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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.
› Forum › HOUSE RABBIT Q & A › White maggots in rabbit’s poo
I noticed today that in my Bonbon’s poos are little white worms/maggots wiggling. Now I’m guilty of only changing his cage once per week due to my busy schedule, but I never realized that there would be parasites going in contact w/ my baby
We live up north where it’s always around 30’F, and flies are rare to be seen around (except near the dumpster at the end of the city), so I don’t find how this would be a fly strike. But base on all the infos I’ve read on Google, this sounds just like a fly strike, and I’m very worry for my rabbit.
I know that I should find a vet, but other than spending $300 on a vet trip where they’ll rip money off me that I earn so hard for, is there any expert in here that deal with this and has some ideas on how to treat this nasty problem? It would be much appreciated.
Hi and Welcome
Is your bunny outside? And how long has he been having this problem?
How far is your vet from you and are you satisfied with their work? I know rabbits can become very sick and can possibly die fast if not seen by a vet I hope someone else can give you more advice.
I never let my rabbit outside cuz we dont have a garden and it’s always cold here, we just had Bonbon since September and the weather was cool down by then. This problem just started about 1-2 weeks ago.
I don’t like the vet around my area. One time my parents took our dog there to have his leg checked because he fell down the bed and he was a small breed. Apparently they forcefully pulled his leg out to check when he was under anesthesia and that worsen the condition, then they asked $2000 for an operation. It’s unethical and I shall never let any of my pet suffer those kind of treatment again.
Every vets asked 300-400 just to neuter my rabbit, so there’s no way they would lower the price to do a worm check on him.
That’s why, if anyone can tell me how i can treat this, it would be much help. Tomorrow i’ll try to give him a warm bath to make sure no maggots are on his fur or skin.
300-400 dollar is a high price to neuter a rabbit, but the vets want to do tests such as blood work and samples to be sure rabbit is 100% okay for surgery. I paid $135 for my rabbit’s spay, so paying in the 100s is not uncommon. Do you have a Humane Society or a shelter in your area? They will do low cost spays/neuters : ) Since i”ve had a rabbit, I’ve noticed that they are not very cheap animals to keep, but are very fun indeed
How much is a exam? Do you live in the states? I could give you a site to look for recommended vets by the House Rabbit Society. I would advise you get bunny to a vet, especially if it sounds like worms/parasites are in your bunny. You don’t need to go to your vet if you don’t trust them.
http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html
If you need to make calls around for vets, be sure to ask how many rabbits are seen on a weekly/monthly basis, how much an exam is, how many spays/neuters are done.
have you given your rabbit a bath before? It isn’t recommended because bunny could go into shock.
I have had rabbits for about 6-7 years and have never heard of this unfortunately. However, i would think this would need to be treated by a vet. I don’t think it will cost so much. A “fecal float” to test for parasites is about $25, plus maybe a $60 vet visit and some medication.
oh ETA: please don’t wait to make the vet appt. I would not think that this would go away on its own.
They do have a Humane society around here but they don’t take care of rabbit that much, i could still look around. I do live in the state, Maine to be precisely.
I did give my rabbit a bath before, I am not sure what going in shock means, does that include running around like crazy and trying to jump out of the bathtub?
So apparently I have no other choice than going to the vet it seems…
No, going into shock is a lot more serious than that. The rabbit can freeze up physically, have a rapid pulse, shallow breathing, chills, or even black out and lose consciousness. Rabbits can be very prone to anxiety and even die from it if it causes them to go into shock.
I know vets can be expensive, but we earn our money partly in order to take care of ourselves and our beloved pets when they need it.
Please keep us updated!! I’ve never of this either, and I’m very curious as to what it is.
If you don’t like your vet, you dont need to go to him/her. I have had bad experiences with 2 vets. They did not take the time to examine my rabbit and just wanted my money. I felt cheated and my rabbit’s ear infection didn’t go away. I have a vet that will answer all of my questions and doesn’t rush me out of the room.
I wish you luck and hope that you find a good vet
It really sounds like your bunny needs to be checked out. Fly strike can be a life-threatening condition, so if there’s any question about whether or not your bunny might have it, he needs to see a vet ASAP. If it’s an internal parasite, bathing him won’t do much good.
A simple exam and fecal test shouldn’t cost much at a good vet.
The website bunspace and the house rabbit society website list vets in different states. Maybe you can find one close to you.
okay I’ll call the vet up tomorrow morning… I don’t want my rabbit to die… I just read some nasty stuff about how fly strike goes into stage-two where the parasites live under rabbit’s skin and eat the rabbit alive…oh god oh god…
okay I just read some more info on Google…
it sounds like this is more of a Pinworm case than a Fly strike…now that make more sense because my rabbit hasn’t been in contact with any flies, and maybe he got worms from eating old vegetables that I left overnight in his cage…is there any de-worm over-the-counter medicines for this?
Are they worms or maggots??
If he has contact with flies then I would guess a fly laid eggs in your buns litter…one of their favorite places to lay them, those eggs hatched and now you have maggots. I’ve heard of this numerous times. Try cleaning out his litter ATLEAST twice a week, if not more.
This is a common problem with rabbits in SA too. Clean twice a week and check bunny regularly for dirty spots around bottom, and also check any wounds just to be on the safe side. This can happen to indoor rabbits too, it only takes one fly. Blowies lay live maggots, check your rabbits bum and fur fo what looks like moving sand. They grow up in 5 days or so b keep litter tray clean to avoid infestation.
