Fleas

[Tigs]

Lady in the apartment next door has a dog with fleas and I happened to notice one here this morning, caught a few in a flea trap while I was at work so I have little doubt that they have crossed over to my poor buns by now, though I haven't seen any on either of them yet. I sifted through some old posts about fleas and see that Revolution or Advantage are recommended/safe for buns. I have a few concerns I'd like cleared up about them before I go dosing them.

Are there any side effects I can expect?
Will it cause problems or illness if ingested? My buns groom each other regularly.
Are there any bun safe flea killers for their environment like carpets & bedding?

Also does heat/cold kill fleas? Their bunny beds are too large to fit in a washer, but would survive a spin in the dryer and/or will fit in my chest freezer if that would kill the little flea buggers off. I don't want to spray them with soap/tea tree oil/bleach as my buns love chewing and licking their beds and I worry they would end up ingesting some of it and getting ill.

any info and advice would be fantastic!

 

[Tigs]

I've been reading on natural ways of killing fleas and came across Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) as an ingestible option along with using it as a dusting powder.
Does anyone know if I dust the carpets/pet bedding with it if it will harm rabbits?

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Here are a few threads that cover your questions :
Fleas
Diatomaceous
To check for fleas on the buns, hold rabbit over a white paper towel, and vigorously rub their butt fur. Little particles may fall out.

Then, spray the paper towel with water. If red spots appear, then you have fleas for sure.

You can dust bedding and carpet with food grade diatomaceous earth. Another good tool is regular vaccuuming with a flea collar inserted in the vaccuum

Hope that helps you a bit!

 

[tonyshuman]

You can also rent a steam rug cleaner and use that on the stuff that won't fit in the washer.

 

[Sweetie]

Yeah I had a flea problem. Now I don't have any fleas. I use kitten Advantage on my rabbits, and I vacuum the carpet. I also steam clean my carpet. I have steam cleaned twice this year and have seen no fleas. Both of my rabbits haven't had any kitten Advantage for at least a couple months. I haven't had any fleas for about 4 to 5 months now.

So vacuuming, steam cleaning, and using kitten Advantage or Revolution will get the fleas under control if not get the fleas to disappear for good. Steam cleaning once or twice a year will help keep your carpets clean, and vacuuming every day or every week will also keep your carpets clean and keep the fleas under control. Using Advantage or Revolution once a month every month will keep fleas under control.

 

[Steph16]

I used kitten/puppy revolution on my bunny with no ill effects.

He did want to lick it though, so I watched him very carefully. But the vets say that once it dries it is alright. So I watched Jacob for about a half hour or so.

I would recommend maybe putting it on one bunny at a time, so that you can either watch or hold them for that half hour. Then I would temporarily separate them for maybe and hour or so, just so the stuff can completely dry.

I would go into the vet and just talk to the secretary, they will be able to walk you through some of the options.