Ear mites, what to use?

[Secuono]

I think that Cali doe has ear mites, w/e it was came back after I cleaned her ears and is now 3in long in the ear.
I think I read mineral oil...all I have is vegetable oil, does it really matter which? Rather not buy anything if I don't 100% have to.

 

[MaggieJ]

Vegetable oil is fine. All the oil (whatever kind) does is smother the mites, so one kind is effective as another. You will likely need to reapply it a couple of times at intervals, in order to kill the hatching eggs as well as the adults.

 

[Secuono]

Thanks! Seems like just one ear is really getting it, her kits are still fine. So this needs to end before it spreads or I attempt to put them together. But now w/o a job, it's even more tricky to do this right. We also have somewhat of a drought, grass all dry and vanishing. Glad I moved the 12 growers into the pup's pen, otherwise I would be forced to feed them 100% pellets now.

 

[MaggieJ]

Sounds like you caught it early... which is good. The vegetable oil should do the trick.

The weather this summer is something else. It's hot and dry here too, but nothing to compare with what you folks further south are having to endure. Hope you get the rain you need soon.

 

[Secuono]

Weather is really all over the place, cold and dry, very hot and humid, then 80s and dry and now some rain mixed in...just all over the place, I'm sure some hail will sneak it's way in, too!

My new Willow tree has lost all but 3 leaves! I'm watering it at a trickle day and night, but I have no idea if it will make it. Worst yet, receipt is gone. Really should have a bin for them all...

My female gourami fish is also being nasty, got her a bf her size and still a nutcase. Oddly, it seems all the females end up very mean, while the males are so nice they won't even eat other fish babies. She's terrorizing a fish 4 times her size that will one day just eat her and problem solved...

 

[MamaSheepdog]

My new Willow tree has lost all but 3 leaves! I'm watering it at a trickle day and night, but I have no idea if it will make it.

Get some Vitamin B1 at a garden center- it reduces transplant shock. The same thing happened to my new oak tree- all of it's leaves got crispy. I mixed up a 5 gallon bucket of B1 solution, and within a few days, new buds started to grow. You give it every 2 weeks until the plant is established. Which reminds me, we just planted some berry bushes- they'll appreciate a B1 cocktail too!

 

[Secuono]

Man, they are really bad, how often should I drown the ears in oil? They are hot, hard, crusty and sensitive. Won't be able to take any old crust off until a few oil dips...

 

[grumpy]

I'll describe what I do with a rabbit that has a bad case of ear mites.

First of all, mix your own ear mite medicine. The store bought stuff is outrageously expensive....complete highway robbery.

Find a small squirt tip bottle and put 4 to 5 ml. of pyrethrum in it. Next buy a large bottle of Mineral Oil and add 100 ml. to the pyrethrum in the small bottle. Shake well to mix the ingrediants together.

Your next step is "not-pleasant"! The "crust" in the ear needs to be dislodged and broken apart. The actual mites are buried underneath all of this crud. This isn't for the squeamish...AND the rabbit will be UPSET!! Probably scream to high-heaven, but the crust has to be broken. Give the ear a quick-squeeze near the base where it attaches to the skull. This will break up the crust and expose the area where the mites are doing their dirty work. Be prepared....the rabbit's gonna be "not-happy".

Sounds cruel...I know....but one quick squeeze and it's all over with. Then just add the medicine into the ear. I usually put 8-10 drops down the inside and gently massage it into the gunk. Place the rabbit back in the cage and watch how much crud they sling out of their ear. It's a bunch if they've got a bad case of mites.

As a preventative measure...go ahead and treat the rest of the herd. Put 2 or 3 drops down each of their ears. Once you get the ear mites under control, it's a simple matter of treating the entire herd every other month or so.

I'll probably catch a little flak over my method...But I'd much rather have the animal upset only once rather than stretch the process out over two or three days.

It will take a week or two for the oil to dissapate from around the base of the ear. But...I guarantee you, you won't have any more ear mite problems for quite some time. Any time a new rabbit is brought into the herd....dose them with the medicine right from the get-go.

I've been doin' it this way for well over 20 years and haven't lost a rabbit yet!! In my opinion, a rabbitry with continual ear mite problems is an issue of lazy husbandry. Preventative maintenance is always the easier of the two options available to the rabbit owner. I watch my herd very closely on a daily basis and it's been quite some time since I've had a problem with ear mites. Usually it comes from a rabbit that is introduced from an outside source.

Grumpy

 

[Secuono]

Well, the problem has moved up the ear in the curve, so one ear is just a whole breaded and crusted mess. Other is just some in the base of the ear. I'll go out this morning and try to get the crud out, should of softened up by now. No idea where to get pyrethrum, online or locally.<br /><br />__________ Sat Jul 14, 2012 9:11 am __________<br /><br />Found a site saying to use Ivermectin, I used the same on my GPs, but I used Ivermectin Horse wormer 1.87%. A matchstick head size drop for each pig.
Pigs are about 1.5lbs, so my guess is about a cm drop for a rabbit, a little more for meat rabbits.

