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do fruitflies cause flystrike?

claire**

Warren Scout
I have looked through RU and the net and not really found any answer. Can the little tiny flies like fruit flies cause flystrike in buns. If so, are the maggots noticeable?
 
I wouldn't have thought so. It's mainly the flesh eating flies that cause flystrike. I know that in drosophila which are the main fruit fly species the larvae need the sugars in fruit to survive so I don't think they could survive in flesh.
 
I wouldn't have thought so. It's mainly the flesh eating flies that cause flystrike. I know that in drosophila which are the main fruit fly species the larvae need the sugars in fruit to survive so I don't think they could survive in flesh.

What do they look like? Normal houseflies?
 
What do they look like? Normal houseflies?

There are lots of different species, I think blowflies are one of the most common families. I found some pictures and a description here. It's hard to identify a fly when it's buzzing about though! Ick
 
I hope not, we keep getting infestations of fruit flies in the house :evil:

it's not because of fruit either so I guess it must be a type of fruit fly that the larvae doesn't need fruit to survive.
 
thanks guys, i carried on looking on web last night after i posted this and it seems that the main ones are the flesh eating ones like the blow flies etc, It seems that some flesh eaters have the ability to bite into healthy flesh, as opposed to an open wound. I guess the fruit flies can't do this, but from what i could find the maggots might still be able to live on flesh. I originally thought was parsnip bun said, logicly they eat fruit, not 'meat', but from the stuff i read, it wasnt concrete. They can also live in the soil on houseplants. I might phone my vet and ask.

The flesh eating flies look like normal house flies - bluebottles etc.
 
Fruit flies are less likely to be attracted to excrement, which is what usually attracts blue bottles etc. so I think they are much less likely to be attracted to a dirty bum in the first place, regardless of whether of whether the larvae could survive. You don't see them hovering around other animals excrement like blue bottles, they are more likely to go for your glass of juice that your bunny's bum.
 
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