Mites and ticks can be passed on from birds, cats,raccoons and other animals in your yard, and don't necessarily have tohave direct contact with your buns(s). Some mitescan live on rabbits undetected for quite a while and not causing anynoticeable discomfort to to the animals until their naturalimmunity system get stressed due to trauma orillness. At such times, the mites might increase in number sothat they become a problem.
I've read that rabbits can contract fleas, but have never experiencedthe problem. Others claim most rabbits' fur is too dense formost fleas to live comfortably. As I am told fleas will usehumans as a host if there is no other animalavailable, I guess a rabbit might serve just as well. In anyevent, there are a couple of relatively simple ways to dealwith these problems at home, should they develop, or one can utilizethe services of your qualified veterinarian.
A simple preventive measure to discourage Fly Strike, the conditionCarolyn mentioned, is to add 1/2 - 1 tsp of vanilla extract to onegallon of drinking water, real or artificial flavoring makes nodifference. The smell of the vanilla in the rabbits' wastematter tends to repel the flies, therefore discouraging them fromlaying eggs upon the rabbit's dirty bottom.
Not all rabbits have dirty bottoms. Some buns are too chubbyto adequately clean themselves and the area remains soiled andattractive to flies, outside or inside the home. A diet maybe indicated to correct that condition. Other rabbits havedense fur in the area, which tends to collect fecal mattereasily. A simple solutionis to trim the areaperiodically with a scissors, just be careful as the rabbit's skin israther thin and delicate.
Buck