Flies/Maggots in Guinea Pig Cage

**HeatherB** · 08-19-2010, 10:14 PM

At the daycare center I work in, we have a guinea pig named Rose. She is roughly about like, 3 years old or so.

Since I have worked there in April, she has been getting much better care. Leafy greens, quality food, and most importantly, bedding changes frequently. Even baths.

I had been gone, so it had been a while ( at least 2 weeks) since her cage had been cleaned. Yesterday I cleaned it, and we have had a lot of flies around her cage for several days. When I dumped the bedding out- I found what I guess were maggots! (little wormy looking things)

I immediately bleached the entire bottom of the cage, rinsed, air dried etc. I am giving the guinea pig a bath tomorrow. I have been killing flies with a flyswatter whenever I can. Probably killed like, 7 or 8 today alone.

What else can I do? I asked at Petsmart if there was anything I could spray around to keep the flies from around her, but nothing anyone knew off.

I am trying to 'pottytrain' her, so she will only go in one corner of the cage, but it is slow and I don't even know if I can get her to do it. Reason thinking, it will be easier to remove a little litter every day than the whole cage.

**DrNic** · 08-19-2010, 11:01 PM

Are they house flies (big and black), flesh flies (big and green) or fruit flies (small and either brown or black)?

I work with flies in a research lab so I'm familiar with their habits. The best thing you can do is try to change all the material in the cage every 5-6 days. At room temp most flies have a 7 to 10 day gestation period, so when one fly comes in and lays eggs, you usually have 5-7 days before maggots and another few days before more flies emerge. Cleaning the cage every 5-6 days will avoid any problems with maggots/flies. Most flies are also attracted to light so if there is a bright window in the room keep the cage away from the window if possible (although this doesn't always help if it's a small room). Also, at least for the immediate future, it's a good idea to put a mosquito net over the cage, particularly at night. The guinea pig will get enough air but the netting will keep the flies from getting in when no one is around. One trick that also works is to keep something that moves on top of the cage. Most flies don't land near moving objects. I've used these in the past but I'm sure other things will work as well.

I hope this helps!

**HeatherB** · 08-19-2010, 11:23 PM

They are house flies. Big black yucky things.

**Sarkazmo** · 08-19-2010, 11:39 PM

As long as they're not bottle flies (the shiny blue/green ones) the piggy'll be ok. Clean more often and you'll eventually get rid of them. I use hanging fly strips and traps made from water bottles to catch and eliminate gnats/fruit flies/house flies.

Sark

**HeatherB** · 08-20-2010, 12:06 AM

I asked if I could just hang up a strip of flypaper- buy my director said NO. I found online a recipe for homeade fly strips using corn syrup-so I may ask if I can use that. If I could kill all the adult/juv flies I wouldn't have a problem with the babies.

I'll google a trap made from water bottles.

**DrNic** · 08-20-2010, 12:22 AM

Trapping houseflies can be tough because there aren't many scents that they are attracted to which you would be able to tolerate. I would use a bright light to attract the flies then a funnel of some kind to corral them into a glass or box. Once they are in there you can spray them with a water/dishsaop mix to kill them.

**Rue** · 08-20-2010, 01:43 AM

Just keep the cage clean! Maggots, for the most part, aren't a problem in and of themselves. So as long as the maggots aren't flesh feeders, it's not a huge problem.

**HeatherB** · 08-20-2010, 02:23 AM

I have been changing it every couple days since I found them. I don't see anymore, but it only takes one fly!

I hope I can get her 'potty trained'. I had all my other pigs trained and they only went in one corner of the cage. It was nice, because every day or so you just remove the little corner pan, dump, rinse and replace. Then you didn't have to change the whole cage as often. Most of my pigs though were young from the petshop when I trained them- Rose is older and does not seem to frequent one particular spot for her bathroom. She just goes wherever!

**DrNic** · 08-20-2010, 02:48 AM

Originally Posted by HeatherB

I have been changing it every couple days since I found them. I don't see anymore, but it only takes one fly!

That's very true! Mosquito netting can go a long way to keep them out. My step-mother does did it with her gerbils after a similar thing happened. She kept the netting on the cage most of the time (and almost all night). Even when she didn't clean the cage for a few weeks she never had the problem again.

**Lindsey** · 08-20-2010, 02:53 PM

The main thing you'd be worrying about is flystrike, which like Sarkazmo said, shouldn't be a problem as long as you're dealing with houseflies and not bottle flies. Just clean more often and more thoroughly now while the weather's warmer.