ear mites

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

Hi! So I currently have 9 bunnies and I think a few may have ear mites. Ive noticed flaking, crusts, and missing hair on the inside and edges of one of my buns and the other has flaking on the outside of his ear where there's fur. I also have a doe and she has dandruff/flaking and her babies have been itching their ears a lot.

I have this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00076NP2C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I used to use it regularly as a preventative because I house them outdoors but this summer I haven't used it. Has anyone ever used it? I'm assuming it works so I'm thinking of treating them all with it expect the doe and her babies, maybe I'll use something home made like olive oil on them? any suggestions? Also, does this sound like mites? I can post pics if that would help. My other question is, do I need to throw away all of their toys? they all also have cat beds, should I just wash them? What do I clean the hutches and cages with to kill the mites? I've never had this problem so I guess I'm just wondering what the whole procedure is to get rid of a mite infestation and what I should do to prevent this from happening again. I do keep them and the environment their in very clean so I'm not sure how this happened. I do show them so maybe another bun from a show passed it to them /: I live in Minnesota btw

 

[majorv]

Oh yea, we had an ear mite problem and we either picked it up at a show or in the hay, but since all the rabbits weren't affected who get hay we figured a few brought it home from a show. At first, we used Revolution for the few who actually had it, and treated everyone else with Ivomec orally. We ended up treating everyone with Ivomec to finish getting rid of it, but we didn't have kits at the time. With kits you might try a home remedy. I haven't heard of the product you linked in your post.

We sprayed/cleaned the cages of the affected rabbits and then put boric acid powder lightly in everyone's drop pan, along with the usual PDZ and wood pellets. Ours are outside and so we didn't have anything to wash, but I would do it in hot water.

We haven't had a problem since.

 

[squidpop]

I don't think you should use the product you mentioned. I looked it up and on medirabbit it said the two active ingredients (Pyrethrins and Piperonyl) could be dangerous. Below is a quote

http://medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/earmite/Psoroptes.htm
The use of over the counter products against mite or ear mites should be avoided. Most contain pyrethrin. While one of the least toxic insecticides for animals and rabbits, pyrethrins/pyrethroids are neurotoxins which lead to continuous "firing" of nerves. Observed problems in rabbits include limb paralysis, seizure, coma, tremor, sometimes death.
Many of those products contain additives that prolong the effect of the pyrethrins, and inhibit the breakdown of these products in the body. They can lead to toxic reactions in rabbits. Piperonyl butoxide is one of them. If no immediate death, there should be **slow** recovery with time, around 48 h. Ear mite infestation is accompanied by pain. An analgesic (pain relief medication, e.g., carprofen, ketoprofen, meloxicam) should be administered.

If you read the medirabbit article (link above) it suggest some other things to use. One of them is "Revolution" for dogs and cats and it is over the counter (the active ingredient is Selamectin). I used this one myself on my baby rabbits when they were 6 weeks and everyone did fine. There is a video on Youtube on how to figure out the dose for different sizes of rabbits here. [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyqNwCCRSq8[/ame]