Also, if fly strike occurs under the skin, it’s still quite obvious as long as you don’t have pre existing deep wounds that they’re hiding in. Remove all maggots with tweezers, if to small they can be washed off. Toxicity of maggots can kill a rabbit. But only if theyve had them for a few days. People will hate me for saying this but if it’s heavily infested under the skin with fly strike, fly spray is actually less toxic to the rabbit than the actual maggots, but only as a last resort.
Sorry about multiple posts, can’t edit on iPad. Seriously, just check rabbit over carefully daily in hot weather. Maggots on or in rabbit are fairly obvious, just keep a close eye out on bottom, nostrils and any wounds, clean tray and you’ll be fine
I had thought similar to Momto3boys also, that a fly may have laid eggs in the litter. But absolutely check the rabbits back end thoroughly. If evidence of flystrike you must move on it quickly. It’s a terrible condition as you have already read.
For other things like pin worms and round worms, there are over the counter treatments but they only treat particular types of parasites. A waste of money if you don’t know exactly what it is.
Welcome to Binkybunny. You’ve gotten great advice so far so I won’t restate what’s already been said.
Can you tell us more about your rabbit? How old is he? Is he your first rabbit? Are you familiar with rabbit health and do you have plans to neuter him?
You need to get a fecal test to check for the worms and let the vet determine the treatment.
Also, you should never give your rabbit baths…they don’t need them.
Please keep us updated.
I agree- your bunny needs to go to the vet. Even if it is an intestinal worm that does not affect the skin of the rabbit- the bunny needs to be treated- and your vet will be able to determine what kind of worm it is. It is doubtful that your bunny got worms from veggies that were left out overnight- it is more likely that your rabbit has intestinal parasites since he was a baby and you are only noticing worms now because the worm load is so high that he is passing more worms. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for many baby bunnies, puppies or kittens to get intestinal parasites from their mother/environmental conditions that they are raised in. Some worms can infect people too- especially children that are not as careful about hygiene- so it is important to test and treat pets!
Welcome!
I’m sorry you had such a bad experience with the vet, I know that would put me off too. I would do some searching for a different vet.
I would also say that while a neuter may cost that much (and that reflects the care and medications they are given as well as the area, costs for neuter can be higher or lower then what you described-I paid similar for a spay and less for a neuter) that’s not what the vet will charge to examine your rabbit.
Often an exam fee is 50/100$ and medications are cheap. As others suggested you can take in the poop.
I would strongly caution *against* finding out ‘what is in the poop’ on the internet/google if you are thinking of taking the search elsewhere online. No vet would diagnose that way (for good reason) and no one who has had a similar problem is in anyway able to diagnose either. It’s dangerous.
To keep cost down you could just take in a sample of your bunnies poop for testing which is really cheap and then medications are also cheap (most rabbit medications are used ‘off label’ meaning they were developed and tested for another use-usually use in another animal-so they’ve been around for a number of years, and the age of the drug usually means it’s cheaper).
Pandapon, I’m so sorry to hear that you and your bun are having to go through this.
I’m still new to bunny parenting, but here’s the little that I know.
The only story that I know of involving fly-strike was of someone that gave their bunny a bath and kept them in an outdoor hutch. The poor bun started to look like they had a decomposing patch of skin on her back within the day. Luckily, it was caught early and was treated before they got too deep (also, they never gave her a bath again).
And since we’ve now come into contact with two dogs with roundworms, I can say that they can go unnoticed for a very long time and even stay in larva stage (microbial in poop) while still doing major damage to the dog. Though the one that had it really bag also had a very large tummy, which was easy to spot. And since pretty much all worms are just different varieties of nematodes, I would imagine that other varieties would have similar behavior.
Finally, we also live about 3 hours from our vet since there are no exotics vets near us. So to ease my worry, I did some research and came up with a list of 24-hour emergency exotics vets that could be used for consultations. Fortunately for me, I haven’t had to use them, but aside from any long distance charges, it really helped me relax knowing that any quality local vet could then help our boys in an emergency.
https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/afv/topic/aff/1/aft/112737/Default.aspx
There’s a printable pdf of all the info on both the first post and later on (same version-just reposted on first post for ease of use).
Hopefully this may help and plenty of healing vibes for your bun!
Now that the rabbits tray has been cleaned, have you seen any more white things? Or have they disappeared?
I agree exactly with what KatnipCrzy had said. With your cool weather, I would think it is more likely an intestinal parasite. If your bun has never been seen by a vet, it is likely it has had this parasite its entire life. I truely hope you find another vet to try.
When we have pets we are agreeing to take on all their needs. Including health n vet care.
You can find another vet if you don’t like the one the dog went to. Office visits are usually around 50.00 I would guess you won’t be paying but around 100.00 of your hard earned $ to take care of you n your pet.
My pets come first. They depend on us for their care n well being. If we can’t meet these needs we shouldn’t have them.
Also you can get pet ins. for any future incidents you may need help with. Except for spay n neuter. VPI pet ins.
Just don’t wait for the policy to come into effect about a monthto see your vet or your bunny could well be dead by that time.
so i had this problem about 6 months ago it was just maggots and all u have to do is change the cage faster cause there goin to the smell and then laying eggs its not a big deal i have had them one time since and that was because i slacked a little and since then i have had nothing should b no big deal but its always good to ask a vet to b sure
I live in South NJ and I take Smokey to the DelVal Animal Hospital. To spay her it was $103. An office visit is $40. Nail clipping is $8, flea medication is $15 and it lasts for months. Just look around. I was lucky to get a good vet first try since the breeder I purchased Smokey from told me how excellant they were. The people at the front desk are kind of snooty, but the nurses and Smokey’s vet(s) are excellent and they always listen to what I have to say.
I wish you the best luck. Keep us updated on the poop!
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