EQUIVET AUSTRAILA - EQUINE INFO - BOTS IN HORSES

Bot flies (Gasterophilus Sp) lay eggs on the inside of horses legs or around their mouths and throats. During the summer months, the eggs are ready to hatch five days later, or can remain alive on the legs for months. Hatching is stimulated by rubbing or licking by the horse. The larvae enter the mouth and live in the gums around the teeth before migrating through the mouth, into the stomach where they attach to the stomach lining for up to twelve months. The mature larvae are eventually passed in the faeces and hatch to bot flies in one to three months.

The larvae cause mouth irritation as they migrate to the stomach and once there, they cause small stomach ulcers which may penetrate the stomach lining and cause peritonitis or death.

Control is based on worming after the first frost and removal of bot eggs at the same time. Eggs may be stimulated to hatch or removed with warm water, kerosene, insecticides or a bot knife.

Ivermectin or Neguvon are effective worm drenches for removing bots from the stomach.

If you believe in worming your horses once yearly by stomach tubing, NOW IS THE TIME TO DO IT.