Rabbit site-
"Ivermectin: 400 mg/kg, PO (oral) or SC (subcutaneous injection), 3 times at intervals of 14 days (life cycle of Psoroptes cuniculi is 21 days); 200 mg/kg has been found ineffective."

How much would that be for a 8.5lbs rabbit...? I'm guessing they are talking about the liquid, but idk.

If I can use the paste as well, I can easily treat all the rabbits for just in case needs. The doe is still getting the oil, but I'd like to use the drug as well, she won't be eaten and only the breeders will be dosed.

 

[SatinsRule]

If you have mineral oil or olive oil in your house, you already have all that you really need to kill the offending ear mites. An application in each ear every other day for a week is about all it takes, along with some cleaning with q-tips in between.

 

[Secuono]

I wanted to use the Ivermectin paste to treat the other rabbits. They don't show any symptoms, but I want to treat them once just in case something is brewing in there.


*In my best Professor Farnsworth, from Futurama, Voice*
Good news, everyone!
The veggie oil and a nights time did the trick to get nearly all the crud out! I drowned the ears in it yesterday, she was not happy at all with me. But when I went out with Qtips to wiggle some gunk out, I was pleasantly surprised that she was able to get most of it all out by herself!

Went ahead and pulled her out to check them over and reapply the oil and she was much more still. I flipped her instead of touching her ears, as they are still very hot and sensitive. They were both up and no longer hanging down, so a vast improvement.

 

[SatinsRule]

CNB,

As Dennis (Ottersatin) pointed out on another thread, you only should use medicines like Ivermectin when needed, not as a preventative. A simple oil treatment will normally do the trick in eliminating mites. I went thru a spell of it earlier this spring, and mites are a thing of the past at this point.

 

[Secuono]

Not helpful at all.
Doing it once on rabbits that have been very close to the infected rabbit will not cause super mites.
Problem comes from people drugging them on a regular basis or more often then that.
Makes me wonder wth is with medicating dogs for fleas/ticks/worms and other things...but really, there is nothing else you can do for them. Those bugs will attack any dog/cat w/o drugs, you cannot have them w/o being drugged all the time.

 

[SatinsRule]

Who in the world is saying anything about "supermites"?

The rabbits' bodies are similar to human bodies in that they can develop a resistance to certain meds. It's why some of us who cannot eat shellfish won't take antihistimines in order to be able to eat it occasionally. Sure, even with only occasional use it may allow you to eat shellfish without incident, but once the body develops the resistance to it, you're in a world of trouble. The same thing applies to Ivermectin and any of a number or antibiotics as they pertain to rabbits or any other animal.

The introduction of oil into the ears drowns and eliminates ear mites. Sure, you're bound to have a recurrence in the future in much the same way as with mosquitos, ticks, fleas or anything else. As Grumpy said above, you have to get to the core of that ear canker to be able to effectively remove it. Nobody is saying it's pleasant, painless or easy, but all you're doing is treating symptoms unless and until you get to the source of the problem and eradicate it from the equation.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

Usually it comes from a rabbit that is introduced from an outside source.

yes,,,,and also comes from hay. They hide in the hay the buyer brings it home and voila.

 

[Secuono]

Well, no hay here.

Moved rabbits around and the Cali buck has mites, too. Used a Qtip to get the oil in his ears. He's always been afraid and didn't want to freak him further by just tilting and dumping.

Cali 1 and Chin don't have issues, I'll check the last two when I finish moving them around.

 

[michabo3000]

grumpy gave execelent tryed and true advice, we should all be taking notes from him and indeed treat new rabbits coming into the rabbitry also like he said. Also ear mite eggs can take up to three weeks to hatch.m

Pyrethrum is a little harder to find than it used to be. Not to long ago it was the main ingredient in most flea powders for dogs. Look for pyrethrum at your local hardware store, feed store , garden center , pet store. It is being more widely used now for an organic bug killer for plants. I ad it to a three in one organic sesame seed oil spray for my plants.http://beautifulorchids.com/orchids/Acc ... owder.html

Im attempting to grow it myself , last year the wrong kind of painted daisy seeds were in the package, this year i have a few plants started. http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.com/2009/ ... thrum.html

 

[grumpy]

Usually it comes from a rabbit that is introduced from an outside source.

yes,,,,and also comes from hay. They hide in the hay the buyer brings it home and voila.

Mary Ann,

Now, that, I didn't know. Thanks for the info. Ear mites are an insidious little pest that one needs to watch out for at all times. They surely cause a rabbit to be uncomfortable and create a stress-like condition when they get out of hand.

Besides that....they just look nasty!

Grumpy.

 

[michabo3000]

So does anyone hand cut thier own hay?

__________ Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:13 pm __________

i should, but im too lazy. I could probably get a couple hundred lbs of grass and clover with dandilions mixed in.

__________ Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:19 pm __________

lol, i sure posted that in the wrong place<br /><br />__________ Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:19 pm __________<br /><br />not sure how i got here even