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Fleas on rabbit!
- Thread starter Chantelle1708
- Start date
MightyMax
Banned
I can definitely recommend RSPCA Manchester and Salford branch. They have lots of rabbits of all ages and sizes. They have a Facebook page too. My little Frosty came from there
biscandmatt1
Wise Old Thumper
There is the society for abandoned animals as well https://www.saarescue.co.uk/rabbits/ :wave:
William
Wise Old Thumper
No offense, but it's silly to professionally treat your house for fleas. There's 1 person and 1 rabbit. If you can't get rid of them without treating the house...then somethings wrong.
Honestly, I just shake my head at people who freak out and treat their house with chemicals in order to get rid of a simple flea problem. That's not good for anyone's health (human/animal) or the environment's.
People buy expensive organic food and then go home and use pesticides on their lawn and bomb their house and don't even think twice about it. Apparently it never occurs to them that it's not healthy, and as for the environment they're probably like Trump and his aerosol hairspray, thinking well it's inside my house, so there's no way the air could possibly escape and affect the environment.:roll:
Honestly, I just shake my head at people who freak out and treat their house with chemicals in order to get rid of a simple flea problem. That's not good for anyone's health (human/animal) or the environment's.
People buy expensive organic food and then go home and use pesticides on their lawn and bomb their house and don't even think twice about it. Apparently it never occurs to them that it's not healthy, and as for the environment they're probably like Trump and his aerosol hairspray, thinking well it's inside my house, so there's no way the air could possibly escape and affect the environment.:roll:
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Wills, go take one of you 'Tact and Diplomacy' Pills !!
Chantelle, William's bark is far worse than her bite
William
Wise Old Thumper
Wills, go take one of you 'Tact and Diplomacy' Pills !!
Chantelle, William's bark is far worse than her bite
Sorry... that was more harsh than necessary! Especially to a newbie - I realized that afterwards
I need to remember to wait 5 minutes before posting...I really shouldn't read flea threads, they always irritate me when people advocate for treating the house. It's just extreme overkill in my eyes. Like dropping a nuclear bomb on an entire forest of healthy trees just because a single tree has termites. An emotional response, not a rational one.
I do have to give props to you Chantelle for knowing that you need to vacuum a lot and keep things extra clean! I opened the thread expecting people to have no clue how to eradicate fleas beyond 'throw some chemicals around' - but the cleaning/vacuuming is a big key to eradication so it sounds like you did your research, and maybe the forum isnt quite as chemical happy as they used to be either (was pleased seeing flea combing etc mentioned)!
Also, if you do flea comb (I think you said your bun doesn't like being brushed very often) you should put a couple drips of soap in a bowl, put the bowl under the tap and fill halfway with water (to create lots of soap suds), then drop each flea in the bowl of soap suds as you're flea combing. They die immediately. A bowl of plain water they'll just hop out of and it's too time consuming to try and squish each flea in a tissue, they're not that easy to squish ime and might get away as you're trying. I remember doing that as well as running to the toilet and dropping a flea in every time I got one in the comb, back when I had three baby kittens I'd gotten out of the woods. I didn't know the secret of soap then, so it was time consuming. And have a piece of stalky hay ready to swirl any fur that's removed (if your bun is moulting) into the soap suds. Otherwise, if fur is sitting on top of the suds, the fleas could possibly escape by sitting on the fur instead of falling into the soapy water.
When flea combing is possible it works very, very well as long as you have a very fine comb (I use a cat flea comb from Petco, finest one I've ever seen). Too big and it doesn't catch them, especially the smaller fleas. Plus flea combing removes flea poop from the bunny which the larvae/pupae feed on (which of course is partly why it's important to keep things clean and vacuum - no organic matter for larvae/pupae to eat and they can't grow up to become adults) and it gives you a good idea of the amount of adult fleas you have so you know how big the problem is and what steps you need to take.
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
Sorry... that was more harsh than necessary! Especially to a newbie - I realized that afterwards
I really shouldn't read flea threads, they always irritate me when people advocate for treating the house. It's just extreme overkill in my eyes. Like dropping a nuclear bomb on an entire forest of healthy trees just because a single tree has termites. An emotional response, not a rational one.
I do have to give props to you Chantelle for knowing that you need to vacuum a lot and keep things extra clean! I opened the thread expecting people to have no clue how to eradicate fleas beyond 'throw some chemicals around' - but the cleaning/vacuuming is a big key to eradication so it sounds like you did your research, and maybe the forum isnt quite as chemical happy as they used to be either (was pleased seeing flea combing etc mentioned)!
