# Ear Mites/Oil?



## Skykomish (May 28, 2008)

I have a rabbit that I believe has ear mites. All the pictures of rabbits with ear mites look like her. But the weird part is she is in a hutch with 4 other does and she is the only one with the condition. I let it go for about a month to see if it would clear up on its own but it didn't so yesterday I cleaned the crusts out of her ears with olive oil. But I got it all over her. Can/Should I bathe her? Her head is all covered with oil, but she is not a "tame" rabbit. Every time I touch her she tries to scratch me apart. Do I need to keep treating her ears with the oil? I got at least 98% of the crust out but I guess the ear mites could have laid eggs and when they are born I need to redouse her with oil? When is that going to happen? Can someone give me a schedule for treating her from this point forward? Thanks


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Olive oil shouldn't hurt her, although it may be a bit laxative. She will likely clean herself up over the next couple of days. Bathing is stressful for rabbits, so I would wait and see how she does.

You may need to give her follow-up treatments, but it is not necessary to clean the ears out. The gunk will loosen with the oil and the rabbit will shake its head a lot. Just put the body temperature oil into the ear. 

As to why just this one, it may be a bit run down and this allowed the ear mites to get out of hand. If one rabbit has them, the others are likely lightly infested as well. I'd treat them all.


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## harplade (Jul 14, 2005)

I've heard you can use WD-40-just shoot it in their ears. I buy rabbits from a breeder, he has about 200 plus at any one time. That's all he uses for their ears.


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## Sondra Peterson (Dec 5, 2002)

I use either mineral oil or vit E oil usually just squirt a 400 IU capsul into the ear works good and also has healing properties


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## ladysown (May 3, 2008)

from another rabbit list I'm on...DON'T use WD 40. The number of people that said don't do it was just phenomenal. Oil works well and doesn't hurt the bunny either.


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

I would also say don't use WD40.

No petroleum based oils. You can use mineral oil, olive oil, salad oil, corn oil, all of these are safer for the rabbit than petroleum oils.

Go to the picnic supplies area of the grocery store and buy a plastic ketchup squirt bottle. Works great for squirting oil in the rabbit ears.

A vet tech I know doesn't like vegetable oils since they can turn rancid and cause other problems. Recommends mineral oil or baby oil only.

Have a good day!
Franco Rios


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## makesmeglad (Mar 15, 2008)

Get the baby oil at the dollar store, it's just mineral oil too. I color my hair, and save the little squirty bottle (rinsed out of course) for doing ears. It's a good practice to treat everyone once a month. Easy to do if you just go hutch to hutch with the squirty bottle.


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## cnvh (Jun 11, 2008)

Our buck had ear mites; at the suggestion of others on this board, I doused his ear with a good bit of mineral oil, and his ear seems to have cleared up about 95% in a week. Unfortunately, he got quite a bit of mineral oil all over the REST of himself, too; there for a few days he looked like a drowned rat! He still looks a little soggy but it's a lot better than before. I thought about trying to bathe him, but that seemed like it would hurt more than help, so we figured we'd let nature take its course.


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## maidservant (Dec 10, 2007)

For a reason why not to use WD-40, it will make every hair it touches fall out, it dries out every bit of skin it touches (which can lead to secondary skin infections), and if they ingest it, it can kill them if they get enough. With that being said, I have one buck who's mites will only die if I use WD-40. I hate it, and he hates it too, but since he is a pet/breeder buck, I'm willing to spend the extra time with him to make sure he is clean. He has recieved baths (once per month) since I recieved him two years ago, and has done wonderful. He knows that if he gets a bath, he gets to stay inside overnight which to him is heaven! We don't use our air conditioner a lot, so he doesn't get chilled in the summer time. He does not get baths during the winter time though, I don't want to risk the heat/cold then. 

Olive oil or mineral oil generally works, and if the mites still seem to hang on, add a few drops of camphophynique (sp?) to the oil and mix well. It smells to high heaven, but mites hate it, and in the small quantities that are in the oil, it won't harm the bunnies. 

Hope this helps,
Emily


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

rabbitgeek said:


> I would also say don't use WD40.
> 
> No petroleum based oils. You can use mineral oil, olive oil, salad oil, corn oil, all of these are safer for the rabbit than petroleum oils.
> 
> ...


