Fly bites / Fly Protection

[camels]

My camel got really eaten alive this Summer. He's missing patches of hair everywhere, the tips of his ears are raw and his eyes are constantly draining.

I got him some fly spray that I've been wiping onto his face and some of his bald patches, but its really not all that effective.

My horse is all nice and comfy in his fly mask and sheet, but the camel is really suffering.

What can I do next year to help control this?

Is there any sort of camel shaped fly mask or sheet? If I had any clue how a sewing machine worked, I'd attempt to make one myself.

[camelsinfrance]

Hi, I know how you feel, we had the same problem - tried garlic granules / citronella / Arkofly...

Certainly the Arkofly works, it's really expensive and most probably not the purest treatment, but its really effective! We suffer from little black flies in ears in the spring, I used a citronella gel, but was also advised that Avon "oh so soft" apparently works wonders, as a friend uses it on her Alpacas... Will wait to see for next year!!

[Got_the_hump]

My camel got really eaten alive this Summer. He's missing patches of hair everywhere, the tips of his ears are raw and his eyes are constantly draining.

I got him some fly spray that I've been wiping onto his face and some of his bald patches, but its really not all that effective.

My horse is all nice and comfy in his fly mask and sheet, but the camel is really suffering.

What can I do next year to help control this?

Is there any sort of camel shaped fly mask or sheet? If I had any clue how a sewing machine worked, I'd attempt to make one myself.

I will be honest with you that must of been a really big fly to have nearly eaten your camel. I suspect this was a dragon fly or a flying pig, I think I saw one of the latter around Goodison when the blues won the champions league.

Keep ya camel on a strict garlic diet and also clad him out in gazelle trabs and a PVC jumpsuit, this is certain to keep him safe. No flies on you lid.

[Cameleer]

I use horse fly spray on my camel and sometimes wipe a little around his face. I have seen people put horse fly masks on camels, the trick is they put them on upside-down. I tried this but I must have had the wrong type.

[CoO]

Can you use a rub on a camel, similar to the ones they use on cattle? I believe they put used engine oil on them. It really works for cattle.

Do ticks cause problems?

[camelsinfrance]

Interesting - there's a big tick problem here in the south of France, but my camels have had the odd ones on their faces, noses, and ears, but I've not come across them in any "great" quantity!

I don't think my girls would ever speak to me again if I rubbed oil on them!!! We have citronella gel for little black flies that get into their ears, and then Arkofly ( cattle spray ) for their bodies and legs.

I have to say - flies are far less of a problem on my camels than they are on horses!!

[Dothia]

I can make a fly mask for a camel, but first I need a camel head to work off of. Anyone living within 3 hours drive of Pasadena, Arcadia California . If you have a camel I can start production of the mask, so if you would let me know ? I can come to where you keep you camels and make custom mask on thier faces, I hope this hasn't offended anyone, but allot of camel people complain about flies. I can also make fly blankets as well, if I can Find cost effective material.

[ozcamelgirl]

In Australia there's an ointment you can get for horses that keeps the bugs and flies off. I don't know what it's called, but it smells camphorish. It's a thick whitish goo. Wonderful. And the camels don't mind too much. Otherwise, I've gotten desperate before and sprayed "blue" on the affected areas - medicated sprays for pink-eye, etc that also keep the flies off.
Good luck.