Yes. Bots ewwww. We called them wolf worms or wolves when I was growing up. there are a few different species, those that infest horses and those that infest the skin squirrels,rabbits and other small mammals and people too. Not long ago we had a wild rabbit baby show up infested with the darned things all burrowed in her skin. you can’t pull them out of the skin as they release toxins that will overwhelm these small mammals. We euthanized this poor kit as she was more bot than rabbit and severely compromised.
Horse bots are different but everytime i see I see one I still think of rabbits and squirrels and it makes my skin crawl. Lol
The good news is the fact that they are coming out likely means your wormer worked.
Can’t tag everyone but thanks! I know the pic isn’t great, apparently my phone doesn’t do up close and personal with worms!
These were coming out BEFORE she got wormed!!! And even now… I guess my biggest concern is that they are still alive. Why? The wormer should’ve knocked them out. They are quite squirmy.
At least yesterday I only found them in one pile and less than I had been seeing.
I will wait the appropriate interval and worm her again.
@Second Star To The Right that’s a horrible story. Poor thing. We used to push warbles out of our cows backs. Ick.
The other thing I discovered in researching bots, is that they can be in their mouths and even in their stomachs to the point they can destroy the stomach. All in all I found out they’re pretty darn awful. :no:
IIRC, Bots don’t just live deep within the horse’s digestive system, they hatch in the mouth looking like maggots, live there for a month then move to the stomach for many months before they get expelled as still living but bigger larvae with the poop then borrow into the ground to pupate until they emerge as big, nasty flies. The other parasites from deeper inside are worms, not insect larvae and long dead before they get passed. Bot larvae are bigger and thicker too, and they are just passing through as part of their life cycle, not permanent residents.
Old timers used to give the horses small amounts of tobacco and got rather dramatic results. Unfortunately they didn’t know about the less visable parasites that are unphased by tobacco leaves or that the critters are going to come out to borrow anyway.
Dunno if anybody has mentioned it but if you live where Bots are common, you can get a " Bot block" (pumice stone) or use a razor to remove the eggs from the hair on the lower forelegs. They are yellowish, about twice the size of a pinhead, easy to see. Or keep the hair clipped short below the knee. SOBs are nasty big flies and lay their eggs on the lower forelegs, flanks and belly where there’s longer hair and the horse can reach to lick or bite them off so they can hatch as larvae inside. Bleeech, one thing I never missed when I moved up north. Weird lifecycle too. Read somewhere it might have been originally be a way to for the species to survive harsh ice age winters, put the babies someplace warm.
If you are seeing Bots, you need to look at fly control, manure disposal and pasture management to break the cycle, not just chase the worms out. And get the eggs off where you see them and WASH YOUR HANDS, you can spread them to another horse. Fortunately, they don’t like human digestive tracts far as I know.
A friend’s horse recently got scoped for ulcers. And they found ulcers all right…created by dozens of big bot residents eating away at the stomach! :eek::eek::eek: At first, the vet thought they were tumors and the horse was going to have to be put down. Until they moved. :eek: They dewormed with ivermectin and are doing gastrogard to help with the healing of the ulcerations. I think the plan is to re-scope until everything looks clear.
@findeight & @IPEsq … Okay I’m done with the gross. These are things I read while searching for information.
I have a knife for removing bot eggs. I know what they look like, we have them here in Oregon. I have only had this mare a couple of weeks now. She’s being fly sprayed and groomed regularly, has now been wormed, her turnout is cleaned daily (by me). Not much else I can do.
The whole thing is just disgusting. I’m pretty nonchalant about most things but I swear this is pushing my dinner up, not down…:lol::winkgrin:
Oh and I did come across information that they can indeed get into a human. Now that freaked me out. :eek:
I thought it was sawdust and went to brush it off and it didn’t brush off. Then all I could hear is JB saying Do not put your fingers in your mouth!!! :lol:
Well, this is just why you deworm for bots after a good freeze (after which botflies are all but gone) and after getting the eggs off them, and then again in the Spring. That routine will take care of them quite nicely
[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“thumb”,“data-attachmentid”:9871510}[/ATTACH][ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“medium”,“data-attachmentid”:9871511}[/ATTACH][ATTACH=JSON]{“alt”:“Click image for larger version Name: Sept Dixie Worms 2017 004.JPG Views: 1 Size: 33.0 KB ID: 9871508”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-attachmentid”:“9871508”,“data-size”:“medium”}[/ATTACH] @JB - Okay, these pics are from today. I talked with my vet & they want me to bring in another fecal they are wondering if the worms are resistant. The Moxidectin in Quest is what will kill the bots, apparently Praziquantel is just tapeworms. Since Moxi is in the same class as Ivermectin, and we are seeing resistance to it… It has been 3 weeks since I wormed her and every day this is what I find. Some days only one pile will have them, sometimes a lot sometimes just a few. Today was a really bad day.
