Wood shavings as bedding in rabbit hatch, fly larva and flies

[FoodKillah]

A bit random question.

We have a dwarf bunny around here. We use wood shavings as bedding. There are always flies all over the cage. Small flies, big flies and if i let the hatch uncleaned for more than 5 days to one week, there are huge larvae crawling under the shavings when i get to clean it.

Its obvious i have to clean it more often, dont comment that. I just want to keep the rabbits expenses at about 30$/month and i cannot buy tons of wood shavings to change it every second day. Feed(some hay from the petshop) and treats are very expensive

I am starting to believe that when wood shavings that start to decompose with the rabbit poo attracts flies. Why? For more than a month, i used weeds from the garden as bedding. I used to change it very often, usually every second day but sometimes daily. 1 time i changed it after 10 days. It smelled like a nightmare but there were no flies and no larvae. I also used dry leaves that i got from some trees and used them for 10 days too, again no flies or larvae and that time i managed the smell using fresh wild mountain origano lol.

Has anyone noticed that wood shavings make the best fly birth place or attract them or is it just me?

 

[storminstaffs]

i used to have that problem till i housed them in a shed with fly screen on windows and doors and put fly catch strips up, i clean mine out one a week and have 3 rabbits in one cage and 2 in another, there cages are massive though

 

[Mugen]

Why don't you use hay? Get a bale of hay for next to nothing. It lasts much longer. I'm hay as bedding material for LGDs. They seem to like it.

 

[Goat_Walker]

I had a problem for a while where i actually had little gnat things all over my room. Turns out they came in the shavings! Needless to say i switched brands.

 

[Skyesrocket]

Is the cage indoors or outside? If it's outside then the cage should have a wire bottom for the urine to drain through. You could sprinkle some lime underneath the cage to keep the ground fresh.
I like to use straw instead of hay or wood chips. Straw stays drier longer. Have you tried hanging a fly trap near the cage?

 

[FoodKillah]

Mugen can you define LGDs for me please

My language is not english, can you please tell me the difference between hay and straw? i thought it was the same

i have seen that huge square dried weeds the feedstore sells, do you call that hay or straw.

I keep the rabbit indoors, i have installed fly net all around the cage, the flies seem to always find some way in tho.

I dont think the flies eggs are inside the shavings because i use the same brand as bedding under a small cage with wire bottom that i keep my quail inside, i never have flies there, its drier ofcourse. It seems that it has to do with decompossing wood shavings because of high nitrogen from the rabbits urine and feces. I think that creates ideal place for the flies. I will try using various herbs to mix with the shavings until i find what repells them under that conditions.

Thanks

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

Flys like to lay their eggs where is is warm and wet. Rabbits produce alot of pee and the litter does get wet. With our inside bunny we gave him a litter box to pee in, like a cat. We don't fill his whole cage with bedding, just the box. Then every day we dump the litter box. This is actually cheaper. You should change it every day, but it's easy to do!

Rabbits naturally pee in one spot. If you put the box where he goes then he will use it.

 

[Teach97]

hay more leaf than stem

straw more stem than leaf

 

[terri9630]

Quote:
We had problems with the kids not drying out the trays before they put new shavings in it and had fly larve in them. I went to using a cat box instead and it is easier for the kids to rinse them out since they are smaller than the cage trays. I have buns in the grower cage and it has to be changed daily, single rabbits can go every other or every third day.

 

[FoodKillah]

Quote:
Not all rabbits use the litter box, i have a litter box and the rabbit doesnt use it. Just chooses another corner every now and then and uses that as a toilet. I have that corner litter box for rabbit cages, didnt do the trick.