Bott fly prevention revisited?

[Cesta]

Hi friends , I think we're getting towards the season of the dreaded bott fly. I'm going to be releasing a squirrel I love dearly, Luna, in the next couple weeks. Could we revisit the protocol for bott prevention? I've never seen them on my yard squirrels, hand raised or otherwise, but Heart for Squirrels lives very close by and you may remember her Bott horror story from last summer. (Snow on the ground where you live? Lucky!! It's already getting quite warm here in Central Florida!) I know the proper med is ivermectin, and that H4S had good luck dosing on a shelled pecan. But, where can I get it, how much should I give, and how long does it work? Also, is it dangerous for pregnant/ lactating squirrels? And can you overdose them? I'd like to treat my yard squirrels, but have not thought of a way to ensure they don't get multiple nuts laced with the med.

If nothing else, it seems like a good time to reopen this conversation and start thinking ahead to help prevent our fuzzy friends being infested with these nasty parasites. (FYI, I've been off the board for awhile, so if you've already been discussing this, please accept my apology and kindly point me in the direction of the current thread.)
:Love_Icon :thankyou :Love_Icon

[lennysmom]

Was it ever determined if Revolution would help with bot fly prevention? I know there was some talk about it awhile back, but I don't recal the final consensus. My poor little Lenny gets plagued with them every year too and since we had a reasonably mild winter, I'm thinking it will probably be a bad bot fly season. :(
My husband was actually thinking of building a homemade bot fly trap and if he does, I will let you know how it works.

Thank you for starting this thread Cesta! :hug We terribly dread those awful things every year and I am very intrested in anything to help prevent them from plaguing my baby!

[HRT4SQRLS]

Cesta, most of the discussion about bot flies was on Susie's thread regarding her horrible situation. http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?46931-Never-in-my-life

In that thread, I had changed my mind about using the ivermectin. I am going to try Revolution instead. If the Revolution doesn't work then I will be forced to use the ivermectin. Because of the toxicity of ivermectin and the difficulty with dosing a population of basically wild squirrels with it I am afraid to use it. Double dosing could have deadly results. So to answer your question; yes, ivermectin is toxic and can cause death if not dosed carefully. I would like to start this weekend. Of course, Susie is the one with the most need and I've only seen her like twice in the last 6 weeks. :tap I saw her about 2 weeks ago. She doesn't live in my yard but she does visit. I might have to go hunt her down. She lives in my nieces yard by a creek. Ideally, I would like to dose them once a month until fall but that will be a tall order. I know for sure that I can dose Gingers so he will be a 'control' so to speak.

I saw this crazy contraption that intrigues me. It makes sense but the price is ridiculous. I KNOW that I could build one of these but finding the time will be the issue. It looks to have about $20 worth of materials.

http://www.bitingflies.com

[lennysmom]

I saw this crazy contraption that intrigues me. It makes sense but the price is ridiculous. I KNOW that I could build one of these but finding the time will be the issue. It looks to have about $20 worth of materials.

http://www.bitingflies.com

Yep, that is exactly what hubby is planning to try and build for us. :thumbsup

[lukaslolamaus]

Oh words can't describe how much I HATE bots :madd

That is must in my yard this year too. I don't want to watch my babies suffer like they did last year. My precious Risu and little Nash had a bad case of the bots, and this year Sabrina will be out there too.

[Cesta]

OK, I will go back and read poor Susie's thread. Praying you can find her to dose her this year. Ugh, multiple times? Makes total sense since that's how I dose the dogs and cats but much, MUCH more of a challenge with a squirrelly squirrel! :eek
I still have the pictures on my phone of the HUGE larvae that came out of my three tiny babies last year; it was my very first experience with bott flys. Thankfully (for me at least) Coralreefer and PeeWees Mom were squirrel sitting when the bots became apparent and dealt with their removal. They were kind enough to send me a picture, tho :yuck and I dealt with a puss filled open wound on the little girl for weeks. (Almost said puss-y wound but that sure didn't look right!!!! :facepalm)
I know that Revolution applied after the botts are there doesn't work or if it does kill them leaves a rotting mess in the squirrel. So prevention is key. Clearly you don't expect me to apply this stuff to the necks of my wilds?!?! Please tell me it's ok for them to take it orally on a nut. I will go read but for the sake of quick reference how much is a dose and I still have the same questions as before about overdosing, pregnancy, etc.
Thanks!

[Spanky]

I saw this crazy contraption that intrigues me. It makes sense but the price is ridiculous. I KNOW that I could build one of these but finding the time will be the issue. It looks to have about $20 worth of materials.

http://www.bitingflies.com

I was looking a the Horse Pal flytrap contraption in the link and the FAQ included this tidbit:
"The trap will not attract other flies like black flies, house flies, bot flies, stable flies, etc"

[HRT4SQRLS]

I was looking a the Horse Pal flytrap contraption in the link and the FAQ included this tidbit:
"The trap will not attract other flies like black flies, house flies, bot flies, stable flies, etc"
Well that just burst my bubble. :tap :grin2

[Spanky]

Well that just bursts my bubble. :tap :grin2

Sorry. :hidechair

[RockyPops]

Spanky, it was mentioned that you may have tried the Revolution for pre-treatment for bot flies.

Wondering how you think it worked?