Mosquito bites

[MiroslavZivic]

I've been meaning to post this question here for a while now. I've looked through the various threads here, and mosquitoes don't seem to be a big issue for everyone talking about them here on BYH. They are treated as more of a nuisance than anything else. I should note that while It's not a burning issue at the moment, as this late in the year the mosquito threat has passed, and in general 2016 has been good in that regard, with their presence being at a minimum.

That being said, the mosquitoes here in northern Serbia (Banat region at the very least), they have proven to be an absolute nightmare for rabbit owners. Over the past years, I have had instances where I would lose anywhere between 60-90% of an entire generation of bunnies (our does give always birth within a space of a day or two of each other).

Last year, I had two litters which were born at the same time, they were almost at the right age and size to be butchered, when the mosquitoes started to appear. Soon after, my bunnies were covered with bitemarks everywhere not covered by thick fur. They ate less and less, and eventually eiter died or were reduced to living skeletons, with them barely eating. It would take them weeks to even resemble rabbits again, and even more to get back to full health and continue growing. For those who recover, they would have increased resistance to mosquito bites, but would also have a chance of sterillity.

Any tips on treating mosquito bites on rabbits would be apreciated.

 

[promiseacres]

Are fans on the rabbits a possibility?
We do have mosquitos but they have never bothered the rabbits that I know of. I do know fleas can be a problem though.

 

[Bunnylady]

I''m thinking there must be something more than just mosquito bites happening here. I have mosquitoes, Heaven knows, it's almost intolerable outside after a hurricane like we just experienced a few weeks ago. But though I have seen mosquitoes biting my rabbits on occasion, I have never seen a mark on one from being bitten. I think you probably have some disease being spread to your rabbits through the mosquito bites. What you are describing sounds like the progression of some disease or parasite infestation.

 

[MiroslavZivic]

I've spoken to several vets and other rabbit farmers. No one seems to know how to treat them. Some two years ago, we were given medicine that was supposed to help them, but it had no noticable effect on the rate of recovery or mortality.

 

[DutchBunny03]

Your options are fairly limited. You may have to spend some money if you want to get rid of your mosquito problem. There are a few options that are cheap and would help, but not get rid of the problem completely. You could get rid of any standing water near your rabbits and install fans. If you want to completely be rid of the problem, you could put a mosquito net around your rabbitry, or build an enclosed shed.

 

[Latestarter]

Welcome to BYH and the forums. Sorry you've had past problems with mosquitoes. I've never heard of them being such a serious issue down here in the lower 48 states. Up north in parts of Canada and Alaska where there's lots of water/tundra they do cause mortality even with large animals such as caribou. Aside from what has already been mentioned, I don't think there are many options. You can't really spray them with bug spray multiple times a day. Especially if you have a large number of rabbits. I have one flying around in here in front of my monitors right now and it's annoying me

Anyway, please browse around and make yourself at home. If you could share some pics of your rabbitry set-up maybe other ideas will present themselves. Hope you'll share some pics of your rabbits as well. We all love pics here.

 

[MiroslavZivic]

Here's a bit of an update. One of my two young females was bitten on the nose by a mosquito a couple of days ago. You can see how big the swelling is in the photo. Luckily for us, it is late in the year and I don't even know where this mosquito even came from as there shouldn't be any at this time. But you can imagine a dozen or so more of these bites blanketing the surface of her nose, eyelids and the edges of her ears.

 

[appps]

We have problems in Australia with mosquitoes because they have infected them with two diseases fatal to rabbits to try and cull the feral population. We can only get a yearly vaccine for one of them so mosquitoes can be a big problem.

I've simply bought fly screen mesh from the local hardware store and used a staple gun to attach it to the outside of my cage. Doesn't obstruct air flow or my ability to see them but the bunny is protected.