# grub, larvae? INSIDE THE RABBIT



## scribbage (Apr 19, 2006)

We are relatively young at raising rabbits, right now i have for breeders - 11 does, 3 bucks. There are approx 22 coming due to be culled. and a month ago we culled 19. We acquired our first set of rabbits (californians - two years ago - this will be our third winter) 

They all are attended to regularly (daily) for food and water. This summer i've not paid a great deal of attention (meaning affection) to the stock growing out.

Ok - getting closer to the question.......today i was seperating the bunches into males and females (don't want any accidents and it'll be a couple more weeks before they hit the chopping block) anyway --- there was one that had a sore on it's back - between the shoulder blades - so i felt something odd when i first picked him up. Felt hard inside under the sore. When i looked at the sore - it looked like a maggot - so i figured a fly ....blah blah and it was fly larvae. I called my husband over and he knew.......he squeezed below the sore - and :help: like a zit this big grub came out of the sore. the grub was approx 2.5" long and about 1/2" in the center... gross. 

We dispatched the rabbit - no other rabbits have any sign of infection, sores anything. The hutches are pretty clean. Haven't had a fly problem.

*What was that larvae / grub ??????* :help: :help: :shrug:


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## scribbage (Apr 19, 2006)

husband states that larvae wa only 1.5" (not the 2.5" i'd thought) ????


i found info about warbles on the internet --- i don't think that is it ???


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## BellsBunnies (Sep 18, 2004)

Are the floors of your hutches wood?

Sounds like fly-strike to me. Here are some images that may help you -http://www.spc.int/rahs/Manual/images/SWF.htm (Kinda Gross but might help)


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## MaineFarmMom (Dec 29, 2002)

http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/dxendopar/parasitepages/unknown/cutebra.html

It's probably cutebra, commonly called bot fly. If it happens again all you need to do is keep the wound clean, antibiotics if necessary, and keep flies off the rabbit to prevent flystrike. You don't have to put the rabbit down.

Once you know, it's easy to tell the difference between bot fly and flystrike. Bot fly - one big larva. Flystrike - a lot of maggots.


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## scribbage (Apr 19, 2006)

thnx very much --- must be bot fly (warble). Bottoms of hutches are "hardware cloth" - not wood. 

again thnx


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## kitaye (Sep 19, 2005)

We called them Wolf Maggots when we were growing up. They are layed as eggs into the open sores and grow that way until they are ready to change to flies.


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## silvergirl (Jul 30, 2006)

Any animal with an open wound can pick up these larvae - I often saw them on injured feral kittens, when I used to do feral cat rescue work... it is gross but once the larvae are removed, the wounds heal quickly.
Silvergirl


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## Terry W (Mar 10, 2006)

"warbles" one of the reasons that people don't eat wild rabbits in the summer......

e have treated a lot of wild rabbits for warbles over the years- depending where they grow, they can cause some neurological issues-9(those are the ones that get caught by people and bought in to be 'fixed') but for the most part-- no biggie. Fly strike looks something like a military invasion...


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