# BIG PROBLEM!! Weevil??? LARVAE EXTRACTION PHOTO!!!



## nstone630 (Jul 29, 2013)

So, we find this hole in my rabbit, and a WORM of some sort underher skin moving around and posing out of the hole!!!!     

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS IT AND WHAT DO I DO????? 

We put Pine Tar on it as it was an open wound and flies were messing with it (that's the black stuff on her fur in the picture). 

HOW DO I GET IT OUT?????? 

Also, we've been slaughtering the rabbits and using the meat, as long as the meat is cook well there should be no issue right? None of the rabbits we've slaughtered had anything wrong with it like this one.


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## Southern by choice (Jul 29, 2013)

I forgot what it is called, but many years ago when I groomed I would come across this. It is larvae from ???? don't remember. Anyway all you need to do is *take a pair of hemostats and pull it out*, yes you will have a big hole there. Keep it clean.

I don't know much about rabbits so I don't know what you should put on it but you will need to keep the flies off.

I know.. creepy huh!


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## nstone630 (Jul 29, 2013)

I don't know if it's in larvae form or not. You can actually see it poke what I believe to be it's head out of the hole   And it's obviously tender to the rabbit as touching or squeezing hurts. It does look like i could get it out using some tweezers. We use pine tar to keep flies off any ingured animals, works amazing!!! And it seems this little worm fellow doesn't like it at ALL. When we put it on the hole it started freaking out. 

Will it kill my rabbit??


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## Southern by choice (Jul 29, 2013)

The ones I've seen were rather large and thick, never cause any real harm to the animal. I have seen them on cats and dogs too. 
It is from some sort of large fly. I wish I could remember the name.

Can't really see in the pic. But if it is what I have seen in the past it is a single "thick" wormlike... but not a worm... Most I have seen were about 1/4 diameter and maybe an inch long. 

If you are seeing more that one, and they are maggots then they will need a different treatment.


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## Four Winds Ranch (Jul 29, 2013)

We have some around here that we usually see on large farm animals like horses and cattle called "bots". 
The bot fly lays eggs on the animal, usually where the animal will end up with the eggs going in their mouth or nose. Once the egg hits moisture and warmth, it hatches, travels through body tissues untill it hits the skin. It lives just under the skin (sometimes just a moving lump, and sometimes in a hole in the skin) until it morphs into am adult bot fly and starts the cycle all over again.
 It sounds like your rabbit has the same, or something along those lines.  :/
I wouls do like Southern mentioned, pull it out, squish it and keep the wound clean! 
I would think as long as no infection gets in, your rabbit should be fine!
Good luck!!!


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## nstone630 (Jul 29, 2013)

....so this afternoon we will atempt to pull this sucker out and see what happens. 

I will try to get a bigger picture on here to see if it's easier to see.


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## nstone630 (Jul 29, 2013)

YUCK....


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## lastfling (Jul 29, 2013)

Ha, you're right yuck....   I believe, as has been said, that it's a bot fly larvae.  You should be able to get it out with tweezers or hemostats.  Be sure to use a steady even pressure to avoid breaking the worm off in the rabbits as this could lead to other issues.  They are acquired by the bot-fly laying  an egg near the site and the larvae burrowing into the skin.  I don't believe you or the rabbit are going to acquire them by ingestion.


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## GLENMAR (Jul 30, 2013)




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## nstone630 (Jul 30, 2013)

UPDATE. we succesfully removed the worm. Not as gross as I expected, but not as fun either LOL

So we are just going to Dr up the hole that was left, and hopefully she makes a good full recovery. 

NOW...question...since she had 1, will there be more? Will my other rabbits get it? How do I prevent this from happening????? 

I'll post pics soon. That sucker was HUGE!!


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## Southern by choice (Jul 30, 2013)

Yay!    yep they are big aren't they! nasty.... 
whenever I have seen them there was only one on the animal. I don't really know the answer to your question... maybe someone with more experience will have some suggestions!


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## nstone630 (Jul 30, 2013)

Got that ugly sucker! 

Now just how to prevent it from happening again.


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## nstone630 (Jul 30, 2013)




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## treeclimber233 (Oct 10, 2013)

I don't think there is much you can do to prevent them except remove the larva and kill them.  My rabbits used to get them.  Just a few every summer. I even found one on my cat.  Try removing one of those from a cat!!!!


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## GD91 (May 31, 2014)

I saw a woman on tv get one pulled out of her skull once  gave me nightmares for weeks. It had burrowed under the skin & was sitting between the skin & the skull. She said she could feel it moving!

The botfly maggot is a nasty little bugger  never had one here & don't want any either!


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## alsea1 (May 31, 2014)

Dang. I have not encountered that yet.
I clean up under the pens and put lime down to try and discourage flys.
But I don't know what you could do just short of building a screened enclosure for the rabbitry.


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## zachbelle (Mar 20, 2015)

I know this is an old post but just wanted to post for anyone else looking for answers to this. I had this problem last summer it is a bot fly larvae we found one large one like the one in the picture and then a few smaller ones after checking her over. The Hoke is in the skin so that the larvae can breathe, we covered the hole with a big glob of Vasaline and it caused the larvae to start to back out to find air then grab with tweezers and pull out, take your time because if you break the larvae while it's still in the rabbit it can poison the rabbit and kill it. After we removed it I used a needle - less syringe and washed the wound out with peroxide then put TAO in the wound and it healed very quickly.  We then moved the hutch off the ground and never had another problem with it, from what I have read the flies are attracted to the feces and then will lay eggs on the rabbit because it's a warm body, in out case having the hut on the ground even though we kept it clean there were still feces close enough to her to attract them. The eggs are little tiny off white spots so watch for them. After removing the larvae and giving the wound a day or so to heal I gave her a bath in dawn dish soap to remove any eggs to be safe then checked her regularly but as I said once off the ground never had an issue. Hope this helps anyone searching for answers on this


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## zachbelle (Mar 20, 2015)

Oh and eventually if un treated they will fall off the rabbit on there own once they are done feeding but it takes a lot out of the rabbit as they are feeding on the rabbit. And when I first noticed it I was patting her and felt a lump almost felt like a small tumor and when I picked her up to examine it looked like a puncture wound I was to checking the cage for loose screw and nails sticking out before I noticed that there was an alien looking thing inside the hole! So if you notice something that looks like a puncture wound check inside..


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## Pearce Pastures (Apr 16, 2015)

If DH's buns ever get this...  Yeah, he will be on his own.


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