Also, if you do flea comb (I think you said your bun doesn't like being brushed very often) you should put a couple drips of soap in a bowl, put the bowl under the tap and fill halfway with water (to create lots of soap suds), then drop each flea in the bowl of soap suds as you're flea combing. They die immediately. A bowl of plain water they'll just hop out of and it's too time consuming to try and squish each flea in a tissue, they're not that easy to squish ime and might get away as you're trying. I remember doing that as well as running to the toilet and dropping a flea in every time I got one in the comb, back when I had three baby kittens I'd gotten out of the woods. I didn't know the secret of soap then, so it was time consuming. And have a piece of stalky hay ready to swirl any fur that's removed (if your bun is moulting) into the soap suds. Otherwise, if fur is sitting on top of the suds, the fleas could possibly escape by sitting on the fur instead of falling into the soapy water.
When flea combing is possible it works very, very well as long as you have a very fine comb (I use a cat flea comb from Petco, finest one I've ever seen). Too big and it doesn't catch them, especially the smaller fleas. Plus flea combing removes flea poop from the bunny which the larvae/pupae feed on (which of course is partly why it's important to keep things clean and vacuum - no organic matter for larvae/pupae to eat and they can't grow up to become adults) and it gives you a good idea of the amount of adult fleas you have so you know how big the problem is and what steps you need to take.
MiniC
Wise Old Thumper
You've never had a serious flea infestation
My ex's cat infested our flat once, and it was just months of misery - cost a fortune in flea spray and vacuum bags. I'd have been tempted by the nuclear option if I could have afforded it!
The best treatment was when my mum came to visit. She was on warfarin and for some reason it drew them all to her, and they died from the warfarin (rat poison) in her blood!
Edit: read your second post, and it looks like you have had a big flea problem, I take it back! They're still a real nightmare, I don't envy anyone who has to deal with them!
Last edited:
MightyMax
Banned
In 'the old days' (up until a few years ago :shock
vets used to dispense sprays for the carpets and house and say we had to treat the whole house for fleas :lol:I'm not sure why they decided this either wasn't necessary or wasn't a good thing!
Chantelle1708
Young Bun
The reason I think that my house needs treating is because I have seen 2 fleas now in separate rooms which worries me, if I treat my rabbit and she's running round the house, it is a thankless task. I understand what you are saying in regards to the chemicals we will be exposed to but this would be one treatment in the house by somebody that can ensure a better job rather than me attempting it and one for my rabbit off the vets then it's a clean fresh start where I can take less aggressive steps to prevent it happening again in future.
In response to your second post, thank you for your comments, I was advised by the vet that Fairy liquid is the best thing to kill fleas and also safe if any gets on to my rabbit when combing her with a wet comb. I will have a look at the recommended comb though as the one I bought for fleas from Pets at Home seems to be a nit comb and isn't so fine to get some of them! She's not a fan of being combed unless I tempt her with food but it's do-able! :roll:
daphnephoebe
Wise Old Thumper
I've not read the whole thread but I'm gonna advise by my Vet Nurse experience.
In a flea infestation it's advised to treat the home as the fleas don't live on just the rabbit. They leave the rabbit and lay eggs in the environment. These eggs are extremely Hardy and can survive cold & heat. They can last for months as an egg which means you may no see signs of infestion for a week or so following treatment but the eggs soon hatch out and the cycle begins again.
I don't always suggest treating the house straight away but if after a week there are still signs I suggest a home treatment to.
Indorex is good, or for asthma suffers RIP is also a good product. It's easy to use.
Just hoover really thoroughly before as the vibrations make the eggs hatch then spray around the room with the product ensuring to get into knocks and crannies.
Keep all doors and windows shut for 30 mins and no access to the room. After allow the room to air for 30 mins before using it again. (Any fish to be removed from the room in their tank- if not possible put a thick blanket/duvet over the top of them).
Do this to every room and you should see improvment after 1 to 2 weeks. It's rare you'll need to repeat.
It's also sometimes worth giving flea treatment more often- a vet will need to advise on this though.
We used Indorex in the practice when we weren't consulting. Often I'd still be in the room with it I the first 30 mins - I never experienced any ill effects and the fumes were minimal.
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In a flea infestation it's advised to treat the home as the fleas don't live on just the rabbit. They leave the rabbit and lay eggs in the environment. These eggs are extremely Hardy and can survive cold & heat. They can last for months as an egg which means you may no see signs of infestion for a week or so following treatment but the eggs soon hatch out and the cycle begins again.
I don't always suggest treating the house straight away but if after a week there are still signs I suggest a home treatment to.
Indorex is good, or for asthma suffers RIP is also a good product. It's easy to use.
Just hoover really thoroughly before as the vibrations make the eggs hatch then spray around the room with the product ensuring to get into knocks and crannies.
