Bugs in my buns cage?! HELP!!!!!!

[TrixiePie]

I just found something quite alarming in my poor buns cage. My boyfriend was sitting by his cage when he noticed small bugs crawling in it, they looked just like gnats. We immediately cleaned his cage very thoroughly including his food bowl and water bottle. We also checked him for the bugs everywhere and he didn’t have any on him. I have never seen this before and I am quite worried. Has anyone ever had this happen to them or know why it happened? Any suggestions on what to do to prevent it from occuring again?  

[tobyluv]

It’s possible that the bugs came in with his food, so check his hay, pellets and veggies. Sometimes there will be a sudden swarm or small infestation of insects inside a house. They may be seeking a food or water source. It’s usually a short lived event and nothing much to worry about. If you have checked their food and it doesn’t seem to be the source of insects, you might want to look around and see where the insects may have gained entrance to your house. Were any of them fllying or were they just crawling? You could check windowsills and door sills to see if they might be getting in that way. Hopefully you got all of the bugs when you cleaned and there won’t be any more of them.

[TrixiePie]

Thank you! I will check all of his food. I am not sure how they got in here in the first place but I live in a basement apartment so I do get a fair share of bugs. They were crawling all around but I think they were able to fly. They were only found in the area were we goes to the bathroom in his cage. I also found them in my cats litter box. I clean them both regularly so it’s not because I never clean it or anything like that. I have never had this problem before but hopefully my hardcore cleaning job did the trick and they don’t come back.

[Isabelle]

Bugs will live in plants, especially if they have been outside even for a short time, so if you have house plants check them thoroughly and don’t bring them in after having them outside.

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

I don’t know if it could possibly be fur mites. My rabbit has fur mites and I haven’t seen them in his cage but I have read that they can be in there cages. Hope everything gets better

[tobyluv]

Do you use the same litter for your rabbits as you do for your cat? Since you saw the bugs in your cat’s litter box too, the bag of litter should be checked to see if that could be the source of the bugs.

Fur mites are microscopic, so I don’t think that’s what the insects were.

[TrixiePie]

I don’t have any plants so I know that’s not the source. They don’t use the same litter but I did check all of the food and litter for both cats and my rabbit to make sure and found nothing. The bugs looked like gnats but I am not sure what fur mites look like. I did check my rabbit thoroughly to make sure the bugs weren’t on him and there were none. I am checking his cage often to make sure the bugs aren’t back and so far so good. I am going to clean it even more than I did before so hopefully that helps keep them from coming back.

[Elrohwen]

Do you have fruit flies in your house? This is the season when we see some around and I’ve found one or two in the rabbits’ water bowl – they go there to find water, but they don’t actually live in the cage.

Fur mites don’t fly and are very very small, so if you saw something gnat-like I don’t think that’s it.

[tobyluv]

Since you’ve checked the potential sources of the insects and found nothing, it sounds like it was probably one of those instances when a group of insects enters your house through windows, doors, foundation cracks, etc., for whatever reason. A couple of months ago I walked into the kitchen and there were dozens of big black ants all over, mostly on the ceiling. These little swarms or infestations happen from time to time. Your thorough cleaning probably got rid of any eggs the insects might have deposited as well as the insects themself, and your plan to frequently check and clean is a good one. Hopefully it was just a one time thing.

[TrixiePie]

Well so far so good the bugs haven’t came back yet. I really don’t think it was fur mites because the bugs seemed capable of flying but I honestly don’t know what they were. Whatever it was I hope it was just a one time thing that tobyluv mentioned.

[Melissa lynn]

This happened to me yesterday night. The day before I gave my lop new food an water and there was nothing. During te day to. Yesterday was a hotter day and then bam bugs. My mother at first said fleas, but they were flying an u could kill them with ur finger real easy. I also have a guina pig and there was a few in hers but not as much as the rabbit. The bugs where only in the spots that were wet from pee, and most where Inside te shavings and came out when I was cleaning them. I cleaned both cages, vaccummed and there is nothin. Today. To me they looked like fruit flys. I checked both animals and there was nothing on them or in there hair.

[DoctorPeaches]

I know this is an old thread, but I just experienced this in my bunny’s cage and I FREAKED OUT!!!! I was so mad at the bugs for possibly making my bunz sick and I was mad at myself for letting it happen! What a relief to know it’s happened to other people! So from what I’m reading, the bugs didn’t cause any damage of harm, right? I just cleaned his cage like crazy and I’m about to give him a bath because EW! But I wanna know how it all turned out for you guys…? And they did resemble fruit flies and mine started flying when I started cleaning the cage.

[Bam]

DoctorPeaches, this is a very old thread, and we ask members not to re-open old threads with new questions but rather start a new thread. I’m locking this thread now and suggest you post your question in a new thread (you click the Add Topic-button to the upper left).

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