Mineral oil *IS* a petroleum product. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_oil

Vegetable oils won't be rancid if taken straight from the kitchen to the rabbitry in the quantities required. It would take quite a long time at high temperatures for it to become rancid. Use a small squirt bottle with just enough in it for one round of treatment.


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## bowbuild (Aug 2, 2008)

I have never had this problem .....But was sitting here thinking a mixture of neem oil (natural from the seed of the neem tree) and mineral oil. Neem oil is used a lot in horticulture. Neem is also used for some human skin products. Just curious???

Brian


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

maidservant said:


> For a reason why not to use WD-40, it will make every hair it touches fall out, it dries out every bit of skin it touches (which can lead to secondary skin infections), and if they ingest it, it can kill them if they get enough. With that being said, I have one buck who's mites will only die if I use WD-40.


In that case, Ivermectin would be appropriate.

Ivomec, ivermectin 1%
The tested dosage for rabbits is 0.018 cc per lb of live weight

10 lbs is .18 cc
5 lbs is .09 cc

Inject under the skin between the shoulder blades of the rabbit.

Some people report good results by giving the solution orally to the rabbit, squirting into the mouth by syringe with no needle. This has not been researched clinically.

Other people report good results by squirting into the ear with no needle. This has not been researched clinically.

Repeat in 10-14 days to get the mite eggs that hatch out.
It would be a good idea to treat all the rabbits in the herd at the same time.

Have a good day!
Franco Rios


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Thing to remember about WD-40 is what the letters stand for. *W*ater *D*isplacement. That's why it causes skin to dry and fur to fall out.


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## BlueFlames (May 28, 2006)

Skykomish said:


> Her head is all covered with oil, but she is not a "tame" rabbit. Every time I touch her she tries to scratch me apart.


Tell me about it, All the books say gently rub mineral oil on the inside of their
ears... And pray tell how do you hold one still enough to do that?
My rabbits are meat rabbits, most will let me pet the a bit on the back.
but NONE will let me pick them up without a fight.
I'm trying to find something I can spray in their ear for mites
without having to pick them up.

I'm beginning to think if they get ear mites, it's time for the skillet.


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

We've used Cydectin Pour on in the ears. It seems to work really well. Only took one time and they were gone forever. Didn't seem to hurt the rabbit any.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

I'm unfamiliar with cydectin. Is that safe for meat animals?

When I have to handle a reluctant rabbit, I've found that having a helper and a large bath towel go a long way to getting done what needs to be done.

With your helper's and your arms protected, wrap the rabbit up like a big old bunny burrito. Yes, I know the manuals say to tuck up their feet to avoid hurting them, but that's just going to waste time. You want to get this done FAST and get that killer rabbit back in the cage before you're toast.

Make sure that the part you want to treat, in this case the ears, is out of the towel. (You may be lucky and get the eyes covered, in which case the struggling diminishes greatly.) Quickly apply the oil to the ears. I have found that a large syringe or just a regular olive oil bottle with the long metal pour spout work well.

Massage is nice if you can do it, but not necessary, as the rabbit will work the oil through as it cleans up the nasty mess YOU made, all the while glaring at you with eyes that say, "I will kill you so hard that you will die from it."

But you know that won't happen, because by now, you've flipped that bunny out into its cage, and you're happily walking away with the towel under your arm.

Take THAT, mean ol' rabbit!


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Rabbitgeek's suggestion of using a ketchup or mustard squeeze bottle to apply the oil is a good one. Works very well and you can do it right in the cage, as long as the door is big enough to give you a bit of elbow room. 

I'm working on a bunny sling. Something easy to get the bun into that would be hung up for trimming claws, treating ears, weighing etc. Should be pretty easy to make and IF it turns out to be helpful, I will definitely post about it.


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## BlueFlames (May 28, 2006)

Pony said:


> I'm unfamiliar with cydectin. Is that safe for meat animals?


I googled it, Both Cydectin and Ivermectin are safe for meat animals.
However it appears to have been designed for beef, and says not to use
on veal animals...... But says it's safe to use on slaughter day.
(Which raisies the question, why would you give a de-wormer and lice
control to a cow your about to kill ?


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