Can rabbits catch rat lice?

One of my male rats has started showing symptoms of a lice or mite infection. I'm starting all of my rats on treatment soon but I'm worried my rabbit might catch the mites/lice because they are live in the same room. Should I be worried and what are signs of mites and lice in rabbits?

Don't know anything about lice, but I know rats can carry mites and those mites do bite humans. Our rabbits are outside and I've seen rats once in a while around the cages; however, the rabbits have never shown any signs of having mites. If yours are showing signs of mites then get everyone treated. Rabbits with mites may start scratching and typically start losing some of their hair, usually on the back of the neck.

Also look down there ears if there is blackish dots they have mites this is one of the things I do daily

majorv said:

Don't know anything about lice, but I know rats can carry mites and those mites do bite humans. Our rabbits are outside and I've seen rats once in a while around the cages; however, the rabbits have never shown any signs of having mites. If yours are showing signs of mites then get everyone treated. Rabbits with mites may start scratching and typically start losing some of their hair, usually on the back of the neck.

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Strange, I've never heard of rat mites biting humans. At least not the type of mites that domestic rats get. I can see the lice on my rats so I ruled out mites because rat mites are invisible to the naked eye. I am not sure if I should call my local rabbit savvy vet to ask if rabbits can catch rat lice or not? The rats are all going to be treated with ivermectin so maybe someone could just tell me if ivermectin can be used with rabbits? If it's safe for rabbits I might just treat Alice with it alongside all of my rats.

Ivermectin can be used on rabbits, but only if they're not Dutch breed (or background of) or Vienna marked, because then it can be fatal.

Azerane said:

Ivermectin can be used on rabbits, but only if they're not Dutch breed (or background of) or Vienna marked, because then it can be fatal.

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Thanks for the info. I was told Alice is a mini rex lop cross but I don't have any info on her family history. She just has a broken pattern. Am I safe to treat her or should I hold off because I don't know her background 100%?

I would think you would be fine. Is that her in your avatar? I believe it has something to do with the blood barrier to the brain, allowing it to overdose or something. If she was a dutch cross something, I wouldn't give it, but given her parents and her broken pattern, you should be ok. Though, I'm no vet or expert, and it might be worth waiting for someone with more experience to chime in.

She should be okay to use ivermectin on. You could call the vet to get an accurate dose for her. They just need to know her exact weight.

Maybe domestic rats and roof rats get different types of mites. I know the mites on roof rats do bite and are visible to the naked eye.

You could always put some stuff on your bunny just in case.

Thanks all. I've read some rare cases of ivermectin causes death in rats and rabbits so I have decided not to use it. I am going to treat my rats with Revolution which is selamectin instead. I have read that selamectin is also safe for rabbits so I will still treat her alongside my rats just in case thanks for all the help!

Not all blue eyed white, dutch or vienna carrier/marked rabbits are going to be prone to ivermectin toxicity. In fact it's not even something that has really been confirmed, but there are enough reports about it occurring with these rabbits, and the fact that it occurs in dogs and other animals with similar markings, that it makes me believe there is some truth to it and would make me wary of using it where these types of rabbits are concerned. I don't believe a broken pattern rabbit is classified under either of those though.

Selamectin is considered safe to use on rabbits as well, and I believe a bit safer than ivermectin for rabbits that might have a sensitivity to the later antiparasitic.
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Anti_parasitics/safe_antiparasitic.htm

Yea, we've heard of enough reports of BEW and Dutch sensitivity to ivermectin that I would never use it on our blue-eyed white Polish. We've used it on all of our other rabbits and never had a problem.