Keep all doors and windows shut for 30 mins and no access to the room. After allow the room to air for 30 mins before using it again. (Any fish to be removed from the room in their tank- if not possible put a thick blanket/duvet over the top of them).
Do this to every room and you should see improvment after 1 to 2 weeks. It's rare you'll need to repeat.
It's also sometimes worth giving flea treatment more often- a vet will need to advise on this though.
We used Indorex in the practice when we weren't consulting. Often I'd still be in the room with it I the first 30 mins - I never experienced any ill effects and the fumes were minimal.
Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
Jack's-Jane
Wise Old Thumper
A bit OT but what an unfortunate name for a product !!
MightyMax
Banned
Sorry to kinda hijack this but I've recently bought a house which is in a terrible state(I'm not living there currently - doing it up) the lady before had a lot of cats.... And after a month after the cats had left when I was pulling all the carpets up fleas were jumping all over me and biting me (not nice) and you couldnt walk in the place without getting smothered in them - I guess their food source had vanished.... I used some aerosol cans to try get the numbers down which worked quite well - I saw someone further up in the thread saying getting a professional in is overkill and dangerous for animals? I was going to get someone in before I start construction but bit concerned now I've always treated my dogs with flea treatment and they never had fleas so not really got any experience with them... So anyone who's had fleas in their home how did you get rid of them? Thanks x
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I've always treated my dogs with flea treatment and they never had fleas so not really got any experience with them... So anyone who's had fleas in their home how did you get rid of them? Thanks x Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk
Graicee - I would get rid of any carpets that you don't want, wash curtains, etc. Give the (hopefully empty) floors a good vacuum (bag and bin the vac contents outside) and spray the whole house floors with a can of decent quality home flea treatment. You need to go round all the skirting boards and cracks where the fleas will have laid eggs. Spray from top floor to bottom as you are leaving and it will all settle while you are out of the way. Home treatments usually last for 6 months, so one application (probably a whole can, depending which one you choose) will hopefully do the job and it will be flea-free by the time you move in. I would also do your car - especially if you are transporting anything from the house which may be infested (eg old carpets to the tip).
Sorry, William - I don't like using 'chemicals' either, but there are some circumstances where it is appropriate / the better option to use them. A flea-infested empty house counts as a good candidate for hitting them hard, in my book - as does treating animals with an acute flea sensitivity when you know you have fleas around.
Sorry, William - I don't like using 'chemicals' either, but there are some circumstances where it is appropriate / the better option to use them. A flea-infested empty house counts as a good candidate for hitting them hard, in my book - as does treating animals with an acute flea sensitivity when you know you have fleas around.
Thanks for the response the whole place is gutted so no carpets or curtains are left and I've pulled most the skirting boards off, striped all wallpaper and ceiling paper off too, I'm just hoping that by the time I move in they don't all pop back up again - been hoovering and spraying etc - so do you think it's worth getting a professional in? I read online that the cocoons they can stay in for a year and they can't be destroyed does this mean at some point more will hatch? Even if I get a professional in? Really appreciate your help
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MiniC
Wise Old Thumper
If you can afford a professional, go for it Graciee! If you want to deal with fleas yourself, you basically need to hoover daily, spray daily and wash everything constantly for months - i honestly think since your house is empty, and it will be a while before you move in, any chemicals will dissipate by then. You really don't want them to come back once you're all moved in, as getting them out of fabric and carpet is really difficult.
daphnephoebe
Wise Old Thumper
Hoover before and it'll make them hatch out. Then spray and this'll kill them.Thanks for the response the whole place is gutted so no carpets or curtains are left and I've pulled most the skirting boards off, striped all wallpaper and ceiling paper off too, I'm just hoping that by the time I move in they don't all pop back up again - been hoovering and spraying etc - so do you think it's worth getting a professional in? I read online that the cocoons they can stay in for a year and they can't be destroyed does this mean at some point more will hatch? Even if I get a professional in? Really appreciate your help
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As the house is empty, if you can treat once a month until you move in, including hoovering this'll give you best chance.
Don't go for the cheap flea sprays either, use Indorex- It's been proven to work in independent testing.
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Thanks for your advice I think I'll definitely get a professional in, and I'll look that stuff up thank you - it is quite the infestation - I guess none of her cats were ever treated with the flea stuff but whilst the cats lived there, the fleas never went hungry - really appreciate the suggestions
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I think I'll definitely get a professional in, and I'll look that stuff up thank you - it is quite the infestation - I guess none of her cats were ever treated with the flea stuff but whilst the cats lived there, the fleas never went hungry - really appreciate the suggestions Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk
