Ear mites

[VickieB]

When I got my rabbits I found that one had ear mites. I treated her twice with mineral oil. A couple of months later I found not only did she have them, but so did my other breeders. This time I bought some Ivermectin to treat them with. I gave the first treatment late in mid-July and then 3 weeks later (on Aug. 9) a second treatment. I've notice the buns have them again. I have one rabbit due to kindle tomorrow, another rabbit 2 weeks pregnant, and another just bred. How hard is this on fetuses? I want to treat them all, but am worried how it will affect the unborn buns.

 

[sawfish99]

Vickie - we don't give any meds to our does when pregnant unless it is life threatening.

Your rabbits are clearly getting the mites back from another source. Are you completely cleaning the cages and remove/replacing all hay when treating the rabbits? I would spray down the cage (without the rabbit) with a bleach or vinegar solution to help clean it.

Are there any other animals that could possibly be transferring the mites back to the rabbits?

 

[VickieB]

I don't keep hay in the cages. They get some alfalfa as a treat like once every couple of weeks, but that is it. The cages are all wire, so I was under the impression they wouldn't need to be cleaned; the trays are cleaned daily. I'll try spraying the cages and cleaning them this weekend. This would be a good time because I don't have that many babies growing out right now.

 

[Southern by choice]

The ivermectin that you used... was it a topical preparation? Psoroptes Cuniculi is a surface dwelling mite, it is not a burrowing mite.
In goats Permethrin or "frontline"(fiprinol) is used. I don't know if those products are safe for rabbits though. Ususally you want treatments 10 days - 14 days apart.

 

[VickieB]

It was topical. I put 4 drops on the back of the neck as was suggested, then repeated the treatment 3 weeks later. It cleared it up within days. But now I'm seeing it come back.

 

[treeclimber233]

When I had rabbits I used regular cooking oil. You must make sure the oil goes deeeeep into the ear canal. Put the oil in the ear without letting the rabbit shake its head --- then massage the base of the ear to get any air out of the bottom. Then repeat in 8-10 days. Maybe retreat again in 8-10 days. That treatment will not hurt the babies. Sounds like you are not getting all of the mites that are deep in the ear canal or some eggs are surviving and starting up again. I think mites are species specific (meaning they only eat from rabbits) so I doubt anything else is giving them mites.

 

[Bunnylady]

The life cycle of the ear mite makes the 8-10 day interval of treatment important. Go much longer than that, and you have multiple overlapping generations reinfecting the animals, and the treatment is of minimal effectiveness.

I would not use Ivermectin in animals that are pregnant. I have heard that Ivermectin can affect a growing fetus. I can't say whether or not that is true, but I learned not to try to hatch eggs after treating my hens with Ivermectin. I tried it, once. Most of the eggs quit before hatching, and the couple that did hatch were deformed.

 

[secuono]

I've used Ivomec on pregnant rabbits, no issues.
You need to treat every 2wks to get all the new ones that emerge.
Mites will crawl on everything, doesn't matter if the cage is wire or solid metal or wood, it needs to be cleaned. The building walls, floor, food/water bowls, pans, anything that comes in contact or is near the rabbits.
If more are getting mites, treat every rabbit, even if they don't show anything yet.
Don't be touching and petting a sick rabbit, even mites equals 'sick', and then touch a healthy rabbit. They need to be the last rabbits you interact with, separating them away from the rest of the herd can help as well, until the mites are gone.

 

[Andrei]

50/50 honey and warm water and drip it inside the ears.
Repeat few times.

 

[KathyN1]

Hi, I am a licensed veterinary technician in Nebraska. Ear mites don't live very long in the environment, they need to live on he host, although if you went from rabbit to rabbit examining their ears it is possible you could transfer the mites or eggs. Our clinic has had the best luck with Revolution. It is applied topically at the back of the neck, it is systemic (same family of drug as ivermectin), and controls several other parasites including fur mites.