Fleas

[Cinnabunn the bunny]

Hello, I recently went on a rabbit rescue and rescued 2 dumped bunnies. they look to be under a year old. I haven’t been able to get them to a vet yet but am worried about fleas and other parasites they may have contracted while outside for over a week. Are there any home remedies for fleas and other parasites while I wait to set up a vet appointment? also what should I be looking for after rescuing them? I have two bunnies of my own and worry about giving my bunnies a disease.

[jerseygirl]

I know some have used diatomaceous earth before. I don’t know if it is effective or not… It has to be the food-grade quality if you do purchase some.
I know Revolution is prescription only in the US but Im not sure about Advantage. That will treat fleas.
Personally, I would wait until I could treat with Revolution as that deals with fleas, mites and ticks.
Just going over with flea comb for now would be a good idea also.

Do you have them house in separate area of the home from your own bunnies? Your two may react to the smell of new rabbits and act out a bit, so watch for that. I think keeping in completely different area and washing your hands after handling the buns will help. Change clothes if you’ve been holding them.

You could get something like Virkon S and make up a spray. It’s a multi anit-bacterial, fungal, viral product. Use that for general cleaning and for litterboxes. You can even spray your shoes with it if really worried. 

[Cinnabunn the bunny]

i keep the new buns in the bathroom since i don’t want any buggies to crawl through the carpet. so far the cat has noticed the new household additions but the bunnies are pretty oblivious. It was pretty funny to watch the new bunns react to all of the stuff that had been chinned by my bunns XD they couldn’t stop rubbing their faces over everything

[ThorBunny]

If your vet determines the new rabbits have fleas, you may ask if it would be better to give all your rabbits a course of revolution to ensure they don’t catch anything! Revolution makes the rabbits an inhospitable place for fleas, so they tend to jump ship (and possibly move to new animals). If all animals are treated, then they will have nowhere to go and die off.

Also, I’m so glad you rescued these runaway bunnies, I’m sure they happy to be in a new home

[vanessa]

I don’t like diatomaceous earth. The critters actually have to walk through it in order for it to work, and it is toxic to breath in. So if you were to work it into your rabbits fur, the only way to get the fleas to walk through it, then you and the rabbits would be breathing it in. If you do use it – you want to be wearing a dust mask so you don’t breath it in. It comes in two forms – crystalline and amorphous. Mostly it is amorphous which are larger particles and easier to breath out. But All DT has some degree of crystalline form, which gets trapped in the lung tissue. Long term exposure causes silicosis, a non-cancerous lung-tissue-scarring disease.

It’s probably a better idea to just take them for a checkup, get them dosed, keep them quarantined for a month, clean your pet areas, and check yoru other animals for fleas. But if they don’t have fleas, then you don’t have anything to worry about. To check them, spotting a flea is obvious. But another way is to look for flea poops. It’s easier to see on white hair rabbits…

[LBJ10]

You can use diatomaceous earth to treat carpets, etc. I wouldn’t try to use it as a flea powder on bunny since, as vanessa said, they could breath the dust in. The stuff isn’t toxic to animals, but it isn’t good to breath in.

Treating with Revolution is your best bet. You could use Advantage too. And now… for a Binky Bunny public service announcement. Use Revolution or Advantage. Do not use anything with fipronil in it. It is toxic to rabbits.

[Cinnabunn the bunny]

I ran a flea comb over one of them for a little bit and didn’t come up with anything. I’ve notices a few colored specks on them but haven’t really done a good once over with them since I wouldn’t want to scare them too much.

[tobyluv]

Before we take in a rabbit at the Sanctuary where I volunteer, it has to go to the vet to be checked for internal and external parasites. That’s especially important if you have other rabbits that can be affected.

[Cinnabunn the bunny]

i decided to go with the diatomaceous earth route and spent a whole night coating 4 bunnies and a cat. It’s weird because ever since then my thumbs feel like they have tiny cuts in them. I got them checked at the vets today and they are mite and flea free. Just have to get the fecal back in a week to see if they have tummy worms

[Cinnabunn the bunny]

i decided to go with the diatomaceous earth route and spent a whole night coating 4 bunnies and a cat. It’s weird because ever since then my thumbs feel like they have tiny cuts in them. I got them checked at the vets today and they are mite and flea free. Just have to get the fecal back in a week to see if they have tummy worms

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