Fleas????

One of my does has fleas. What can I use to get them off her? She is pregnant also. I don't even know how she got them. This makes me up set.

NO chemicals, that's for sure. I'd probably dust her with diatomaceous earth (DE) food grade. It's often sold in the organic insecticide area of the garden centers. Do NOT use the DE you find for pool filters. That has been chemically treated and is toxic.

Other than that, I don't personally don't know of anything for fleas that will work on rabbits and be healthy enough for a pregnant doe. Hopefully others will chime in here and give you some options.

I'm not sure what is best to use. Catnip tea or lemon water applied to an animal's fur are supposed to repel fleas, but I'm not sure how the rabbits would react to it... might be irritating. This website has interesting information and warnings about the dangers of some "natural" pesticides. One idea is adding unpasteurized apple cider vinegar to the drinking water. This is recommended for rabbits for several reasons: for the trace elements, as a general tonic, to increase interest in breeding etc. If it also helps with fleas, as the article suggests, that would be one more reason to give it a try.

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_natural_flea_control.html

Thank you so much I had them out eatting grass and this is FL so we have tons of sand fleas I forgot about them...

I like to use Ectopomine for my dogs. They make a cat version too but AFAICT the ingredients are the same. It is made from essential oils & definitely has an odor (I like the smell) and leaves a slight residue.

I use this on myself & my dogs when we go to agility or herding to repel mosquitoes & deer flies & it works wonderfully.

I recently learned that buns are susceptible to West Nile Virus & I have been concerned about mosquitoes. I thought they might be protected inside the screen room but I found maggots in the manure trough today so I am afraid that critters will be able to get in after all

Actually I may try spraying the Ectopamine on the manure boards/trough to see if that keeps the flies away.

Fresh catnip is a great help in repelling flies and mosquitoes. If it is hung in bunches, squeeze it whenever you are in the rabbitry to release the scent. You can also place branches of it on top of the cages or strew them on the floor where your feet will bruise them. You want plain catnip (Nepeta cataria) for this, not the ornamental varieties. We are blessed with it here. Whenever I get "bugged" I grab a handful, crush it and rub it on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepeta_cataria

ooh... I like it Maggie. Problem is... it will attract cats too I think. Do I need MORE stray cats around here?

I really don't think having catnip on the property attracts cats... although the ones already there will no doubt enjoy it. Perhaps plant it in an out-of-the-way corner. Start from seed. There is an old adage about catnip: "If you sow it, cats won't know it. If you set it, cats will get it."

Maybe catnip attracts the cats and THEY get the fleas?? Then you chase em off and voila no fleas!! LOL

I had a flea issues once. Poor Ann had to wait a year for her kits because I wouldn't risk selling with any chance of fleas.
My problem was from my dogs and cats.
Cat fleas stay on the animal for the entire life cycle. Dog fleas jump off to lay eggs around the house and yard.
I had both fleas and so did the buns.
My buns at that time were in the house in a room off the kitchen.
First thing I learned was to get the rabbits out of the infested house. I tried for months and months to get rid of the fleas to no avail.
Fleas dont really care for buns but when there is an infestation they will suck anyone's blood.

I moved the buns to my rabbitry outside. Its attached to the house but not in the house.
I dusted each rabbit with food grade DE. DE irritates animal and peoples lungs, be careful with the dust and use it outside.
I treated the floor of the rabbitry with sevin dust and tossed cedar chips on top of that. My rabbitry is very ventilated as it has spaced planking for walls. So a fine layer of cedar on the floor doesnt hurt the animals.
In no time the fleas were gone from the buns, days.

My house, I got that spray stuff from the vet that breaks the cycle and then I went to frontline for the dogs and cats.
It tooks several more months to get the house flea free but now we are totally flea free and stay that way.

For prevention my dogs and cats get frontline all through the warm season.
The rabbitry I always sprinkle a little sevin dust on the rabbitry floor along the walls creating a perimeter.
I toss some pine shavings over that. The couple of pet chickens that live in there with the buns mix it all up.
I have a dirt floor.
The sevin keeps fleas from making house in the rabbitry and also works to prevent other nasties like lice.
My rabbits are in all wire cages so no bedding issues.