How can I tell the difference between an abcess and a bot fly warble?

[Tara]

One of the released boys came by a couple of days ago and had two fairly large lumps on him. One was on the side of his neck, and one under his neck. Neither seemed to affect his breathing or movement. I brought him in and checked over him. There were no holes in the knots, but it may be in early stages, as I have never seen bot fly warbles before in person.
His brother came not long after him, and had a smaller lump under his arm, and a couple of spots that looked like he may have burst it and it oozed yellow? Anyway, thought it was odd for both boys to have an abcess at the same time, so decided it must be bot fly warbles(even though there's no dark spots or noticable holes on the lumps...), so I let them go.
Today, Spaz, the one with the lumps on his neck, returned for treats. They come almost daily for nuts, and have since they were released. :) His lumps have seemed to merge into one single lump now and I'm questioning abcess again? What do you guys think? I didn't have vaseline, so I wet his fur and checked thoroughly for holes or marks. I didn't see anything. Then I put a little coconut oil on there to check it further, but nothing noticable.
Lump is not really soft, and not real hard. It is pinkish looking, and if I touch it too hard, he whines. The lump is swollen out about an inch from the rest of his body.
I could lance it, but with it being at his neck, I am very hesitant...not to mention if it IS a warble, it could kill him if I break the warble inside of him.
What would you guys do? He does not like to be inside anymore at all.

[Shewhosweptforest]

No if there is a lump you would see the holes...may look like sores...Baby had a botfly when we first brought her back in...saw it from beginning to end...I'll post a pic for you:peace

[Shewhosweptforest]

Beginning

[Shewhosweptforest]

Next

[Shewhosweptforest]

Then

[Shewhosweptforest]

Getting bigger :shakehead

[Shewhosweptforest]

Just about 30 days

[Shewhosweptforest]

The day it popped out....thank god...

[Shewhosweptforest]

Hope that helps....first it just looked like an abrasion...then with some mild swelling...then the first pic....then it went through a really weepy stage second pic..of course I was putting on polysporine and giving antibiotics...because I had no clue what it was...probably made it worse. Anyway I should post the pic of her a week later...just alittle spot of loss hair...you would never have known she had one.

[Tara]

Okay, thinking he may need an antibiotic for possible abcess then? Next time he comes up, I hope to be ready. Anyone have any suggestions? Should I lance it? If that's what his brother had, it seems to have taken care of itself. They may have been fighting. Would it be less likely to get infected if I leave it to burst on it's own? :nono He has been released for almost a year now, and I'm going to have a time trying to keep him calm in a cage.

[Tara]

Hope that helps....first it just looked like an abrasion...then with some mild swelling...then the first pic....then it went through a really weepy stage second pic..of course I was putting on polysporine and giving antibiotics...because I had no clue what it was...probably made it worse. Anyway I should post the pic of her a week later...just alittle spot of loss hair...you would never have known she had one.

Thanks for your pictures and posts! I really appreciate it! :)

[keetz1205]

The progression of Baby's bot fly was really cool but I have to say by the end of it, I almost lost my spaghetti. Poor Baby. I hope to heck I never see one of those things in real life. GAG!

[cnmnnaturalist]

That's certainly a silly place for a Bot Fly to choose. Puts it at a lot of risk. Glad that it finally popped out.

If it's an abscess, lancing it without being able to provide a sterile 'surgical' area would be counterproductive. Cleaning them out otherwise tends to be saved for when the abscess starts to leak white pus (anything else or something REAL nasty can mean a more serious infection). My girl Sweet Pea had a blueberry-sized abscess and I treated her with some light Baytril and just watched it. I didn't want to give her a more potent dose of antibiotics unless it looked like she was having a hard time fighting it. Eventually it was 'ripe' and started to leak, so I cleaned it thoroughly with a mix of warm water and peroxide. It healed pretty darn quick after that. When it was 'ripe' she didn't show the same amount of discomfort, since the pain usually reduces when it's ready to rupture.

[Shewhosweptforest]

Tara I'm glad it helped....and I hope all is going well with treatment of the abscess :thumbsup

Keetz you're not kidding I thought I'd go crazy while it was going on....and of course this was before I knew about you guys sooo I was just flying solo....my husband found some videos where people had removed them...but it was in such a bad spot...and then we heard if it died it poisons the host..so we just rode it out.:yuck. And worse of all, she liked me to rub the area...now that takes real love:Love_Icon

cnmnnaturalist...we were petrified that she was going to lose her eye :shakehead but it's not in their best benefit to kill or maim their host so it all worked out....I kept the warble when it came out and put it in a plastic piece so it wouldn't get damaged...over time it shrunk alittle and I put it in a baggie and then into a plastic cup in my utility room cabinet and forgot about it...months later while telling someone the whole story I went back to show them the warble...(they couldn't believe I kept it) and lo and behold the sucker had hatched ....of course it then died because it was in a plastic bag...:nonoless squirrels to become infected:)

Anyway here's a pic for anyone interested...I left the yellow plastic piece just to give you an idea of the warbles original size...although it has shrunk up much over the almost two years...
On the piece that popped off the warble chrysalis, you can see two little yellow spots..those are the things it was attached with..or that's what we assumed by the look of it when it first came out.

[Monipenny]

Wow, those photos are truly educational and bless your heart for suffering through this with the poor squirrel but dang that was nasty. I hope I never experience this. Since we are on the subject, how do you remove warbles?

[cnmnnaturalist]

Removing a bot fly maggot or pupa is very difficult. They have hooks on their appendages that anchor them into the flesh. Trying to pull one out is very painful and can cause more damage and infection. In many cases, as long as the bot fly maggot doesn't pose an immediate danger, it's best left to mature and release itself. Otherwise, removal by a veterinarian is recommended.

[Monipenny]

Removing a bot fly maggot or pupa is very difficult. They have hooks on their appendages that anchor them into the flesh. Trying to pull one out is very painful and can cause more damage and infection. In many cases, as long as the bot fly maggot doesn't pose an immediate danger, it's best left to mature and release itself. Otherwise, removal by a veterinarian is recommended.

Thanks for answering my question, so suffocating it with Vaseline wouldn't kill it for easier removal?

[cnmnnaturalist]

Might work, but I'm not sure the hooks would retract if it died. The problem is if you can't extract it after it dies, it will very quickly rot and just become a mess. You could certainly give the vets a call and see what they recommend. Large animal vets work with bot flies a lot with livestock and might have some tips for you.

[Tara]

I love the pictures with the stages of the bot fly. Very informative! Thanks for taking the time to do all of that! I knew what a full blown warble looked like, but had no idea about early and late stages. Now I should never forget! :)
I started another thread and ended up lancing the abscess because Spaz couldn't use one of his hands to eat. He was having a really hard time. :( It was really gross, but he acts somewhat relieved... So he's inside now, and Ive started him on a couple of antibiotics with the help of other rehabbers. Thanks for all of the info! :thankyou

[Chickenlegs]

One of my babies had a bot warble right under his arm. He was chewing on it so I took him to the vet. She removed SIX of the f*&#ers. Little Man had chosen the inside/outside life. He was in his cube every day by six and out by seven every morning. The surgery and convalescence were rough on him. He lives across the street in the churchyard now and will still come to scam a nut but doesn't trust it inside anymore--unless it's really nasty and then he'll spend the night. I wish there was something I could broadcast in the yard that would kill them at any stage.

[Squirrel Girls Mom]

I have a question. Are there bot flies in Missouri?!?!

[cnmnnaturalist]

Species of Bot Flies that are parasites of Rodents (including Squirrels) are found throughout North America.