Keeping pets like rabbits outdoors can come with problems like the gathering of pesky little black flies in their hutch. Flies of all types are an inevitability, especially when coming into the spring and summer months. Use these ideas for natural fly repellent, and you’ll be able to keep the hutch nearly fly-free, and your rabbits happy and healthy.
Those small black flies that you find in your rabbit’s hutch are most likely phoria, drain, or dark fruit flies.
Keeping flies away from your rabbit’s hutch can be tricky, but it can’t be ignored. These flies are notorious for spreading germs (just think of what they prefer to land on) and for being just plain annoying for you and your rabbit.
Rabbits can be very annoyed by these little black flies. If you suspect a fly infestation around your rabbit’s hutch, then you may have an issue. These little black flies could be an indication that there is something potentially wrong with your setup. These types of flies are attracted to manure, urine, and otherwise wet or damp areas. It could also mean that there are fly eggs actually in the hutch or even on your rabbit, which could be deadly to a rabbit.
Rabbits are especially vulnerable to swarms of flies as they can fall victim to a condition called fly strike.
To avoid this, make sure that your rabbit’s hutch is emptied regularly and is kept as dry as possible. Cleaning the hutch regularly will go a long way in keeping the flies–and the smell–at bay.
Natural Fly-Repellent Solutions
While this fly problem might feel like a huge problem, it’s likely that you’ll just need to do a few things to remedy the problem. Some of the items are things that’ll need to do daily or a few times per week, in order to get control of the situation. The point is to make sure that the hutch is less attractive to those black flies.
The three steps below will defiantly take care of issues that you’re having with your rabbit’s hutch.
Step 1: Regularly check your rabbit’s bottom to make sure that they aren’t the host of any maggots. If they are, then your rabbit is the victim of fly strike, and it needs to be dealt with immediately.
Step 2: Check to see if there’s any fresh waste in the hutch. If so, start removing it as often as possible to keep the flies away. It could be daily, or every other day, depending on the rabbit and conditions off the ground. You’ll not be surprised to hear that rabbits are HUGE poop machines.
Step 3: If your hutch has a tray, then empty it every 2-3 days and make sure to give it a good spray once per week. If it gets terribly stinky, then you can allow it to dry in the sun to kill most of the smelly bacteria. If you have diatomaceous earth and pine shavings, add them to the hutch tray to control urine odors after you scoop.
Herbal Fly Control For Rabbits
Here are two homemade fly repellent ideas to use on your hutch and can be used as a regular cleaning regimen to give your rabbit’s environment free from those pesky black flies making a home in your rabbit’s hutch, or even on their body.
1. Add crushed garlic cloves or scraps and peels to the tray in the hutch. It’s important to note that the garlic cloves or scraps should be kept out of reach of your rabbit, although it’s not likely that they would try to eat it, anyway. While it can be useful for occasions like this, garlic can be toxic in large amounts for a rabbit, so be careful with it. Other items that you can add to the tray include aromatic herbs like mint, basil, or lavender. Make sure to replace dry herbs with fresh herbs as often as needed.
2. Decorate your rabbit’s hutch with some sprigs or bouquets of fresh rosemary or other aromatic herbs. You can use mint (any variety but NOT Pennyroyal), basil, or lavender, as flies don’t like these herbs. Again, when you’ve noticed that the herbs have dried out, adding another fresh batch of fresh herbs will go a long way to keeping flies out of the rabbit hutch.
Homemade Fly-Repellent Spray
While there are many fly sprays out there on the internet, a lot of these sprays are generally not great for small pets. So, try following this recipe which should be great to use in your rabbit’s hutch. Just make sure not to spray it on your rabbit, or anywhere that they’ll get their paws in it, but rather only in an area that should be out of reach for your rabbit.
DIY Rabbit Fly Spray
- 1 chopped garlic clove
- 1 chopped small onion
- 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
- 1 quarter water
- 1 tablespoon liquid dish soap
Start by mixing all the first four ingredients and let sit for 1 hour. Next, strain the mixture and then add the liquid dish soap right before you are going to use it in the sprayer.
Conclusion
Keeping little black flies out of the rabbit hutch doesn’t have to get too complicated, but with some daily attention and a few safe homemade fly-repellent ideas you have implemented, fly control for rabbits can become an easy problem for you to solve.
