# Ear mites



## dian_na (Jan 31, 2015)

I have a rabbit that I can not rid the mites. I have used mineral oil and treated them 3 times each at 10 day intervals 4 times now. So its been a couple months trying to rid these. Now they're back. I think I messed up putting hay in there over winter because I have never had mite problems with rabbits. I have read ivomec could be used. Does anyone have experience with this?
I'd use it on a goat in a second but a rabbit I don't want to kill it only the dang mites.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Yikes! Poor rabbit. I have used a few drops of Bergamot essential oil in baby oil for other animals before - but I know some essential oils may be poisonous to Rabbits. I'm not sure about the ivermectin for them either! I hope someone has a good solution for you. Is the rabbit in a wood hutch? I believe the wood is actually where the mites can hid out short term, rather than the hay. You might consider moving bun out for a week and disinfection and sun bleaching the abode.


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## Aimee mRtin (Apr 27, 2018)

Hi!!! I’m new on here! 

I have two Nigerian dwarf goats and they have ear mites! I’m new to having goats and I really need help on how to get rid of them! 

I’ve tried vet rx and that didn’t seem to work. 

Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Aimee mRtin said:


> Hi!!! I'm new on here!
> 
> I have two Nigerian dwarf goats and they have ear mites! I'm new to having goats and I really need help on how to get rid of them!
> 
> ...


Pour baby oil, mineral oil, or even canola or olive oil in the ear to smother the mites then clean out the ear as best you can with cotton balls. Repeat weekly for several weeks.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

I've used Ivermectin (1% injectable) for rabbits with ear mites before. I used it orally at 1/10 cc (.10)/ lb. It works fast and I never saw any adverse effects. I have read that pregnant rabbits can have some birth defects if given ivermectin though, so something ot think about.


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## dian_na (Jan 31, 2015)

Aimee mRtin said:


> Hi!!! I'm new on here!
> 
> I have two Nigerian dwarf goats and they have ear mites! I'm new to having goats and I really need help on how to get rid of them!
> 
> ...


You can use mineral oil. But fastest is jus give the a ivemic sq injection. I wish I could do that to these rabbits!
So give them a shot


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## dian_na (Jan 31, 2015)

ISmellLikeGoats said:


> I've used Ivermectin (1% injectable) for rabbits with ear mites before. I used it orally at 1/10 cc (.10)/ lb. It works fast and I never saw any adverse effects. I have read that pregnant rabbits can have some birth defects if given ivermectin though, so something ot think about.


Thank you! I have been wanting to do this so bad. I think they're gone and they're back. Over n over.
I only have three. Two of them have them. I am going to sell them. Haven't had luck with them. One doe eats its babies and attacks me. She growls seems she is in heat when she does it. I made a video of her attacking me. Ozark Mountain Girl on You Tube. She has eaten 3 litters or stomped them to death odd she makes a nest.
So its same dose you would give dogs 1/10 cc so I use an insulin syringe to draw it and give it by mouth. Thank you so much


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

For rabbits and domestic rats I just drip it on their head. They feed it to themselves while bathing it off.


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## Aimee mRtin (Apr 27, 2018)

SalteyLove said:


> Pour baby oil, mineral oil, or even canola or olive oil in the ear to smother the mites then clean out the ear as best you can with cotton balls. Repeat weekly for several weeks.


What do I use in the barn? How can I kill/clean that out?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

The very best way is to paint with high gloss enamel. It will seal the walls and leave a surface that is distasteful to hiding bugs.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

dian_na said:


> Thank you! I have been wanting to do this so bad. I think they're gone and they're back. Over n over.
> I only have three. Two of them have them. I am going to sell them. Haven't had luck with them. One doe eats its babies and attacks me. She growls seems she is in heat when she does it. I made a video of her attacking me. Ozark Mountain Girl on You Tube. She has eaten 3 litters or stomped them to death odd she makes a nest.
> So its same dose you would give dogs 1/10 cc so I use an insulin syringe to draw it and give it by mouth. Thank you so much


I don't blame you, bad momma's get shipped down the road or to the stew pot here if they don't produce a surviving litter after the 2nd try. There's no reason to keep them since ours are just meat rabbits and don't make the best pets due to size. I don't like to send off ones with bad mothering skills to some poor unsuspecting person that will have the same issue, I'd rather eat them and remove them from the gene pool. 
I have one right now that is mean as hell, tries to eat me over looking at her babies, but her babies are really fat and well fed so she gets a stay from the freezer. Another just had 2 dead kits and that was all, supposedly a second litter. She gets 1 more try before Camp Kenmore.

