What is fly strike?

[Emmaclay95]

Hi there! I've heard of fly strike and know that it can affect guineas quite badly, I just don't really know what the signs to look out for are? There seem to be lots of flies in my garden this year and I've just seen 2 or 3 fly through their cage! Can anyone give some advice what i need to be checking for? Thanks in advance anyone who replies :-) x

 

[Wiebke]

Look out for maggots and check especially your piggies' bums daily, especially in outdoors, longhaired or elderly piggies. Keep your cage and hutch changed and cleaned regularly to not attract flies. Disinfect it more often if necessary.

Fly strike will develop very quickly and needs to be seen by a vet or out-of-hours vet asap as an emergency. The sooner it can be treated, the better the chance of recovery and survival.

Here is more information: http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/blowfly.htm

I was going to post a warning about fly strike later today incidentally, but your thread will do!

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

You will also find more infomation on this link too http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/Flystrikedontgetcaughtout.pdf it is taylored for rabbit owners but most of the info is applicable to guineas too.

 

[Emmaclay95]

Oh thank you that's great information! I disinfect the hutch each time I clean them out and that's twice a week so I imagine that's sufficient :-) ill keep my eye out for maggots and be sure to check my piggies bums! Lol x

 

[Pepperdog]

Thought I would add having personally treated many sheep with flystrike so I know just how horrible this can be.

If you see any sign of flystrike, treatment by the vet right away is necessary, this will not wait for a few hours or a day, this kills quickly and the animals affected can go into shock very quickly. You must seek proper treatment as soon as you discover any flystirke on your animals.

My timely intervention has saved several animals, some sadly had been either too badly in shock with what looked like mild fly strike, some were too badly infested, but thankfully I would say I saved 80% of any I caught with flystrike. I feel I have to use strong warnings on this matter because of the nature of what it is for any animal.

 

[Emmaclay95]

That's good to hear that you've saved 80% of the poor animals you've found with fly strike you're obviously dedicated to your animals, and it's also good to see people passionate about it to warn other people, such as myself, that weren't quite aware of the severity of it! X