Rabbit ear mites. Natural remedies

[doofaloofa]

One of my breeding does has a nasty earmite infection

I would prefer to remove it with some natural remedy

My interwebzing so far has led to olive oil or honey

Honey sounds great

Any one with experience with this problem?

[Niele da Kine]

I don't think either honey or olive oil is gonna do much, but I suppose you could give it a try. We use ivermectin paste which is actually supposed to be a horse medicine but we just put a tiny dab in the rabbit's ears. These are angora rabbits, though, so we aren't planning on eating them.

I wonder if something like a dusting of boric acid would do anything? I've not tried it and I have no idea how the rabbits would react, but boric acid is used to kill cockroaches around here so it should do in ear mites, one would think. It might be something to look into, but don't actually do it until you've found out that it won't kill the rabbits.

[Davie Crockett]

Try dusting their ears with Diatomaceous Earth, no chemicals involved and it's relatively cheap. It works by dehydrating the mites as it dissolves the waxy coating on their exoskeleton. I've used it on my dog with great effect.

Be sure to get the food grade stuff though as they're avid groomers.

[doofaloofa]

The honey cleared the mites, and helped to heal the scratches

Left a terrible mess and stuck to the fur terribly, and if they shook thier heads , well lets just say it was a sticky time for us all

Switched to olive oil to prevent more mess about half way through

So I suppose that due to my unscientific method we may never know if it was the honey or the oil, though the honey did seem to heal up the scratches nicely

[doofaloofa]

I have another case of ear mites



In the name opf science I have decided to be more consistent in my treatment and have plumped for oil every other day

The itching has stopped and she seems to be healing nicely

[vancheese]

Oil worked well with mine :)
It was veggie not car :)

[TinaBabyNC]

I like to use either (plain) baby oil or mineral oil. A few drops in the ear, 2-3 times per week for 2 weeks. In addition, I also use ivermec, a very, small amount (use according to weight of rabbit) on the back of the neck (on skin), then a second dose 2 weeks later. Works great and no mess!

[tizzy]

This is something I've never yet come across so, purely in the interests of prevention, can anyone tell me how a rabbit comes by these little passengers? Do they take up residence in the hutch and come out at night like red mites on chickens, come in on the hay/straw, or do they have to pick them up from an infected animal?
I bet they're itchy for the host, does the rabbit show any sign of irritation that we could look out for as a warning sign?