worms in poop

Question
We have a rabbit in a hutch outside.  For some strange reason, he uses the bathroom in his sleeping area instead of the wired area.  We haven't cleaned the cage as much as usual since soccer started.  When I cleaned it this morning, I found small white wiggling worms in the poop.  It wasn't in the drier stuff, but in the wet areas where he's peed.  Any idea what it might be and the treatment?


Answer
Dear Teressa,

Without seeing the "worms," I can't be sure, but they are probably fly maggots, and that means you *really* need to be keeping up with the cage cleaning better.  The maggots did not come from inside your rabbit--they came from flies.  And the treatment is better hutch hygiene on the part of the rabbit caregivers.

Please check the underside of your rabbit NOW to be sure he does not have fly strike, which means that flies may have laid eggs on his fur, and their maggot larvae could have invaded his flesh and begun to eat him alive.  This is not an uncommon condition in rabbits who are not kept in sanitary condition!

This is one of the main reasons that the House Rabbit Society strongly recommends keeping your rabbit *indoors* where he is safe from predators and environmental extremes.  Rabbits are easy to litterbox train, once spayed/neutered, and they need a lot more socialization and interaction  than they get locked up in a cage outside and forgotten.  

If you would not lock a dog or cat in a cage, then don't do it to your rabbit, either.  Please read this:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/outdoors.html

and find a good rabbit vet here, in case you need one:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

I hope this helps.

Dana