Help! My rabbits have fleas

AmberRae · May 8, 2017

I just saw a flea on one of my rabbits. I inspected for more but couldn't find any. They are not infested but I don't want it to turn into that either. What do you guys use for flea control? I am not big on using chemicals but also don't want my rabbits dealing with fleas. I currently have fipronil on hand for my dogs and cat. Could I use this or is there something better? I know rabbits are fragile and I would not want to harm them.

Sagebrush · May 8, 2017

See if you can get ahold of diatomaceous earth, food grade. Use a little on your hands and rub it into the fur. Also sprinkle under the cages. It cuts the carapaces of the fleas and other unwanted insects causing them to die. It also works as a dewormer when ingested.

MaggieJ · May 8, 2017

:yeahthat:

I know Sagebrush said food grade DE, but I just want to emphasize how important that is. The DE sold for swimming pools is toxic to rabbits (and who knows what else!)

You can get it online or from some feed stores. It's not expensive and it goes a long way.

AmberRae · May 8, 2017

That is great advice! I didn't even think of DE. I actually have it for my chickens to dust in for mites. It is food grade so I will do it first thing in the morning. Thanks so much, it makes me feel much better that I won't have to use a harsh chemical.

KimitsuKouseki · May 9, 2017

If nothing works and you have no other choice I'm not sure where you live but you want to look for Ivermectin
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/durvet-ivermectin-pour-on-250-ml?cm_vc=-10005
Just 1 drop at the back of the neck for small breeds, 2 drops for 8lbs+. This'll protect your rabbits against worms, fleas, mites and more for the next 6 months. True it's not a "natural" solution, but it solves many potential issues for a long time.

AmberRae · May 9, 2017

I have ivermectin. I use it for lots of stuff, on the rabbits for ear mites. I am not too sure it kills fleas though. I will have to check into it.

KimitsuKouseki · May 9, 2017

Several drugs have been developed to kill or prevent parasites such as fleas, ticks, mites and worms. Ivermectin and related drugs are among the most effective of these. Ivermectin is a parasite control drug. Ivermectin causes neurologic damage to the parasite, resulting in paralysis and death.

AmberRae · May 9, 2017

Yes, I have read that statement before. I take it with a grain of salt though because it also states it is a prescription drug and I know that to be false. Also I give it to my dogs for heartworms and they would have fleas if I depended on that to take care of their fleas. It probably however at a high enough dosage would be able to take care of fleas. I am definitely going to look into it. It would be nice if it does because I know my rabbits tolerate ivermectin very well. I have given it to them as an injectable for ears mites and have had no side effects. It does wonders on ear mites!

KimitsuKouseki · May 9, 2017

It is a prescription drug depending where you live. Here in Quebec it's actually completly unavailable and any similar product needs vet prescription to buy. Also those other products are often bad for rabbits. Sigh, this country sucks some times. So, I have to obtain mine through contacts that bought it from US. I haven't had any issues myself, but my friend had a ton of ear and skin mites issues so it was great for her.

I spent 1 year in california and 1 thing I did back then with 3 kittens that were covered in fleas was give regular baths. You make a small warm water bath with Dawn original dish soap and soak the animal in the water for a few minutes. The soap makes the fleas drowzy and they drown and then you pic them off by hand. Some will escape on the head of the animal but you wet the fur and pick them off and drop em in a small glass of water to drown em.

So you could give a bath like that, then dry the bunny and then do 1 or 2 ivermectin drops if you'd like. The bath would certainly give it a kickstart

shazza · May 9, 2017

bathing rabbits is actually really dangerous! they can become very stressed and even die when submerged, and most will need to be blow-dried to actually dry all the way down in a decent amount of time. additionally i was told that dawn dish soap is actually the wrong ph for rabbits and if they must be bathed (it's really only recommended to submerge a rabbit in cases of extreme heat stroke or butt-baths for poopy butt,) to use to use ivory dish soap.

i would definitely recommend DE or ivermectin drops/injection over bathing for rabbits in pretty much any situation.

KimitsuKouseki · May 9, 2017

shazza":3t6imhl0 said:
bathing rabbits is actually really dangerous! they can become very stressed and even die when submerged, and most will need to be blow-dried to actually dry all the way down in a decent amount of time. additionally i was told that dawn dish soap is actually the wrong ph for rabbits and if they must be bathed (it's really only recommended to submerge a rabbit in cases of extreme heat stroke or butt-baths for poopy butt,) to use to use ivory dish soap.

i would definitely recommend DE or ivermectin drops/injection over bathing for rabbits in pretty much any situation.

I knew rabbits dont like baths, didn't know dawn was bad for em though. It's what was best for kittens. I only suggested it as an option rly, I think ivermectin would solve it by itself.

hotzcatz · May 9, 2017

Only once has there been fleas here and it was because someone brought back a rabbit they'd had in a house infested with fleas. The poor thing was just crawling with them. I used cat flea drops on it and it got rid of the fleas pretty quickly. Fortunately, the rabbit had been in quarantine since all incoming rabbits get quarantined for a week to ten days so the whole herd didn't get it. Usually, cat medicines can be used on rabbits, I think, but generally I'll look up specific medicines to make sure they're rabbit safe before giving it to the rabbit.

How human safe is Ivermectin? I'm always smearing some on bunny ears and it occurred to me that it could be human skin permeable, too? Not that I ever get ear mites, but considering how often there's Ivermectin on my fingers, I'm not likely to, I guess. I've since started using something other than fingers to apply the Ivermectin.

