink dramatically depending on the season. In the mating season a bird's testes can be inches long, while in non-breeding times they can be almost impossible to find. (This is assumed to be related to the cost of carrying them in flight.)

I truly hope penguin testicles are internal 100% of the time!
The thought of them dragging on the ice 24/7 is quite disturbing.

 

[arachyd]

It's totally normal for them to be visible when it's hot. I remember my first rabbits. I was told they were either females or a pair. When it got hot out I was surprised to see them both laying on top of their little house on their backs with the family jewels airing in the breeze. Imagine sort of an adult version of Snoopy on his dog house. They were both bucks. Very definitely bucks. I had to separate them shortly after.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

It's totally normal for them to be visible when it's hot. I remember my first rabbits. I was told they were either females or a pair. When it got hot out I was surprised to see them both laying on top of their little house on their backs with the family jewels airing in the breeze. Imagine sort of an adult version of Snoopy on his dog house. They were both bucks. Very definitely bucks. I had to separate them shortly after.

Over a year ago we had a foster rabbit who was a Flemish/Lionhead mix, and she lived with her past owners for four years

I took her upstairs to hang out and she was laying away from ln her stomach with her back legs, only for me to realize...
That she wasn't a "she" at all

 

[RabbitDad]

Over a year ago we had a foster rabbit who was a Flemish/Lionhead mix, and she lived with her past owners for four years

I took her upstairs to hang out and she was laying away from ln her stomach with her back legs, only for me to realize...
That she wasn't a "she" at all

Hate to start controversy here but in today's world, one can't determine gender merely by looking at body parts.

 

[RabbitDad]

It's totally normal for them to be visible when it's hot. I remember my first rabbits. I was told they were either females or a pair. When it got hot out I was surprised to see them both laying on top of their little house on their backs with the family jewels airing in the breeze. Imagine sort of an adult version of Snoopy on his dog house. They were both bucks. Very definitely bucks. I had to separate them shortly after.

Your graphic description reminded me of the mental image I got as a child when asked if I had ever smelled mothballs.
I still have that vivid picture in my mind, looking at that poor moth while trying to decide if I should hold him by his wings or those tiny little legs while taking a good sniff.