Tiny flies all over my bunnies cage

[Roms]

I coulnt find another forum with this topic, maybe there is, but my bunny lives outside in an outdoor cage in a very sheltered area but under a tree that is rooted the other side of the fence. Y’day i went outside and noticed tkny fruit like flies crawling and flying in and around the cage. I got a brush and brushed them off and killed a majority of them, but this morning i went outside and there were hundreds sitting on the inside of her cage everywhere!!!!!!! And they had spread to the male that lives downstairs!!!! What can i do??? Will they harm the bunnies????

[Q8bunny]

We obviously can’t say for sure if these are harmless but annoying fruit flies or babies of lethal-to-bunnies flies. This whole forum is all about house rabbits and most members will suggest you move your buns indoors since there are too many potentially lethal dangers outside (such as flystrike). If indoors is not possible at all, even a sheltered area like a well ventilated garage would be preferable. How often does their hutch get a thorough scrubbing? Bugs are often attracted by warm moist spots and pee/poo could attract them. You can also get insect netting and cover the buns’ hutch (like people do with their beds in tropical places). It’s fairly inexpensive and could save the buns’ lives.

Anyone else care to chime in?

[Roms]

Thanks for the advice, i clean them once a week, but my dad kept rabbits all his life basically, cleaned them less than that and had no problems….
Inside isnt really an option, and the garage is fairly full and freezing cold pretty much all year round.
I gave them a major scrub today and thorghly cleaned their cage to see if that made a difference… but I’m not sure.

[Q8bunny]

Um… in summer, even indoors, bun spaces should be cleaned daily to reduce the risk of fly strike… so like I said, most people on this forum keep their buns indoors and don’t breed, so we likely can’t speak from the same experience your dad has, but that’s a risk you’re taking knowingly now, at least.

[sarahthegemini]

You need to clean the hutch more than once per week. It doesn’t matter if your Dad kept rabbits and ‘cleaned them less than that and had no problems’ – it’s unhygenic and I’m honestly shocked (tho relieved!) that he didn’t experience any issues. It is incredibly unsanitary and quite frankly dangerous.

I assume if they are living in a hutch, they must have straw or hay for insulation? So they’re probably not litter trained? That means they are having to live in filth. I clean my rabbit’s litter trays daily. Now of course I know litter trays are smaller than a hutch but thinking of the amount of pee and poop that they produce in 24 hours…..leaving it a week is unacceptable. If they are litter trained, then perhaps you could just clean that out daily but if not, the entire hutch needs cleaning properly every few days at least.

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