Fleas & Flies

Does anyone use anything on their bunnies for fleas and flies and if so what do you use?:wave:

I don't use anything routinely. I ensure their areas are clean, etc though.

I have used Advantage when I saw a flea on one of my buns, and we treated them all. I have also used Xenex and would never, ever touch this product again, and would suggest that no one else touches it either.

I would only use something like Rearguard if I had a vulnerable rabbit. I find it unnecessary and not ideal in a healthy rabbit.

I have a spray from P@H for hutches/cages to kill insects/fleas and their eggs, I've only used it once on my hamsters cage when I saw a flea-like thing in her bedding.

I dont have anything for fleas to actually put on the buns, they dont have fleas so I dont see the need to put extra chemicals into them. If they did get them you can get small animal spot on stuff though which I would use along with the hutch spray.

I do use Beaphar Fly Guard on their bums to help prevent flystrike. It helps deter the flies. I believe you can get 'Rear Guard' from the vets if a bunny is particularly at risk, and this helps stop the fly eggs from hatching as well.

I was given xenox from the vet which I did use on one of my buns and his skin was really red, he also seemed to keep trying to lick it off. I have heard good and bad things about using rearguard, that it can be quite stressful for them trying to get it on, I clean their hutches every day but today I put them in an another run of ours on the grass and one of my buns had some softer poo and saw the flies on it, I've checked bun but doesnt look to be anything on her, they've always been fine in their hutch/run but they do have a waterproof cover over their hutch which probably keeps the flies out, she doesnt have any poo round her bum, is it only if there was poo round her bum the flies could attack?

TriL1 said:

I was given xenox from the vet which I did use on one of my buns and his skin was really red, he also seemed to keep trying to lick it off. I have heard good and bad things about using rearguard, that it can be quite stressful for them trying to get it on, I clean their hutches every day but today I put them in an another run of ours on the grass and one of my buns had some softer poo and saw the flies on it, I've checked bun but doesnt look to be anything on her, they've always been fine in their hutch/run but they do have a waterproof cover over their hutch which probably keeps the flies out, she doesnt have any poo round her bum, is it only if there was poo round her bum the flies could attack?

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no, any bunny can get flystrike, its just much more likely if they have a messy bum. You need to check their bums every day if you can, twice a day preferably, as the eggs can hatch very quickly.

Also, I havent used rear guard but fly guard isnt that stressful to put on, you just need two people. One person holds the bun and the other sprays their bum (its quite a few times) with the stuff. They dont like it much but its over in about 30 seconds.

Normally I would reccommend as few chemicals as possible, but one of my buns is unhandleable and it would stress her loads and I'd have to chase her for about 10 mins to do a bum check, (Im currently trying to train her to periscope on command so I can look without touching her) and the other has a bit of a pooey bum at the moment. Its all about whether the pros outweigh the cons in each personal case. When the weather cools down and there are less flies about I will stop using it.

thank you thats great. Its quite scary with the flies isnt it. They've been on the grass before and all fine but today when I see some flies on the poo started to make me worry more and think about it. I can pick them up to check their bums, but im going away the weekend so maybe i'll get some to put on as dont know if my dad be able to check properly. Thanks for your help. How much is flyguard, i'll go get some today. Do you use anything for fleas or anything or do you just deal with that if it arises?