Maggot

Question

Hole on Hopper  

Maggot   We have be watching and cleaning a hole on our son's bunnies belly. Tonight it was huge! So I had myself prepared on the bathroom floor with warm towels and warm wet wash rags q tips tweezers and neosporin. The warm wash rag was under the bunny as I called my husband in to look because I was I was afraid I was squeezing out an organs. When I went to show him, it was out! And huge. The reading I have done sounds like it is a maggot. I will attach a picture. Are there more? What should I do now? I will also attach a picture of the hole on his belly.

Answer
Hi Christy,

This appears to be a botfly larva, which are quite common this time of year.  As a 4H assistant superintendent, I excised two of these from rabbits at our county fair just last month.  You'll want to do a thorough search of the bunny from head to toe, using your fingers to carefully search through it's fur to see if there are any other larva present.  If you don't see any more of those tell-tale air-holes (that larva "breathe" through these) then you should be in the clear.  Clean out the wound left behind from the larve you did find with an antiseptic and watch carefully for signs of infection.  If bunny continues to eat and drink normally and the wound heals well he should be just fine.  Since it appears from the picture that the larva came out "whole" without damage to it's body, the risk of infection to your bunny is lower.  If any signs of redness, swelling, or pus show up in the next few days however, or if bunny is not eating/drinking/acting normal you'll want to consult your vet for an evaluation.  If you find any more of these holes, do NOT try to remove them yourself.  If you damage the larva at all during extraction your bunny can have a serious anaphylactic reaction or develop a serious infection from the larva "goo" that would be left behind.  A vet has been specially trained in removing the larva without damaging it and has the tools necessary to do so.  To prevent any further infestation, make sure to keep bunny's cage very clean and if he's in a barn or garage hang fly strips to control the botfly population.  Keep trash, manure, and anything else that can attract flies away from the area that bunny lives in.  Keep in mind that botfly larva can also infect humans, so if you have young children make sure you check them over as well!  Hopefully we'll have a hard frost soon and the botfly risk will be gone again until next year.  This is something that breeders deal with constantly, and is NOT an issue of poor care or anything like that.  In fact, the flies like to lay their eggs on the healthiest animals to insure survival of the larva, so don't feel guilty at all about this situation.  Unfortunately it can happen to animals living in even the best of environments!  Best wishes, and I hope Hopper is feeling better soon:)