Removing bot eggs without knife?

[HollyWoozle]

I've just been out to reapply some fly repellant and one of our ponies has bot eggs on his legs! I haven't seen any in maybe 15 years and, stupidly, don't know where our bot knife is! Argh! How can I best get them off without it please? Is it just a scrubbing job? I have just tried rubbing them off with some damp gauze but no chance of course.

 

[cobgoblin]

Sandpaper, or vinegar apparently work. Never tried them though.

 

[eggs]

If your finger nails are long enough you can pinch them off.

 

[Horseysheepy]

A blunt disposable razor does the job pretty well!

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Wipe over with vinegar

 

[Ellzbellz97]

A blunt disposable razor does the job pretty well!

Second this - I used this other day and worked well

 

[HollyWoozle]

Thanks all! They are kept at the family home and my mum had a disposable razor. Worked great!!

 

[Traks]

Yes razor or knife is the only way I can get them off.

Like you haven't seen them for years, but we've all found them at our yard this 'summer'

 

[Landcruiser]

I haven't seen them since I was a kid!! Is this to do with the climate/weather changing??

 

[Traks]

I haven't seen them since I was a kid!! Is this to do with the climate/weather changing??

Same!

I think it must be, we've had a LOT less flies this summer due to all the rain, wonder if that has anything to do with it?

 

[HollyWoozle]

Interesting that it’s not just us! We have also had less flies this summer too. A friend of mine keeps horses in Cornwall and says they have bot eggs there all the time!

 

[Traks]

Interesting that it’s not just us! We have also had less flies this summer too. A friend of mine keeps horses in Cornwall and says they have bot eggs there all the time!

Must be a regional thing maybe, perhaps the temperature also has an effect? I'm sure there is some science out there somewhere

 

[Gloi]

I've not seen them for 30 years here.

 

[awelshandawarmblood]

We get them for about 2 - 3 weeks every summer but that's about it thankfully

 

[Maxidoodle]

If your finger nails are long enough you can pinch them off.

Please don’t remove them with your fingernails, there’s lots on the internet if you want to read about them hatching under your nails (I know someone who has had them stuck under finger nails). I myself today have a more gruesome issue, which I’ll post separately.

 

[Maxidoodle]

Just a warning to anyone removing bot eggs, I was removing them last night from my mare’s shoulder and mane with a lava stone (grooming stone I think they’re called in the UK), something landed in my eye and I later noticed some bot eggs on my black t shirt) guessing over exuberant removal ) . My eye is red raw and i spent last night trying to wash it out. Dont have an emergency hospital near where I am, so rang the GP this morning and was sent to the opticians, they’ve done a thorough exam and dyed my eye and they can see a scratch/possible entry hole. I’ve got to go straight to the GP in two days time if it is still irritated, or I can feel something moving in my eyeball.

apparently it is something they see often here, as we are in a big farming community. Never thought about it before but I’ll be wearing glasses and taking extra care when removing them (the optician had a gruesome story about her friend who got one in her mouth and it burrowed into the inside of her cheek!) .

 

[HollyWoozle]

 

[Nasicus]

Just a warning to anyone removing bot eggs, I was removing them last night from my mare’s shoulder and mane with a lava stone (grooming stone I think they’re called in the UK), something landed in my eye and I later noticed some bot eggs on my black t shirt) guessing over exuberant removal ) . My eye is red raw and i spent last night trying to wash it out. Dont have an emergency hospital near where I am, so rang the GP this morning and was sent to the opticians, they’ve done a thorough exam and dyed my eye and they can see a scratch/possible entry hole. I’ve got to go straight to the GP in two days time if it is still irritated, or I can feel something moving in my eyeball.

apparently it is something they see often here, as we are in a big farming community. Never thought about it before but I’ll be wearing glasses and taking extra care when removing them (the optician had a gruesome story about her friend who got one in her mouth and it burrowed into the inside of her cheek!) .

WTAF!!!