# Fleas on Angora rabbits!



## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

First time I have ever experienced this but I have fleas on my rabbits!

We have had a hard summer with fleas on the dogs and cats and in the house.
The rabbitry is in an enclosed porch just off the kitchen and the fleas found it!

My Angoras are full of fleas.

I have been treating all the other animals with pesticides and bio oil from the vet.
The house has been under going the same thing along with the vacuuming (I have no carpets but still vacuum the bare floors), washing and treating every corner.

I treated the rabbitry with the same stuff from the house, insecticide and bio stuff from the vet.

But, how can I treat the rabbits themselves? I cant afford anymore of the useless products from the useless vet! The poor rabbits are covered.
My Englishes I am shearing. I think I may have to shear everyone since the fleas can hide so well in all that fiber.
I have tried DE on the rabbits, no luck at all.
I plan to use more DE after shearing the crowd.
I have cedar in the pans below the all wire cages and no change.

I dont want to use something on the rabbits that can poison them.
Anyone know what works and is safe for a bad flea infestation on rabbits?

I have Resmetherin for the cats and ferrets and thier living area.
I have Permethrin for the dogs and their living area along with the rest of the house..
The bio stuff for them was that stuff that goes down their backs, but I already went through a 3 month supply for everyone and I cant afford anymore, besides it did nothing!
I still have the bio house spray that I have been using but the cycle hasnt stopped yet. I still have more of that stuff left.

Any ideas for the rabbits?


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

I found some fleas on a few or my rabbits earlier this summer. I treated with a pyretherin spray (the same one I use to keep flies off them). The safest is pyretherin...not permetrin, alleretrin, etc...per my vet. They do fine with the spray I got...from TSC Country Vet...was a large can for like $5. I just sprayed the back of the rabbits affected from behind the ears through the rump. I did not saturate them...just dampened the fur in that area. Worked fine. I think Adams flea and tick is the same, but not as much pyretherin in it. But if it is safe for cats and is only pyretherin (no other rethin's or methoprene in it) you will be good. You may have to spray weekly and flea comb them inbetween.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

Thank you for the info on pyretherin.
I will be going to our farm store on Monday. I know they have several brands there.

I never had fleas actually infest the rabbits themselves before.

My poor English buck, he has the longest and thickest fiber of them all, is just covered in fleas.
I tried grooming them out with the flea comb, but gave up. Its just easier to shear!

I was hoping, a few weeks ago when I first found fleas in the rabbitry that the cleaning, washing,, and treating the room would be enough to get rid of them before they chose a rabbit diet, but it didnt work. 

The last time we had a flea infestation, everywhere in the house, was about 10 years ago and it was nothing compared to this year and we even had carpets then. I have never seen fleas this bad before.

Its been an absolute nightmare.

We even did the flea shampoo on the dogs and cats, but that was good for about 24 hours!
We are going to try the dawn dish soap method on the dogs and cats to hopefully knock down the numbers while the house treatments are going on.

I dont want to get my rabbits wet though.


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## gerald77 (Aug 2, 2007)

i seven dusted my awol rabbit cause she had ticks and fleas and it worked well and didn't kill her. we have just recently had a major flea problem in the last month with the dogs and cats. i hate fleas.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

gerald77 said:


> i seven dusted my awol rabbit cause she had ticks and fleas and it worked well and didn't kill her. we have just recently had a major flea problem in the last month with the dogs and cats. i hate fleas.


I have used sevin outdoors, rarely, but not in the house.

My rabbitry is off the kitchen. You have to go through the kitchen to get to the rabbits.
Plus my rabbits are groomed in the living room, via the kitchen.

I hate fleas to, now more than ever.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

I got the pyretherin yesterday.
I also got a powder for the floor of the room. I am hoping it will do better than the spray by getting in cranks better. I am thinking dust gets everywhere imaginable, hopeful the powder will act the same. ( I have bare wood floors everywhere)

I noticed the French Rabbits have very few if any fleas on them. The English and English crosses are the worse. I'm thinking hair type since the French have a thinner wool and more guard hairs.

Also I am treating everything and all the other critters too so time will tell.


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

This will sound silly, but we used it on a cat years ago, and I bet it will help with the rabbits.

Put Sevin dust in your vacuum cleaner bag. Vacuum your rabbits. Then clip them. Then vacuum them every couple days to get eggs that were adhered to surfaces and are hatching. You want to get as many off as possible before you start clipping, or they're going to scatter...onto you, mostly.

I suggest low power on the vacuum. 

Discard the bag when you're done.


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## Marshloft (Mar 24, 2008)

With what ever else you are using for an immediate riddance of fleas...
Don't give up on the DE.. It works as a skeletal dehydration.. Takes days and in some cases weeks to get all the eggs.. If using outdoors,, this time of year doesn't help as every morning the ground is wet.. It loses its effectivness after being wet..
But still the most natural and effective method..
Gary H.


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