My  harlequiens Oreo and Rascal turned 2 on January 27th!  The vet describes them as perfect as i know that they are and I love them to pieces – however we seem to have one recurring problem – ear mites!

The first occurance was Oreo – probably a year ago – and they cropped up fast – one day i just saw her ear all red and crusty inside.  Immediate visit to the vet – ear mites.  She gave her fluid and drops in her ears and all was well. 

Until October – Rascal developed them!  Yikes – same treatment – only this time I took everything out of their enclosure – they are in a 5 x 5 area (separated in half or they would KILL each other) that has a coroplast floor and grid enclosure. They have wooden hidey ledges and each has their own fleece blanket.  I took eveything outside and scrubbed down with water and whte vinegar.  I washed the fleece blankets twice in hot water.  The vet gave me Virbac Knockout spray to spay in the area and I returned the buns to their clean, sanitized home a few hours later.

Unitl Monday morning Oreo had a red ear with brown crusty stuff again.  Took her to to vet immediately and was treated for ear mites again!   This time I went home and got Rascal and she was treated at the same time even though she didnt have any symptoms.  Rascal was NOT happy about this.

I do not have cats.  I do have 2 dogs but the vet said that the dogs wouldnt carry the same mites that the bunnies are getting.  The bunnies are NEVER outside. After the occurance in October I changed my hay from getting it in a big box from a farm online to buying smaller bags of Oxbow.

The plan is to treat them both again in 3 weeks and see what happens.

Why is this happening?  How are they getting ear mites?  Does any one have experience getting ear mites and how to prevent them from happening again?

Thanks for any and all information