Ear mite healing concerns

[TamiPac]

The other two in the trio have now been treated nowl. Saw both having a low ear and itching tonight. Boy it's like a rodeo with these rabbits. You'd think we were killing them one hair at a time. The buck just tries every which way to shred me with his back feet. The second doe screams bloody murder and fights with everything she has in her no matter how she's held or where she's put. Thankfully all the kits have been handled (by me) since day one and are easy to handle. I'm guessing this is all a product of a big meat producer not handling these rabbits originally. I hope anyways. I had really hoped we'd made enough headway with them by now that they would get better. Nope. Now once again we are back to running away and making angry noises when I walk into the barn. What trust we had gained is gone.

I'm really sorry to hear that but don't lose heart. I have some of the same problems with the ones I got from other people. Someone gave me this advice and it's not bulletproof but works for the most part. Put your hand over their front shoulders and push down and hold them there for a little bit. I was told it's a dominance thing. When I am reaching inside the cages I make sure that their heads do not get above my arm. If you watch the kits they always try to get under Mama's chin because Mama is dominant and they're being submissive. I see this behavior also when I put them together to mate, it seems like the doe does this to my buck to show him who's boss.

The last thing is, cover their eyes. This is the best advice I ever got. They're like toddlers, if I can't see it , it doesn't exist. When they change coats every year my buck can get knots because he's a pig that seems to have no interest in grooming himself. I can reach in with a comb and get most of it but twice it's happened so fast and so bad that I just shaved them off. To accomplish this I scoop him up with both arms with his head pointed directly into the crack where my arm meets my body so his eyes are covered whilst getting a hold of his hind feet to avoid getting turned into pulled human sandwich meat. I put him down on the table and my hubby holds his hand lightly over his eyes and he just sits there while I shave the knots off. Funny thing is, after I get the knot off he acts like we're best friends and he never tried to shred me.

I also don't take them out to treat their ears. I just reach in with the tiny syringe and put a drop in each ear. It doesn't seem to matter where it lands in there it kills all the mites.

 

[R Buns]

I'm really sorry to hear that but don't lose heart. I have some of the same problems with the ones I got from other people. Someone gave me this advice and it's not bulletproof but works for the most part. Put your hand over their front shoulders and push down and hold them there for a little bit. I was told it's a dominance thing. When I am reaching inside the cages I make sure that their heads do not get above my arm. If you watch the kits they always try to get under Mama's chin because Mama is dominant and they're being submissive. I see this behavior also when I put them together to mate, it seems like the doe does this to my buck to show him who's boss.

The last thing is, cover their eyes. This is the best advice I ever got. They're like toddlers, if I can't see it , it doesn't exist. When they change coats every year my buck can get knots because he's a pig that seems to have no interest in grooming himself. I can reach in with a comb and get most of it but twice it's happened so fast and so bad that I just shaved them off. To accomplish this I scoop him up with both arms with his head pointed directly into the crack where my arm meets my body so his eyes are covered whilst getting a hold of his hind feet to avoid getting turned into pulled human sandwich meat. I put him down on the table and my hubby holds his hand lightly over his eyes and he just sits there while I shave the knots off. Funny thing is, after I get the knot off he acts like we're best friends and he never tried to shred me.

I also don't take them out to treat their ears. I just reach in with the tiny syringe and put a drop in each ear. It doesn't seem to matter where it lands in there it kills all the mites.

I don't take them out of the cage unless transferring to the buck because they put up such a fight. They really do not approve of being handled at all. Covering eyes is a great idea. I'm going to implement that. Did not know about how they showed dominance. Interesting. Makes sense. I treated them in the cage. I was debating if that was part of the problem but can't risk them getting loose. Boy they can get some serious traction on the wire floors. They act like I've lit them on fire or something awful. It's 2 drops. I mean really bunnies? Good to know about not having to be exact on the location. I really think a main part of this is that they weren't handled and they generally are only handled for breeding or treating at this point with me. They were doing pretty good with trust in the cage but we've completely reverted back to fear and don't touch me. Makes me feel so bad they are traumatized by the little things. The litter from them are easy as can be to handle etc. That definitely makes me wonder if handling is the issue. Or should I say lack of.
I just got a visual of a cat we had to shave dreads off of. She wanted no part in it and looked like she'd been in quite the fight with a set of clippers after. Patches missing. Hair patches still there. It was funny once it was all over. Let's just say she wouldn't be presentable for public appearances until things grew back.