I discovered a fly had laid eggs in my ferret's cage last night, and spent over an hour cleaning out all of the maggots. (they werent there that morning when I cleaned the ferret's litter box!) could the maggots have hurt the ferrets before I found them? The ferrets are acting normally now. Also, what kind of insecticide can I use to kill the flys that wont hurt my ferrets?
2006-08-04 07:30:48 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
the maggots were eating my ferret's poop
2006-08-04 07:40:08 · update #1
they dont have parisites because i just checked their poop and its fine now
2006-08-04 07:49:58 · update #2
Ewww that is gross....
Could the maggots have hurt the ferrets before I found them???
-No. The maggots would not have hurt your ferrets.
Having the maggots in the cage would mean that the cage was unsanitary. To stop this problem you need to clean kill and prevent.
Clean- You did the right thing, to completely clean out the cage. You need to use some kind of disinfecting wipe that is safe for your ferrets and one that doesn't let off any fumes... depending on your cage type.
Like if you have a Wire cage... if you can, take all of the cloth out of the cage
and take the WHOLE cage into the yard or bathtub...
anywhere you can use water, and hose or spray it down.
Use some palmolive or regular dish soap and scrub and
rinse.
Just be sure you get your cage real clean and not to use any bleach or clorox, anything with harmful fumes.
Kill and Prevent--- Use fly ribbons and tape to kill the flys you have. But be sure to put the fly ribbon and tape where the ferret will not try to get it or play with it, eat.... just don't let it be where he can see it! lol. I recomend not leaving it out after the flies are gone, you don't want ferry to get a hold of it.
Prevent- don't leave any doors or windows open to where the flies can get in. You may need ( should anyway) to clean out the litter 2 or 3 times a week. Choose a weekend day that is the least busiest for you and 2 weekdays too. EX- Sat, Tues, Thurs, THis is always the easiest way for me to remember, by choosing days.
Well, I hope i helped, and really, the maggots didn't hurt your ferret, even though they are gross!
Oh, and I doubt the maggots came from the ferrets, i don't know why, i just do. TO be sure though, if you do everything to get rid of the flies, and the maggots are still thier, see your vet. And if thier bowl gets runny or odd colored, see your vet.
Well, once again i hoped I helped and have fun cleaning the litter box- (yuck! my least fav pet job!) Tell the ferret Hi for me!
2006-08-04 08:22:43 · answer #1 · answered by Horse Lover 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yup, this is gross, but maggots only eat really gross things...dead things, poop, etc. They don't bother living creatures. If your ferrets are acting fine, they should be OK. I wouldn't use an insecticide, but I would just keep a close eye on your ferret cage and maybe hang fly strips in the area if you think that would help.
2006-08-04 08:29:42 · answer #2 · answered by BB 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Umm..are you sure they don't have worms themselves?
They possibly could, but if it's from a fly, I wouldn't clean up what's left around, perhaps relocate the ferret's to another place, I got a budgie bird, and he's afraid of flies so I keep him into a closed room, and keep the windows shut and I leave a fan on him.. talk about spoiled hey? hah
If it is the flies that are causing the problem, I'd call a vet, and see what they would have to say, perhaps they have something, or certain techniques that could help out in the matter.
We have cat's also, and they eat both wet and dry cat food, and in the summer time, if the wet cat food is out on a hot day, maggots will appear, it's not a pretty sight, but we switched to dry cat food on more warmer days.
I don't think they could harm them, they haven't been into the enviroment for any length of time, but it's best to check with a vet in my suggestion.
2006-08-04 07:41:07 · answer #3 · answered by xx_ladyxluck_xx 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The maggots will not hurt the ferret and since you have cleaned it up then I would not worry about it.
Keep the cage cleaner and you will not see them again. Larvae take several days to develop so maybe you need to clean the cage 2 times per week to keep this from happening again.
2006-08-04 07:36:37 · answer #4 · answered by bootsjeansnpearls 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, that is gross. Clean the ferrets cage cleaner and you won't have that problem. Try to get rid of the flys by using fly paper or swatting them. You can't put anything down to kill them that won't hurt your ferrets
2006-08-04 07:36:14 · answer #5 · answered by Snuffy Smith 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no maggots cant have hurt the ferret but maggots usually only appear when there is something decomposing i think the question should be did youre ferrets hurt something and drag it in thier cage
2006-08-04 07:36:28 · answer #6 · answered by angelina_mcardle 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you need to do is change you ferrets cage more often. The same thing happened with my son's Gunnie pig. He told me he change the cage but he didn't. I had to take care of it after that. We have had very warm weather here lately. So change the cage more often. Good Luck
2006-08-04 21:23:07 · answer #7 · answered by Becky H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Something wrong here. If flies had laid eggs last night, they wouldn't be hatched and all over the place now. What were they on when you found them? If it was on their feces, your ferrets are probably full of parasites. Take them to the vet.
2006-08-04 07:39:23 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
clean the cage good with clorex rinse it good let it air out good before putting those guys back in the cage but you ferrets will bw ok they came from the waste or the stuff your putting down try shreded paper
2006-08-04 07:37:00 · answer #9 · answered by tonydiekman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i cna't help with the insecticide Q... but just so u feel better about it, i really don't think the maggots would harm your farrets.. theyre jsut mroe gross than anything :) but good luck finding som'n!
2006-08-04 07:36:35 · answer #10 · answered by joyfulpriss 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