Flies driving me nuts!

[3bunboys]

I am having a really hard time getting rid of the flies in my home. I clean litter boxes 1-2x’s a week and I can seem to get rid of them. Any ideas from any group members? I’ve been tools on other groups to clean them more but litter and bedding can get really expensive and I’m currently in between jobs. I was hoping someone may have ideas on traps or repellents or something? And not to be ride, but please don’t just say “clean them more” as that would not be a helpful out different suggestion.

[Mimsy]

Really the best way to keep out flies is to make sure all windows have screens and don’t leave doors open any longer than you have to. If they are already in the house, make sure everything is clean and there is no place they are laying eggs. Litter boxes, trash cans, no old food that is in a cupboard or something..like a run away potato that rolled to the back of your cabinet or drawer.

[tobyluv]

It may be hard to find, but they still make that old fashioned fly paper. I know someone who found some at Kmart a couple of years ago when she had a fly problem, and they probably have it at hardware stores or feed stores. It’s not going to be very attractive in your home, and you need to make sure that the papers are hung out of the way of your bunny or any other pets. I have seen traps for fruit flies, which I guess you bait with fruit. I don’t know if those work on regular house flies or not. There might be some homemade traps you could make that you could find in a search.

If you are looking for a very economical litter for your bunny, you ought to try wood stove pellets – the plain kind, without accelerants. You can get those at home stores, hardware stores, Tractor supply or feed stores. They sell 40 pound bags for just a few dollars. And there are also horse stall pellets, which are economical. One brand is Equine Pine. With litter that inexpensive, you could clean out the litter box every other day.

[Bam]

I too absolutely recommend wood stove pellets! They’re cheap and super-absorbent and actually better than most of the stuff they sell in pet stores.

[3bunboys]

I already use equine pine pellets and my 2 seniors won’t use them so they have aspen shavings. I just cleaned their boxes and pens and is two garbage bags full of dirty litter, that’s why it’s not economical for me to clean every day. I have fly tape all over my house. I probably have 8 or so of them up. Plus everyday I swat about a dozen. My rabbits are in my partiallyrics finished basement but the flys are hanging out in my living room and is getting annoying.

[MoxieMeadows]

I too have issues with flies sometimes, and it can be super frustrating! The first step I would take is scrub to make sure that there are no existing fly eggs to hatch and start a new round of flies. I normally use vinegar because it’s safe to use around pets, and disinfects. If you can, kill any flies you see with a fly swatter, then put fly tapes in the corners of your room. I personally don’t like the long hanging ones because they are ugly and pets (and people’s hair) gets tangled in them all the time. You can use a window cling one, but put some duct tape under it so it’s easily removed from the wall without damaging it.

Obviously the advice of the others is helpful, like not leaving windows/doors open for very long if they don’t have a screen, and minimizing where flies could lay their eggs.

I don’t know if this is the advice you are looking for, but I hope it helps!

[MoxieMeadows]

My post was just a couple minutes off. I don’t really think I have any new information for you, sorry!

[vanessa]

