Multiple bot flies on baby

[MsOakley]

It's just too sad. My 2 week old male eastern grey squirrel has 3 bot fly warbles and a few suspicious bites that I'm praying don't develop into more. I had a litter 2 years ago that had them but the most on any squirrel was two. The director of the wildlife center removes them when they're larger. I'm concerned about the quantity. Has anyone ever had a baby that survived so many?
Thanks.
Kate

[Momma Squirrel]

MsOakley, we have outside squirrels that will have as many as 5-7 on them, very sad looking. I feel so bad for them but as they are wild there is nothing I can do for them except wait until the flies hatch and leave their little bodies. It doesn't ever seem to put them in live threatening danger that we know of, just looks very bad and I assume it has to be very irritating and annoying. That is just my opinion and observation over the last 10 years with these awful things that get on our precious babies.

[MsOakley]

Thanks for replying Momma Squirrel. I know the adults can handle that many bots, but a 2 week old? I'll be talking to a rehabber today and will pass along any info to the board.

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

I've never had a baby with a bot, but a friend of mine that admits always removes them from really young ones. Can your rehabber friend help you extract them?

[thundersquirrel]

yeah, i wonder if there's a way to remove eggs, even when they're small. killing the little buggers would be a good idea, since they're parasites. at least the baby is in your care, and you can monitor it's health closely.

you might just have to wait, though, until any more eggs are big enough to see. keep the wounds clean and the baby warm. perhaps if you wait until they're the right size, you'll be able to have them removed and your baby will be ready to grow up.

keep us updated!

[Momma Squirrel]

I'm no expert but I have been told that if you put vaseline on the opening it will smother them and when they stick their head out for air you take a pair of tweezers and pull them out and then dispose of them. Anyone else on the board heard of that :dono

[thundersquirrel]

i've never heard of that, but it sounds like a good idea. i don't think one layer of vaseline would hurt a baby, even that young.

maybe hydrogen peroxide would work? at least, that would keep the wounds clean, right? course i dunno what effect that would have on a baby squirrel, so i wouldn't try it without consulting a few other rehabbers.....

[Critter_Queen]

Yes, that's how we get rid of bots...wait until they stick their heads out and snag 'em with tweezers. The catch is you have to be VERY VERY CAREFUL doing this because you MUST get the whole bot out without damaging it or leaving part of it in the critter...so hold on tight when you grab it, but not too tight!

Neosporin will have the same effect on the bot as the vaseline, and it's easier to clean of and will have anticeptic properties too.

Keep us posted!

[MsOakley]

I'm so relieved to have all our bots removed! The director of our local rehab center did the deed for me yesterday. One baby had only one warble ( the growth the larvae lives in) and the other ended up with only 2 that still needed removing. She uses a small hemastat, similar to forceps, to pull them out. Oddly, on the squirrel that originally had 4, one hatched on it's own and was found one a.m. on the bottom of their box. Another just died in the warble and was never found. I think that one died because the other babies nursed on it. Hey, it was on his chest and nipple shaped, so fair game. The experienced rehabbers had never come across these unusual circumstances with bots before.

Now I have a more serious problem regarding antibiotic overdose. I will post the details on the life threatening board as I believe it falls into that category.