Update on Thunder. (Starting to worry.)

[HansenHomestead]

I posted pictures of our new Blue FG buck that we got on Dec 31st. I also made a post about him only nibbling at his food.

Well today I was standing in the garage looking at all the rabbits I noticed that Thunder kept shaking his head, and scratching his ear. Now I have seen a few of my buns do this before only for a moment, and it usually ended up being a piece of hay, or hair got poked in there. Once removed all was well. When watching thunder he did shook, and scratched for a 4 minutes straight. So I took him from his cage, got my flash light, and had a look in his ear. Upon inspecting his ear I did see something, but have no idea if it's the start of mites, or what? All of my other rabbits ears have always been clean. I got a Q-Tip, and gently swiped his ear, it was more in the ear canal rather than the upper part of the ear, and this is what came out.

Slighty yellow, waxy looking flakes. After finding that in his ear I began to check over his whole body, and directly on the top of his head, and a few on his back along his spine are these small spots that I can only describe as looking like cradle cap on a baby. Which makes me think fur mites as well. I got not get a picture of that, because he won't sit still long enough, or he turns around, and tries to eat my phone, haha.

Could this be ear, and fur mites?

 

[Dood]

Could be - do you have a microscope ?

A dosing of oil down the ears cannot hurt

 

[HansenHomestead]

No I do not.

Any sort of oil?

 

[MaggieJ]

Most people use either mineral oil or vegetable oil - olive, canola etc. If you warm it slightly, it will spread better and will not bother the rabbit so much. (I have vivid memories of cold olive oil being put in my ear when I was a kid to loosen ear wax. Brrrrr!)

For fur mites, I think DE would be more effective. Here, it is available in feed stores. Or you can get it online.

Both these are non-toxic and harmless to the rabbit. There are other ways if the mites prove to be stubborn, but I have never had to use them.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Crusty stuff in the ear probably indicates mites, so I would treat with some type of oil.

Food grade D.E. is a safe and effective treatment for the fur mites. One application is all I have ever needed to get rid of them- you should see new fur growth within just a few days.

 

[MaggieJ]

Crusty stuff in the ear probably indicates mites, so I would treat with some type of oil.

Food grade D.E. is a safe and effective treatment for the fur mites. One application is all I have ever needed to get rid of them- you should see new fur growth within just a few days.

Yes, definitely make sure it is food grade DE. The swimming pool stuff is toxic. I'd forgotten about that!

 

[Zass]

I agree with the others. First line of defense against mites is oil in the ears (cooking, mineral, whatever), and food grade DE in the fur.
Both substances kill mechanically by smothering or dehydrating the mites.

Any time there has been a mite scare here, I've gone ahead and done the whole herd, and DE'd the dropping pans and areas around pens too...Just to nip any possible rabbitry-wide mite outbreaks right in the bud. So far, it's worked well for me.

 

[HansenHomestead]

I am going to go ahead, and do a few drops of oil in his ear today. I also forgot to mention that while I did see some of that waxy substance I did not see any scabs, scratches, or redness in his ear.