What is your litterbox setup? Are your buns good at using only the litterbox? For example – I have a puppy pee pad in their box, then I put about 2 of those pet scoops of wood pellets or wood shavings, (pellets work way better for me), then a grate, then just enough hay to cover the grate and leave them with hay to chew. I dont’ give them so much that I have bags and bags to throw away. When I change the box, I throw away 1 grocery bag of bedding, per box. If I end up having to stuff the bedding to make it fit int he grocery bag, I give them less hay on the grate, and make sure they have fresh hay to eat in the hay rack. About 2 scoops of wood pellets works for 1 day, for 2 bunnies. I do need to use more than that of shavings, because they aren’t as absorbent, but they are lighter in weight, which makes cleaning easier.
Flies are difficult. In summer I get them int he laundry room, and I dont’ know how they get in. I have fly screens on the windows, I never eave the doors open, I think the only way they get into my laundry room is under the gap in the door between that room and the garage. I would check your doors for gaps.
I would also shop around – there are definitely cheaper options. If they don’t like equine pine pellets – those are softwood pellets. The wood stove pellets are hardwood. They might find them acceptable. A 40lb bag costs me $5.For the litterbox hay – I get it at feed stores. $8 for a 60lb bale. Lasts 6-12 months depending on how many bunnies I’m using it for. If you don’t have a grate, try putting hay on the wood pellets to hide them.
I’ve tried all sorts of insect repellents – citronella, catnip, rosemary, lemon grass, and around the rabbits living area, it takes so much repellents that the bunnies hate it. But you may be able to use some in your own living area. However, they will probably just chase the flies to the next non-repelled spot. Really the options are – remove the source (get creative with the litterboxes), trap/fill flies (does not prevent more flies from arriving), and restrict their access (check for gaps, fly screens, etc).

[vanessa]

Have you used those fly traps that collect them in a bag of water? I used them one season. Fill the bag to the line with water, add the fly attractant, hang outside a small distance from your house. The idea is – the flies find them more attractive than the litterbox, and prefer to fly into the traps, than pester you. The bags fill up with dead stinky flies. Really stinky. Once the bag is full, toss it out and put up another one. What I’m unsure of – is if the traps attracted flies that wouldn’t have been there otherwise, or if they attracted the flies that were on their way to my bunnies. I had that bag about 50ft from my bunnies. I had a few tiny flies still around the bunnies (while they were outside). So perhaps 50ft was too far. You may need to have it closer to the house. But it really does stink. I could smell it from 15ft away.

[3bunboys]

Thank you everyone, I’ll look into hardwood vs.softwood pellets. My set up is a little different because my seniors are very picky they have nic cubes attached to a xl dog cage with the plastic tray and aspen pellets. Every thing else is carpet. They all generally use litter boxes (stray poops here and there and for territory making) but I also have two flemmies with two litter boxes so when I clean cages is usually two huge black garbage bags of waste, so cleaning everyday or every other day isn’t exactly an option financially. Thank you all for your suggestions and not just jumping to criticizing my cleaning skills and fitness to be a bunny mom….

[vanessa]

I get it. I have 4 bunnies and 4 litterboxes. 1 regular “jumbo” sized box, a puppy training box, and 2 nine-galloon mixing tubs that are 28 inches by about 20 inches. That’s a lot of soiled hay, pee pads, poop, pee, soaked wood pellets, paper towels and bleach. I squish the waste down into 2 grocery bags a day. It gets icky. If I dont’ put enough wood pellets in, the pee pads leak pee. My male bunnies are big pee’ers. I tried wood shavings. I’m going back to wood stove pellets. I like the brand I get from mylocal feed store. It smells like wood. The brand I first tried from Walmart smelled like chemicals. Let us know how it goes 🙂

[aloniado]

my setup is two supermarket plastic boxes one on top of the other:
https://goo.gl/photos/tqKAKCAzhNKEBVTQ9

all the bunny poop falls down through the holes, and in the bottom one there are newspapers on top of a plastic bag.
I found that adding salt on top of the newspaper prevents all the smell and flies, as salty environment is very hostile for bacteria to develop in.
I change the newspapers once a week.

[vanessa]

Very cool 🙂

[Gina.Jenny]

I’ve had awful problems with flies and read towards the end of summer last year to rub undiluted tea tree oil on the door and window frames to discourage them from flying in in the first place. There were definitely a lot less over winter than previous years and we have been fly-free for the past few weeks, so I guessing there are no unhatched eggs left. I will be reapplying soon and throughout the summer. The biggest down side is that the oil has left yellow smear stains on the white plastic, but I can ignore that a lot easier than ignoring flies!

I also switched from lining litter trays with just newspaper to lining with newspaper then half a puppy training pad, it also reduces the smell even to insensitive human noses

[Author]

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