How long have you had Patina?  Would it passed the time the shelter would be responsible for testing for mites?   Does she shake her ears alot or scratch them?  Also, do notice any flakes or anything on the inside of her ears?

my first thought is mites too – since the flaking is usually from that. I wonder if bunnies can get flakey from dry skin too?

you can’t see mites generally, and they’re contagious. fur loss is common, but that’s once it’s more advanced.
it might be fur mites, rather than ear mites since they’re less itchy. The good news is that it’s easily treatable with revolution that you can get from your vet’s office.

I can’t remember if you are a science major. Why don’t you swab the inside & outside of her ears and take it into the lab and look under the microscope. See if there are any mite shells.

It could just be dermatitis. Medusa has a small patch of what I think is dermatitis on her back neck. The head of the rescue group over here said that lops tend to get that, but she didn’t know why.

Oh do show us more pix of your buns…Patina is so cute!

Hi Fujoe – Gravehearted is right that it might be fur mites, not ear mites.   But there is no way to tell unless a vet checks them out.   Fur loss usually doesn’t happen until it gets very severe, and like gravehearted said, fur mites aren’t as itchy.  

I haven’t heard of just dry skin on a bunny.  Doesn’t mean that doesn’t exist.   If that is the case, it may be due to a prior poor diet….??       I’ll ask around about that at the rabbit rescue tomorrow since I am going there.

We have just had our rabbits treated for fur mites with ivermectin injections- our vet said that she finds topical treatments don’t work as well. The flake looked just like Patina’s ears. Edward had them on the back of his neck and was starting to loose his fur there….. since the treatment he has really perked up as he had been a little subdued before. It’s hard sometimes to find the money for vet bills (bunny treatment can be so expensive ), I’ve just spent over $400 on ours to treat various respiratory/ear infections! Are your bunnies insured? Maybe you could claim back some of the costs?

Oh I just thought…. we had a very old bunny Benson who died just before we moved to America. He had the same flakey ears for a long time, was treated for mites (ear and fur) which didn’t work. Our vet there, who was very into alternative treatments, suggested that he might not be getting enough omega oils in his diet and like Poopey said could be dermatitis. She told us to try adding 1/2 tsp a day of ground linseeds to his pellet feed. It worked pretty well. Maybe you could try it before an epensive trip to the vet?

VPI pet insurance, the one I have, doesn’t cover parasitic stuff, and I think many pet insurances are like that.  But if it is just dry skin or some skin issue then they would cover it.  Silly

Anyway, I did talk to the owner of the rescue group and she did say rabbits can get dry skin.  Can be due to diet and/or stress, or some other medical issue.    So if it’s not mites, then maybe it is just due to all the changes that she’s been going through these last few months – to a shelter, from a shelter to a new home, bonding, etc etc etc,  and who knows what kind of diet she had for so long.

Ok so it sounds like mites definitely do have alot of flakes right?

*Sigh* I am still trying to figure out what is going on w/ Medusa’s dermatitis. Its been 4 mos. since she had the fleas! By itself its fine- just a dime sized scab. When Pookers was around the area was getting red from too much grooming. But now I have started obsessively grooming and picking at the area (I can’t help it! When I run my fingers through and feel a scab I have to pick at it!) I hope she wont have the “small bald spot that lops get” that Michelle the rabbit rescuer was referring to. I also looked at her skin under a blacklight to test for ringworm and it was negative. I am trying to decide whether I need to take her to the vet now or wait. I don’t want to take her just for that since her condition has been the same.

Let us know what happens w/ Patina- You could just get some Revolution and put it on and see if it goes away.

YEAH! I am glad that so far it just seems to be her quirky little shedding thing.

Thanks- this is good info to know so that I won’t immediately freak out if I see flakes on Medusa’s ears. I still haven’t had a molt with her yet and I’ve had her since December…I’m waiting!

glad to hear the flakes went away on their own!