ringworm?

as some of you may know, my little boy Gabriel is being treated for mites. he had his second injection last week, and i was also told by my vet to bathe him with seleen shampoo. i havnt had a chance to bath him yet(have been unwell) but will doing that today.
however, his skin is definately getting worse rather then better. when i checked him over yesterday he had yet more dry scaly patches-this time on his ears. ive also felt a couple of patches on his belly, along with his nose, arm, under his ear and around his eyes. the vet also commented on how his lips were dry. im just wondering, is it mites that is causing this or something like ringworm?
my vet has said that if hes still no better after bathing him with seleen then she will do a skin scraping to find out exactly what is causing it.

i did do a search on here for ringworm but there wernt many posts about it, and my vet also told me that it is extremely rare in a rabbit, but it just doesnt make sense that his skin is getting worse rather then improving even though he is being treated. if anyone can shed some light on this for me, or has any info id really appreciate it.

*edited* to add that he also has very bad dandruff and a few bald spots :?

I've had chinchillas with ringworm, and it started on the face then spread by grooming. If this was the case, it could explain the dry lips and all the bits on his face, as rabbits seem to rub/groom their faces alot.
I know with the chinchillas I put human Lamisil cream on the affected places, and they also had baths with Malaseb shampoo. Ringworm is a fungal infection (not parasites/worms as the name would suggest), so it would explain why the mite treatment isn't working.
Perhaps speak to your vet and see if the Lamasil would be safe to try?

Here was the ringworm on his face:


Fingers crossed it isn't ringworm, as it's very contagious and a nightmare to treat, mine had it for months! As soon as it started to clear up on one, the other got it (though both were being treated), then the other caught it back :roll: The spores also get everywhere, so I had to throw away all their wooden and fabric toys and smother everything with Virkon several times a day.

When I had a rabbit which was suspected of having the fungal infection of ringworm, the vet treated it for mites as well. I had to do daily diluted chlorhexidine (Hibiscrub) lotion washes to the affected area, some vets also use a dilute iodine solution as well. The hutch had to be cleaned out using a bleach solution ensuring that it had been dried out thoroughly before reusing and that any chlorine gases present had been cleared. It is also advisable to use disposable gloves to prevent cross contamination to yourself until you know that this is not the case or until treatment has een completed.

Janice

If it is ringworm then it is a zoonotic disease which can be passed to humans. It is a fungal infection (not a worm as a lot of people think!) and tends to show as round bald reddish circles.

We have had it at work before and it's a disaster - we had to shut the centre for a month and did a massive clean! Your vet can do a skin scrape to test for it, fingers crossed it isn't ringworm!

Nicola

ringworm is very contagous i caught it off me rabbit once and i was off school for over 2 weeks if ur rabbit has got ringworm you should wash ur hands after you have handled them as it can be passed to other animals and people.

Get ur vet to test fore ringworm, after 2 injections it should have been getting beeter it got to be something else. val

thankyou for all your replies.

ringworm sure does sound like a nightmare to treat!

i think my best option for now, is to wait until my vets visit which is next wednesday. by then he will have had another bath with seleen shampoo so if his skin has still not improved, and even if it it has i shall ask the vet to do a skin scraping. does anyone know, will he have to be aneasatised(sp?) for the skin scraping?

lucky for me a have been very cautious with him any way as i have alot of other animals, so i have been washing my hands/changing my clothes every time i handle him.

im just wondering, what other type of skin complaint could this be? his patches dont seem to be significantly round, they are just extremely dry :? fingers crossed that it isnt ringworm!!

he wont hav to be anethetised just for a skin scrape the vet will just scrape a tiny peice of skin off and put it on a slide or in a test tube or something like that so its easy to view.

thanks for letting me know :thumb: