So, I clean my boxes every 2 days. Every 4 days is probably not enough, especially with just newspaper as bedding.  I would even consider changing it daily while you are using newspaper (possibly twice a day until the flies are under control).

I can’t really tell from the photo whether there is an egg….

My understanding is that there CAN be maggots in the box without them being on the bun…. but at the same time fly strike is so dangerous that I don’t know that I would chance it. Their fur in that area looks very clean…. but still I’m not sure.

Sorry I can’t give you a definite yes or no, I’ve hit alert on this thread so hopefully other mods will chime in.

Getting rid of the fly eggs/larva (i.e. the dirty litter) should be all that is needed. I wouldn’t worry too terribly. Her bottom is very clean, so the risk of flystrike is less. Just be sure to keep her litter box clean moving forward and check her rear to make sure nothing looks off.

Glad things look ok!

FYI I use a cat litter scoop to just scoop out the soiled litter, I don’t dump it all every 2 days. Using a litter box screen also makes cleaning easier because it separates the poop from the litter.

I don’t worry too much about the dry poops, but using the screen helps with that because you can dump all the poops first, then scoop out the urine soaked areas.

Also if you can buy your pine pellets from a feed or farm store they are sold as horse stall bedding. A 40 lb bag usually costs around $8 or 9. Lots of people get them at Tractor Supply.

I buy wood stove pellets. The price has gone up 75% this year, but they’re still the most affordable option.

A litterbox screen would be great. The dry poopies can be collected and used as plant fertilizer.

I looked through my old notes about fly strike, from a webbinar by UK vet Richard Saunders (quite the celebrity as vets go) He says fly strike is primarily a concern for rabbits that have a dirty and/or wet rear end (sticky poop, leaky urine) or open sores. For buns that are afflicted by any of those things, often elderly buns, of course, he recommends checking the bunny butt twice per day during heatwaves. The heatwave you just had in the UK was quite extreme.

The screens in the BB store are great! Or you can use plastic knitting mesh as a DIY option, but some bunnies will chew on them.

I couldn’t order the BB ones either (I’m in Australia) so I made a version of them using “hardware cloth”, the wire mesh. I just folded the edges in. But I did need to replace after a while because the edges would invariably start to come apart. The BB store one has sealed edges.

These days I don’t use a screen.

Living close to horse farms could work out really great for you. I’d not only looking into the wood pellet stall bedding but also see if you can buy hay from there. Having a cheap but quality hay readily available makes it easy to use more in the box because it doubles as a litter material, not just food. Straw is another thing you could add on top of litter, but still provide some hay for eating.

With the wood pellets, I start with a single layer on base of box and load with hay.  Or scoop really soiled areas out, add a bit more and mix remaining stuff around to extend it before I’ll need do a full replacement clean out.

I couldn’t order the BB ones either (I’m in Australia) so I made a version of them using “hardware cloth”, the wire mesh. I just folded the edges in. But I did need to replace after a while because the edges would invariably start to come apart. The BB store one has sealed edges.

These days I don’t use a screen.

Living close to horse farms could work out really great for you. I’d not only look into the wood pellet stall bedding but also see if you can buy hay from there. Having a cheap but quality hay readily available makes it easy to use more in the box because it doubles as a litter material, not just food. Straw is another thing you could add on top of litter, but still provide some hay for eating.

With the wood pellets, I start with a single layer on base of box and load with hay.  I can scoop really soiled areas out, add a bit more in to extend it before I’ll need do a full replacement clean out. I recall someone on here saying for horses, they’ll mix everything around to utilise it longer then do a full muck out when required.

I do pretty much the exact same thing as Jersey! Agree that having a cheap and abundant source of hay makes like so much easier!

I so agree about having an abundance of hay (I’ve never used a screen). I get horse hay from a person who grows his own hay for his horses. I get a very good price so I can use it very freely. I do waste a lot, but all the waste hay goes into the garden, in the composts or straight into the pallet collars where I grow vegetables. It helps with the structure of the soil and also provides the plants with nutrients as it breaks down.

I love having a litterbox screen to catch (most of) the poops, so that dumping them in the trash (or saving them for the compost) is very easy & quick.

For reasons I can’t remember, when I was trying to find a litterbox screen the BB screens weren’t an option, so I experimented with making some. What I ended up sticking with (unless I ever find something better) was the stiffest plastic needlepoint canvas I could source. I cut it to size for the boxes I use, with a thin layer of pellet litter on the bottom of the box.

Initially my bonded male bun and my single female bun did nibble at the plastic canvas screens a bit. I thought I might have to stop using them, but my Minnie girl stopped nibbling once I added a little hay on top of the screen. (I guess that gave her something else to nibble on?)

Moosey still nibbled at it a bit, even with the hay — but he stopped too, once I added a second layer of needlepoint canvas (I didn’t fasten them together, just stacked them) along with the hay.  (Maybe once it felt more stable it didn’t call attention to itself so much and he didn’t feel the need to “fix it” anymore?)

I rinse the plastic canvas off each day or two when I clean the litterbox, and smack it against the side of the sink to get any extra water off.  Then I put it back on top of the litter after I’ve scooped out the pee-soaked pellets  And I wash it with dish soap (like the litterbox) every so often when it needs more of a scrub. It has acquired some staining but overall held up well, and it’s easy to replace if/when needed.

If you try this, do be sure to hunt up stiffer-than-average plastic needlepoint canvas. The usual stuff is too floppy, even a double layer.

Gaah, that’s a real scare! Happy that things still seem alright.

I’d make my boyfriend eat the contents of that litter box if he didn’t clean it on time if I was away 🤬

We change the boxes daily, but I have two bunnies who eat their hay from the box. (Instead of from the gorgeous hay racks that we bought them…)

I use only a small layer of wood pellets in the corners where they pee and cover it with a big pile of hay. By the end of the day the pellets are visible, which means it’s time to change.

I’m also phobic about flies: we’ve got screens in every window, and if a fly does manage to sneak it’s zapped as soon as the bug racket can reach it.