Unknown skin infection/disease?

[bunsandchins]

Hello.
I was looking at some bunnies yesterday and I fell in love with one. I suddenly noticed that she was missing fur on her back and had quite scaly skin and ears. It did not look like fleas and I could not find a picture that looked like it. Does anyone have any ideas? If it is easily treatable I will get her as the pet shop is not taking good enough care of them.

Also she was being house with a TINY baby guinea pig. They seem to have bonded so would it be okay for them to stay together? I am aware of the fact that rabbits can kill guinea pigs with one kick and can also spread a virus but if I vaccinated the guinea pig would it be alright? I already own some guinea pigs so know what I am doing.

Thanks,
Bunsandchins.

 

[JBun]

It sounds like the rabbit could have fur mites, which is easily treated with either ivermectin or Revolution(selamectin). The pet shop is responsible for the health of the rabbit and they should treat it prior to you buying the rabbit, or they should pay for you to take the rabbit to a vet to be treated. I would tell them that you are interested in buying the rabbit but that you noticed it has a skin condition likely caused by fur mites and that you would like it to be treated first. I would also ask them how they plan on treating the skin condition just to make sure that they know what they are doing, as some mite medications used to treat cats will be toxic to rabbits. Also the correct dose needs to be used as an overdose can be fatal.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/furmite/fur_mite.htm
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Parasitic/Cheyletiellosis.htm

If ivermectin is used the rabbit will need to be retreated 3 times 14 days between each treatment, given orally or topically depending on which product is used, or given by injection by a vet. Revolution usually only needs one topical treatment.

It's usually not recommended to keep rabbits and guinea pigs together because of potential injuries to the smaller animal and the risk of the bordetella bacteria being passed from the rabbit to the piggie. If the rabbit is a baby, baby rabbits get along easily with any animal but once they sexually mature that relationship can change and they may no longer get along. Plus once the rabbit matures it needs to be spayed/neutered if you plan on bonding it with a partner. Male rabbits that remain a single rabbit, don't always need to be neutered if they don't display any unwanted hormonal behaviors, but if you plan on bonding then male rabbits have to be neutered. Female rabbits should almost always get spayed whether they remain a single rabbit or get bonded, because of their very high risk of developing uterine cancer as they age. I wouldn't recommend keeping a rabbit and piggie together, but if you do decide to do it make sure the rabbit is spayed/neutered, and you may need to give at least 4 weeks afterwards for hormones to die down before rebonding. If the rabbit is a baby now, at about 12 weeks they start to get hormonal and that's usually when they need to be separated til spaying/neutering is done.

 

[bunsandchins]

Thank you so much. I will definitely follow your advice.

 

[belleshadow]

It does sound like fur mites. I have had quite a few rabbits with fur mites, and usually I go to the pet store, or the Tractor Co. and I get some fur mite medicine for cats. It works well as long as you apply it as often as the package tells you to, and you may want to get the kitten kind since rabbits are smaller and more sensitive. But if you get the regular cat kind, you will want to use smaller doses.