Hmmm what to do - quickish answer please

I've just been cleaning out Evo's indoor cage, and when I lifted the top off there was a little caterpillar crawling along the lip where the top of the cage meets the base. I'm 99.9% sure it was a caterpillar and not a maggot - was moving along in the looped way caterpillars do. Evo's fine.

Anyway, I just don't know what to do, I can only assume it came in on the hay. Should I throw away what I've got and get new stuff? Or is it a one off? I suppose it could have come in from outside - he lives right next to the back door. Seems a funny time of year for caterpillars though. He only has pre-bagged hay - we have Oxbow timothy, Excel herbage and the supermarket meadow hay open at the mo.

Any ideas?

Its what, autumn where you are??

I'd check over the hay. I'm sure the catepiller itself wouldn't be a problem. Actually it could be a good sign if it came from the hay - nice and fresh!

If the hay is fine [smells right, not damp] I wouldn't worry about it. Caterpillers don't like damp stagnent things anyway, they'd rather eat my new strawberries :roll:

Yep, it's Autumn here.

Have you fed any greens to your rabbit lately?

What colour was the little thing?

Evo doesn't have any veg at all. It was a pale cream colour, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a maggot - I'd have screamed if it was, but as it is, I just thought ewwww....and took it outside.

nah dont chuck it away he will be fine, i have had many insects in my hay :lol:

There are a lot of moth caterpillars around at the moment, it could well be one of them.

I found 2 cream colours caterpillars in the garden at the weekend. so it could be the same thing

I've had a live butterfly come out of a bale of hay, how it survived I don't know, but it was fine. The rest of the hay was fine too.

If you buy hay by the bale, you can just throw it away, as it is so cheap. That's what I would do to be safe and they are so cheap. However, I agree with the others, if you leave it, probably no harm done.