KimitsuKouseki · May 9, 2017

hotzcatz":13wmutoe said:
How human safe is Ivermectin? I'm always smearing some on bunny ears and it occurred to me that it could be human skin permeable, too? Not that I ever get ear mites, but considering how often there's Ivermectin on my fingers, I'm not likely to, I guess. I've since started using something other than fingers to apply the Ivermectin.

That I'm not too sure of, but you definetly should try to avoid getting it on your skin as much as possible. What kind of ivermectin are you using? Cause if it's the blue liquid you dont need to "smear" the ears. Just 1 drop at the back of the neck will do. If they have a rly bad case of ear mites then 1 drop in each ear, but no more is nescessary. You can apply em using a small needleless seringe or any type of dropper.
In case of rly bad ear mites infestation where the crust takes over the ear, what you want to smear in the ears is a oil+sulfur mixture. This'll soften the crusts and help kill the mites. After that the drop of ivermectin will do all the job. This step will just help the ears heal a bit faster.

AmberRae · May 10, 2017

Hotcatz,
It is very safe for humans. It is actually taken by humans in third world countries for parasites. It is really an amazing medicine! I am not a big fan of medicine at all but keep this always on my farm.

2CrazyFools · May 10, 2017

I know it's already been suggested but I was also going to second the food grade diatomaceous earth recommendation. That's really good to know about ivermectin though! I need to get some on hand for my "just in case" cabinet.

You'll have to let us know what you end up doing and how well it worked.

KimitsuKouseki · May 10, 2017

2CrazyFools":3gjvaa79 said:
I know it's already been suggested but I was also going to second the food grade diatomaceous earth recommendation. That's really good to know about ivermectin though! I need to get some on hand for my "just in case" cabinet.

You'll have to let us know what you end up doing and how well it worked.

If you buy some, just use it. Doesnt take much at all and itll protect your animals for 6 month. No need to wait for something to happen since parasites can cause so many issues if you wait till they actually happen

macksmom98 · May 20, 2017

AmberRae":1rlpnz37 said:
I have ivermectin. I use it for lots of stuff, on the rabbits for ear mites. I am not too sure it kills fleas though. I will have to check into it.

This prevents mites, but does it also kill them? Just on the back of the rabbit, no need for injection? This is what I have now. I tried some DE but that didn't seem to work. Looking at the next thing to try but just wondering if I can do it without injections, and how much to use.

AmberRae · May 20, 2017

I have only used it as a subcutaneous injection. The dosage I use is .5 of 1/10 of a cc for a rabbit 5lbs and under and 1/10 cc for a rabbit over 5lbs. Injection is most effective but if you are not comfortable with this method you can use it orally or apply to the skin. Rabbits tolerate it very well and it is VERY effective on mites. I had a rabbit who's ears were infested and 2 days after ivermectin you could see no signs of the mites. Just be careful on the kind you buy. The horse paste is way to strong for buns and the topical kind is oil based and you don't want to inject it. The 1% liquid kind is best, you can apply is to the skin, inject it and orally.
I also want to disclose that there is some speculation that rabbits that carry the Vienna gene could have seizures.

KimitsuKouseki · May 21, 2017

Depending if it's injections or topical is dependant on wich kind you buy. Using either types in it's opposite application method can be deadly.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/durvet-ivermectin-pour-on-250-ml?cm_vc=-10005

This is the kind I use. It's the one you apply at the back of the neck. Last time I actually dropped the drops in their ears insted, bothered them a little but was much faster then sorting through the fur of each of my rabbits.
On a baby (less then 2 pounds) I use 2 drops.
On a 2.5 to 5lbs I do 4 drops.
On a bigger rabbit, I do 6 drops
No more then this for safety. You should see changes within a couple days already, but if after a week nothing changed you could do another dosage, but wait at least a week.

I've not had any of my rabbits get sick from this dosage. As for what Amberrae said about vienna marked it hasn't happened in my case. I'm a fan of blue eyes, so even if it's a DQ on lionheads I have 4 vienna marked rabbits and planning for more.

This will protect your bun from many nasty things, so it's very worth it. Just keep the bottle in the fridge between use. To maintain treatment on your bun, just do this every 6 months and you'll never have this issue ever again. You can even use it on your cat or dog with proportionnal dosage to their weight if you have them! <br /><br /> -- Sat May 20, 2017 11:34 pm -- <br /><br /> Also I didn't see any fleas in your pictures, nor the tell tale sign of the ç shaped poo they cause. All I saw were flakes and that's cause by skin mites. Doesn't mather either way though, the ivermectin will deal with all of them regardless mwahahaha :twisted:

macksmom98 · May 22, 2017

Someone in a different group said they use the horse paste, just a pea size. I did that, hope its not going to hurt anything! I wish I had seen the response not to here first. There are so many varying opinions on things. Anyway, that bun is pretty still, but was moving around and eating today. Its been 24 hours. I am hoping that all will be ok. I treated the ones around him too, and they are all acting fine. The paste seemed best as far as invasiveness and knowing that it made it internally, really hoping that I am not wrong and something doesn't happen. I think ill opt for the drops on the back next time, I have given shots of penicillin before but just hate doing that and am always worried about an air bubble. I guess if its just once or twice that wouldn't be too bad, not like doing it for 10 days strait. Thanks for the responses!

Help! My rabbits have fleas

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