Little bugs? Fruit flies maybe?

[Scarlett]

I was cleaning Scarlett’s litter box and wiping down her pen  and noticed on the wall behind her pen little tiny flies/bugs. They look like fruit flies…I sprayed the wall with cleanser and scrubbed, vacuumed the floor and moved Scar’s pen out of that room.  The little bugs were still there this morning. I’ve looked all around the room to see if I could find anything that would attract the flies but nothing…the only thing I can think of is Scarlett, her food, or her litterbox.  I keep her cage and the room pretty immaculate so I don’t know why they’d be there. Right now Scarlett is in my living room, and I’ve put a bottle full of apple cider vinegar and a bit of dish soap out to attract/kill the flies (if they are fruit flies, this usually helps).  Has anyone experienced this? do you know if these flies would be dangerous to Scarlett? I’ve called my vet and left a msg but haven’t heard back yet.

[Deleted User]

do you live in a warm climate? These could be newly-hatched house flies. Even just one house fly will deposit eggs in rabbit manure and little baby flies will hatch.

[Scarlett]

Not particularly warm. I’m on the west coast of canada. It’s warmer than northern AB, I’m sure…will that happen even if I clean and sanitize her litter box as often as I do (scoop daily, dump and wash every 3 days?) Should I do that more often? Will it hurt her?

[Deleted User]

I think it’s not house fly eggs in the litter then. I thought maybe you were way south somewhere. I think your bunny litterbox is very clean and these flies have their origin somewhere else. Maybe they are fruit flies like you thought. Is there anything that they might feed on?

[Scarlett]

Not that I can think of. I do have fruit in the house but it’s always fresh and I’ve never noticed them elsewhere in the house – just now and just in her room. I’m wondering if maybe they’re in her hay? The vet called me back and said if she experiences any itching, loss of appetite or strange behavoir than to bring her in, otherwise chances are they’re harmless flies. Went and checked on her at lunch and she seems normal, and there were some flies in the apple cider vinegar so I guess I’ll just leave it for now. Thanks, Petzy!

[Deleted User]

Sticky fly tape works really well for getting rid of different flies in the house including fruit flies.

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

I’ve had this problem and the little flies would hatch within a day in my rabbit’s litterbox and would be freaking EVERYWHERE in the house and they were super hard to get rid of. The best thing you could do is check around the littlerbox and see if they’re in there. If so, be sure you’re changing the box very often and swatting any of the little flies you see. If they don’t dissipate, you’ll probably have to give yourself and your pets the day off and do a treatment on the house. These little flies can get very out of hand very quickly.

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

And the little flies I had rarely flew around much… they were usually perched around the walls near the pet cages or on the ceilings and cabinets in the kitchen. And they weren’t attracted to fruit fly traps like sugarwater and stuff. They were more like little gnats of some sort.

[floppylop]

I have the same problem. Little flies!! I think it’s because I live very south and we always get the little gnat bugs every summer. However, I don’t think they are dangerous, most likely just annoying to both you and Scarlett. 

[Bam]

Floppylop, this is an old thread. We ask members not to revive old threads, so as to not create confusion + when medical matters are discussed, new methods and remedies develop very fast.

Fruit flies will be attracted to vinegar so you can put vinegar + water in small bowls around the room to catch them.

If there are houseflies, be very wary of fly-strike. Check your bun’s butt daily in the summer, esp if the bun is prone to poopy butt.

I’m locking this thread now, but feel free to start a new thread on the subject if you like. This topic never gets old.

[Author]

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