I haven't had ear mites in years after I treated the 2 I had with them with ivermectin. I know you can add ivermectin to their water bottles too if they are too nasty to grab up - just add the same amount but make sure it's only in as much water as they'll drink in a day. Again, because we have meat rabbits some of ours aren't very friendly because we don't bother to handle them a whole lot when they are little. I have a problem with butchering friendly things, so if they are buck wild it makes it easier on me. Unfortunately, that means a lot of the does we retain haven't been handled when they were little before they were removed from the grow-outs, so in the water bottle is easier than being torn to shreds by kicking hind feet.


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## dian_na (Jan 31, 2015)

ISmellLikeGoats said:


> I don't blame you, bad momma's get shipped down the road or to the stew pot here if they don't produce a surviving litter after the 2nd try. There's no reason to keep them since ours are just meat rabbits and don't make the best pets due to size. I don't like to send off ones with bad mothering skills to some poor unsuspecting person that will have the same issue, I'd rather eat them and remove them from the gene pool.
> I have one right now that is mean as hell, tries to eat me over looking at her babies, but her babies are really fat and well fed so she gets a stay from the freezer. Another just had 2 dead kits and that was all, supposedly a second litter. She gets 1 more try before Camp Kenmore.
> 
> I haven't had ear mites in years after I treated the 2 I had with them with ivermectin. I know you can add ivermectin to their water bottles too if they are too nasty to grab up - just add the same amount but make sure it's only in as much water as they'll drink in a day. Again, because we have meat rabbits some of ours aren't very friendly because we don't bother to handle them a whole lot when they are little. I have a problem with butchering friendly things, so if they are buck wild it makes it easier on me. Unfortunately, that means a lot of the does we retain haven't been handled when they were little before they were removed from the grow-outs, so in the water bottle is easier than being torn to shreds by kicking hind feet.


These are New Zealand. All my animals are workin girls. I sell offspring to pay for everything. These rabbits haven't made any money. I thought about going to the mini lops but I have a problem selling pets that end up in rescue shelter. I have a friend who has prolly 100 rabbits of every kind. She's nearly 80 and she is going to take them. I have great metal cages and will give her two of those. She loves my caging. I made them from air conditioner wire panels the gaurds you see that surround central air units. She doesn't have a problem butchering them and I am certain thats where 2 of them will go. I don't have a problem butchering but I can't do it. I am a terrible farmer!
Thanks for the tip of putting it in the water. I am in hope this will be last round of these mites. It was so cold for days I put hay in there to help keep them warm. I think thats where they came from because they are metal cages I clean them once a week.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

That's what I have, NZ's crossed with Flemish Giants, a Californian doe and a white "idk but she's big and a good mom" doe. Basically, meat mutts.
Rabbits really are a crap shoot, with the babies being as delicate as they are, it doesn't take much to kill them. I lost more to cold snaps this winter and inadequate nests, had a mother die (but one of my best does decided she'd raise the litter of 11 2 day old babies) had some deformed ones that were stillborn (still no idea why, no medications or anything *shrug*)...probably a good thing they can breed as often as they do, and probably the reason that they do since they have such high mortality rates. 

I learned you really need to start with proven stock to avoid discouragement, proven being a doe that has raised a litter already, not one that has had a single litter but you don't know what the result was there. Some take to it first litter, some are stupid and don't get the hang of it ever.

Plus, since it gets so hot here in the summer and the bucks go sterile, I breed heavily through the winter and everyone has a break in the summer. I breed back to back all winter, but they'll have their last litters in May, maybe June and that will be it until probably late October early November. I do retire the older does to a life of lazy and eating rather than butchering them if they've done well for us, seems the least I can do. I'm not a great farmer either, because these does don't produce anymore and I still keep them because they earned the lazy life.


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