ear mites questions

[Demamma]

When we got our big NZW' s the parents had ear mites. I had them in quarantine for over a month. Now two of the does have mites. I have had them now for about three months. I treated them and all my rabbits there with garlic oil in the ears. There is improvement two days later. One of the does has kits 4 weeks old. I swabbed their ears with oil also. I used oil again tonight on all their ears. I figure to now not treat anymore any that are not showing any problems. Should I oil the infected does more or wait? How often should I do them. What about the kits?

 

[SatinsRule]

You want to continue treating it every 2-3 days until signs of them disappear completely, then treat them a couple of more times to kill any unhatched eggs or mites that may still be inside the ear canal.

 

[Demamma]

Thank you. Should I continue with her kits even though I see nothing in their ears?

 

[SatinsRule]

An initial treatment may not be a bad idea when you're weaning them. Once those things set into the base of the inner ear, they are extremely uncomfortable for the rabbit in question, and those mites can spread to other rabbits in the rabbit house.

 

[Demamma]

Thank you SatinsRule. I put garlic oil twice in kits ears two days apart. Do you think once again when I wean them will be enough? Do you think I should oil the ears of the kits whose parents are not showing mites? I treated all adult rabbits to be safe? I worry because the ones who got it did not show any mite activity for three months and their ears looked great. Hopefully the oil works and I don't have to use anything stronger these are my meat rabbits.

 

[SatinsRule]

With the babies, it's unlikely that a mite has set up camp in the kits' inner ears well enough to cause a major infestation. The mom and all the rabbits in pens around her are the ones I'd be most concerned about. If you find infected ears on the rabbits in cages around the mother, it might be especially prudent to do a precautionary treatment on the entire herd.