Rabbits that aren’t able to clean themselves (due to illness, old age etc.) are more prone to attracting flies coming to lay eggs where it’s moist and warm (e.g. the rabbit’s rear area). Theoretically it only takes one fly to cause flystrike, but I think there’s no need to freak out yet as I’m sure there are many rabbit owners who have had flies in their houses and the rabbits were fine. Just keep monitoring their poop and behaviour to make sure everything’s okay.

Your cleaning schedule doesn’t sound TOO bad. In some areas flies only appear during a particular season, so if that’s happening in your area then maybe you could clean out the cages more diligently (daily?) to deter them from the bunny area.

I’m not sure about products, but in my area flies don’t really appear unless there are stuff like unemptied, open trash cans or anything dirty (like rabbit pee and poop), unsealed/uncovered food etc. As long as the house is kept clean and there are no conditions suitable for laying eggs, they would naturally go somewhere else. For existing flies, you can probably get those electrical insect killers or swat them with something then clean the area thoroughly.

I would clean litter trays every day in the summer, just to be safe. I live on a canal, so it’s impossible to keep all the flies out of my flat, but as long as the bunnies themselves are clean, and the hutch is as clean as possible, they should be okay. If any are prone to getting sticky poop, that’s a problem for flies.

There’s also a product by Beaphor called Rearguard, that you can spray on the bunny to repel flies. As far as I remember, it lasts for 6 weeks between applications.

Same thing happened to me yesterday – saw a fly in the bunny’s room and then it disappeared. I immediately checked bunny’s butts to make sure there was no poop stuck to them. I get really paranoid too!

I too keep a close eye on my bun’s butt this time of year. I listened to a rabbit webinar on flystrike (and parasites) 2 years ago, by Richard Saunders (British rabbit vet). He said to check the bun’s butt twice to 3 times daily during heatwaves. Flies can apparently hatch in 6 hours under favorable (for the fly) circumstances. I don’t know if RS spoke about outdoors buns or indoors, he didn’t specify. The risk is of course significantly higher for outdoors buns.

RS also said fly strike is mainly a matter of hygiene. Poopy butt/wet butt are big risk factors. Open wounds too of course, He didn’t really recommend any product, he advocated good hygiene, but I’ve read elsewhere that Rearguard can be used and Revolution (selamectin).

It sounds like the litterbox is kept in excellent order ?Flies arent normally very interested in the dry round droppings. I think they want more moisture.

If the buns enjoy their outside time so much, I’d let them have it unless they have poopy butt/sticky poop. Check their butts when they go out for poopy butt/wetness and check them again when they come back in.

It sounds like you’re taking all the right precautions! It’s a scary thing, but it’s unlikely to happen to clean buns with clean litter trays, so don’t be too paranoid!