I found a couple old threads on botflies here but I'm checking in to see if any new information is available.
For those unaware, botflies lay their eggs in a way that causes the maggots to mature under the skin of an animal. The maggot will open a breathing hole in the animal's skin, and the area around the hole will be swollen/inflamed. Some species of botfly only have one maggot per entry, others have many.
I live in northern Mississippi and the particular species of botfly I have to contend with has multiple maggots per hole. This species likes to target the cloaca of my tortoises and lay the eggs there or on the tail. I've had one botfly site up in the soft skin of a rear leg. For reference purposes, I keep K. homeana.
Last year I had one LTC female with an infection in her tail/cloaca that the vet removed 40+ maggots from. I was hoping this was an isolated incident, but this year I ended up with three different tortoises with infections. The least severe infection was my ~7" CCB female, she had about a half dozen maggots in her. One of my LTC males (had him since 2003) had about a dozen removed and hopefully he's fine now. (Per my vet, you can check for the presence of maggots by submerging the area and watching for air bubbles). My other LTC male (had him since 2002) had 80+ maggots; he's the one with the hole near his leg, his whole body cavity was full of them.
Treatment really isn't that bad. As soon as I notice an infection I give the tortoises a daily soak in water with enough betadine added so that it looks like weak tea. It keeps the area clean and the maggots don't like it, so they have a habit of making themselves easier targets for removal. I'll remove the ones I can then bring the tortoise to the vet to remove as many of the rest as possible. The vet typically has me continue betadine soaks for a while, but if it looks like all the maggots are gone then it switches to a chlorhexidine soak. My vet typically doesn't give antibiotics but she did in the case of my oldest male, as having 80+ maggots in your body cavity is a little concerning. Having one or two maggots move all the way to maturity generally isn't that bad for the tortoise, it just means that the daily soaking in betadine needs to go on for a couple months.
Previous threads have mentioned using petroleum jelly or Neosporin to seal a breathing hole but my vet said that if the approach killed maggots instead of getting them to surface then you are running the risk of sepsis. Previous threads were also dealing with one-maggot-per-hole flies, so that may make a difference as well.
I spoke to my vet about proactive treatments to prevent infections in the first place but her only suggestion was to harden the area against flies, either using mosquito netting or keeping the tortoises indoors year round. I'd obviously prefer not to do that, as my tortoises seem to like being outdoors, and they seem to like hunting the various insects that are foolish enough to enter the enclosures.
Ivermectin (which will kill botfly maggots) is not tortoise safe, and other anti parasitic treatments don't appear to work on botfly larvae (Panacur apparently won't work). It also appears that typical mite treatments aren't likely to work, nor is diatomaceous earth likely to be successful.
Is anyone aware of a preventative treatment that can be used to combat botflies?
For those unaware, botflies lay their eggs in a way that causes the maggots to mature under the skin of an animal. The maggot will open a breathing hole in the animal's skin, and the area around the hole will be swollen/inflamed. Some species of botfly only have one maggot per entry, others have many.
I live in northern Mississippi and the particular species of botfly I have to contend with has multiple maggots per hole. This species likes to target the cloaca of my tortoises and lay the eggs there or on the tail. I've had one botfly site up in the soft skin of a rear leg. For reference purposes, I keep K. homeana.
Last year I had one LTC female with an infection in her tail/cloaca that the vet removed 40+ maggots from. I was hoping this was an isolated incident, but this year I ended up with three different tortoises with infections. The least severe infection was my ~7" CCB female, she had about a half dozen maggots in her. One of my LTC males (had him since 2003) had about a dozen removed and hopefully he's fine now. (Per my vet, you can check for the presence of maggots by submerging the area and watching for air bubbles). My other LTC male (had him since 2002) had 80+ maggots; he's the one with the hole near his leg, his whole body cavity was full of them.
Treatment really isn't that bad. As soon as I notice an infection I give the tortoises a daily soak in water with enough betadine added so that it looks like weak tea. It keeps the area clean and the maggots don't like it, so they have a habit of making themselves easier targets for removal. I'll remove the ones I can then bring the tortoise to the vet to remove as many of the rest as possible. The vet typically has me continue betadine soaks for a while, but if it looks like all the maggots are gone then it switches to a chlorhexidine soak. My vet typically doesn't give antibiotics but she did in the case of my oldest male, as having 80+ maggots in your body cavity is a little concerning. Having one or two maggots move all the way to maturity generally isn't that bad for the tortoise, it just means that the daily soaking in betadine needs to go on for a couple months.
Previous threads have mentioned using petroleum jelly or Neosporin to seal a breathing hole but my vet said that if the approach killed maggots instead of getting them to surface then you are running the risk of sepsis. Previous threads were also dealing with one-maggot-per-hole flies, so that may make a difference as well.
I spoke to my vet about proactive treatments to prevent infections in the first place but her only suggestion was to harden the area against flies, either using mosquito netting or keeping the tortoises indoors year round. I'd obviously prefer not to do that, as my tortoises seem to like being outdoors, and they seem to like hunting the various insects that are foolish enough to enter the enclosures.
Ivermectin (which will kill botfly maggots) is not tortoise safe, and other anti parasitic treatments don't appear to work on botfly larvae (Panacur apparently won't work). It also appears that typical mite treatments aren't likely to work, nor is diatomaceous earth likely to be successful.
Is anyone aware of a preventative treatment that can be used to combat botflies?