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are flys harmful to guineas

  • Thread starter Thread starter janie
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janie

dont want to sound like a ditz!,but we have 2 boxer dogs and we have a dog loo where we put the "poop" we put this in down the bottom of the garden by the shed when we got our dogs 6 and a half years ago,now having housed my guineas cages in the shed i am worried as with this really hot weather its attracting the flies to the dog loo which are then flying around in the shed have "shooed" the flies out of the shed but just wanted to know if they can harm my babies x thanks
 
Yes flies can kill piggies and rabbits. Its called fly strike.Flies land on the animals bottom and lay their eggs,the eggs then hatch into maggots which eat away the flesh in the guinea pig. I bought a fly curtain on ebay and put it on the shed door,it works a treat and only cost a couple of quid, sorted !

Keep an eye on the piggies bottoms,and clean out the hutches more regularly in the heat. Should be ok if the piggies don't have long hair that 'catches' the wee. I've even gone to the extreme of trimming the hair as a prevention (around the bottom).

Hope that helps
Kay
 
^ Surely that would only happen in an uncleaned cage? Or am I wrong?:...
 
Not necessarily... it's the wee that attracts them, and some guineas esp. the long-haired ones, sit in their own wee.. I've got a couple who do it and they're so hard to keep clean. I cut all their hair short around their bums. They need checking frequently just in case

Sophie
x
 
omg! will go to town to get a fly net today, i do have a couple of long haired guineas, ok gonna sound really weird now lol, when checking thier bottoms what am i looking for? how will i know if they have laid thier eggs on them? does that make sense?
 
I havent experienced fly strike on a piggy but i would imagine,there would be some redness/soreness . The pigs would clean more and bite/itch the area.
If you dont show your long haired piggies i would suggest you trim the hair around their bottoms. Any stale urine on the hair will attract flies or any in their cage .Just keep a daily check to make sure their bottoms are free from wee /damp patches. I do it without thinking when i fuss them.
Dont panic though ! A fly curtain has done wonders in my piggy shed and i also have 2 dogs and a cat !
 
I use fly strips they are enough in our shed. I use a fan in the day so the flies don't like that either! :)
 
I bought some Buzz Off from Gorgeous Guineas, and a fly swat! You can also get some johnsons fly strike spray from the pet shop.
 
I really didn't know pigs could get flystrike! I'm always checking my bunny but not the pigs, will have to be checking them religiously too now lol! I've got one long haired pig but she's kept as short as it will go most of the time anyways x
 
was just chatting to my friend on the phone and she was saying she uses the window stickers,they have a sunflower pic on them and theres something on it that attracts the fly
are these safe to put on my shed windows? where my guineas are
sorry for all the questions learning as i go! lol x
 
janie said:
was just chatting to my friend on the phone and she was saying she uses the window stickers,they have a sunflower pic on them and theres something on it that attracts the fly
are these safe to put on my shed windows? where my guineas are
sorry for all the questions learning as i go! lol x
Click to expand...

I'm sure the stickers would be fine,i did consider them myself. I hate flies anyway , especially when you find them in/near hutches. It was just easier and more logical for me to get a fly screen ! One year i used the fly sticky rolls,but kept catching my hair in it ! Gave up on that idea,my shed's only a 6 x 4.
 
Fly papers are the safest, they are not impregnated with chemicals, there is no risk of any fumes being given off the paper strips.
It can take as little as eight hours from the laying of the eggs to hatching out.
I once had a rabbit that had been unwell, and I was checking her every few hours. She was fine at mid-night, three hours later I removed about 70 maggots from her.
Fortunately, none had penetrated the skin. She went on to recover from her original illness and lived out a normal life-span.
Since then I have been extra-vigilant, even with fit animals that are moving around.
 
I didnt realise this could happen, spot clean twice a day and change hole lot twice a week will be changing the whole lot more regular and checking them from now on!
 
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