Ear mites…maybe…?

[Wilburbunny]

My bunny is 3 months old and has scab like things in his ears. Well they aren’t like scab scabs but more like light brown dry skin. They are deep in both ear and don’t really stick out they are just rough to the touch. Google isn’t really helping me much sense I can’t really tell what’s going on in there. He does scratch his ears quite a bit but not obsessively. I’m also not really sure how much scratching is normal sense this is my first rabbit. Sorry that was a pretty bad description lol. Could this just be dry skin? Or is it definitely ear mites? I can’t really take him to the vet right now because of corona but is there something I can do at home to help?

[DanaNM]

Hmmmm, can you post a picture?

Sometimes lops have issues cleaning their ears, but if it is mites you don’t want to mess with the scabs as it can be very painful.  If it is ear mites, Revolution should work, and maybe your vet could prescribe it to you over the phone.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Wilburbunny]

I somehow managed to get a pic but it’s not letting me upload it. I click “add media” and then “select file” and change my image size but when I click “done” it disappears.

[DanaNM]

Hmm I’m not sure the change image size function is working at the moment (the forum is still working out glitches after the big update). Try resizing it on your computer (or leaving it as is) and then uploading without using any of the built-in tools.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Wilburbunny]

I have no idea what’s going on, nothing is working. Anyway, I went to clean out his ears this morning and the light brown skin just flaked off in large pieces. Is that normal? I’m guess it’s not ear mites so is it just dry skin or was that dirt? Im pretty sure this wasn’t happening yesterday.

[DanaNM]

Lops can have trouble cleaning their ears and can get some wax or dry skin, but without seeing a pic I can’t really say. If it doesn’t look red or irritated I would keep an eye on it. If you notice any redness though I would talk to the vet about mites. Do be careful trying to clean it without knowing for sure… with mites you don’t want to try to remove anything because it can be very painful.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Wilburbunny]

Ok, I made it my profile picture. It’s a bit ugly lol but I really want to know what’s wrong. It doesn’t seem red or irritated besides that one scabbed spot.

[DanaNM]

Lol good idea!

That little scab looks like it could maybe be very early ear mites? I would see if you can send that pic to your vet and have them prescribe Revolution. It’s commonly used for fleas on rabbits as well so I wouldn’t expect it to be a problem and won’t hurt even if it doesn’t end up being mites.

(FYI You may already know this but as a public service announcement, never use Frontline on rabbits! The active ingredient (fipronil) is very toxic to rabbits)

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Wilburbunny]

Thanks, I’ve looked up what I can do to cure ear mites and a lot of people have said to put oil in the ear. Do you think that would help? Would that hurt him? If needed I’ll get Revolution but if I can try oil for free I would rather that as long as it doesn’t hurt him.

[DanaNM]

I’m not familiar with that method but I’ve seen it around the internet… I imagine it would be hard to completely eliminate the mites that way. I would think that the risk of re-infection would be higher, so you might end up dealing with it for a lot longer?  I would also steer clear of the ones that involved essential oils since rabbits can be sensitive to many of them…

Personally (out of laziness) Revolution just seems like the easiest thing to me, just 1 dose and you’re prob done with them 🙂

Medirabbit (a trusted source) has some more info on various treatments (warning that there are some gross pictures, but I’m sure you’ve already come across a lot with your googling): http://medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/earmite/Psoroptes.htm

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Wilburbunny]

Thanks! Lolll yeah I’ve seen a lot of seriously gross stuff.

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