Fleas are tiny external parasites that live in the fur of mammals and feed on their blood. Flea bites cause itchiness, which makes the host scratch and bite. You may be wondering, can rabbits get fleas? What do fleas look like on rabbits? And is there flea treatment for rabbits?

Save your scratches for another day, this what you need to know about rabbit fleas and, most importantly, rabbit flea treatment.

What You Need to Know About Fleas

The European rabbit flea (Spilopsyllus cuniculi) is the most common flea found on rabbits, but the dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis) and cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) can also infect pet rabbits. Female adult fleas can lay up to 50 eggs per day! Their life cycle has four stages: egg, larvae, pupae and adult, and can take between 2 weeks to many months to complete.

Rabbit fleas thrive in warm, humid conditions but can also survive cooler, dry conditions where the eggs sit dormant until conditions improve. Controlling a flea population can be difficult.

How Do Rabbits Get Fleas?

Fleas can transfer by jumping from one animal to another, or from flea eggs dropping off the infested animal and then hatching in the environment. Rabbits are very efficient groomers, which helps to keep them free of parasites, but other precautions should be taken to help prevent an infestation.

Heavy flea infestations can cause life-threatening diseases for rabbits, so it’s important to treat your rabbit and their environment. High levels of blood loss from fleas can lead to anaemia (low red blood cells), which means there’ll be poor oxygen transport in the body, resulting in weakness. The most dangerous outcome from fleas is the possibility of contracting Myxomatosis. Rabbit fleas are a common vector for the disease which is often fatal.

How to Check a Rabbit for Fleas

The most obvious sign of fleas on rabbits is excessive biting and scratching. Fleas bite the host to consume blood. The flea’s saliva can cause redness, irritation and swelling that’s very itchy. All the biting and scratching can cause hair loss and bleeding.

Fleas can also be present even if your rabbit isn’t scratching, so check your rabbit’s fur regularly for signs of fleas. You may see them running through your rabbit’s fur – they’re small, wingless and a dark reddish brown. Flea dirt is the flea’s faeces and looks like small black flecks. When you wipe a wet paper towel over flea dirt, it will dissolve and turn the paper towel red. This is one way to confirm if your rabbit has fleas.

Alternatively, you can ruffle your rabbit’s fur over a black surface and see if any eggs fall out (small white specks). You can also run a flea comb through your rabbit’s fur to pick up fleas, flea dirt or eggs. If the fleas have transferred from your rabbit to you, there will be red bumps on your skin where you have been bitten.

If you’re unsure whether your rabbit has fleas, speak to your vet.

Rabbit Flea Treatment

You can get flea treatment or flea prevention for rabbits, but make sure the product you use is rabbit specific or rabbit safe. Just because it's OK for a dog or cat, doesn't mean it's OK for rabbits. Rabbits are sensitive to flea medications, and treatments that are designed for cats and dogs can be fatal to rabbits. Speak to your vet for advice when for a safe flea treatment when looking to prevent fleas on your rabbit.

Rabbit flea treatments are administered by a pipette onto the skin on the back of their neck. This area is difficult for them to reach so they won’t be able to lick off the treatment. The pipette contains the exact amount your rabbit needs for effective treatment.

Flea dips (baths) and shampoos aren’t as effective at treating fleas on rabbits because they only kill the adult fleas. The eggs remain and can catch later, meaning that the infestation continues. Plus, a bath can be a stressful experience for a rabbit and their owner.

Be cautious of flea powders, herbal treatments, and flea collars as they may contain ingredients that are toxic for rabbits.

Your rabbit’s environment will also need treating. Clean the area thoroughly and wash all their bedding and toys. You can get a specially designed household spray to treat areas where eggs may have fallen off, but make sure it’s rabbit safe.

Regularly vacuuming and steam cleaning will also help to reduce the risk of an infestation. Make sure you treat all pets in your household as it’s likely that the fleas will have already been passed on to them.

Prevention is the best approach to flea problems, so keep any cats and dogs in the family up to date with preventative treatments. This will help to prevent them being passed on to your rabbit. Regardless of whether your rabbit lives indoors or outdoors, they’re at risk of catching fleas from an infested animal.

Keep treated pets away from your rabbits for several days following treatment, so that the product doesn’t come into contact with your rabbit – this could be fatal if it contains ingredients that are toxic to rabbits.

Just like cats and dogs, rabbits are at risk from flea infestations. This parasite feeds on their host’s blood and causes itchiness. Please note, infested rabbits are at risk from life-threatening conditions like Anaemia and Myxomatosis.

Flea treatment for your rabbit, other pets, and environment are key to preventing and treating flea infestations. Make sure you use flea treatment specifically for rabbits otherwise it could contain harmful ingredients.

Everypaw Rabbit Insurance

Here at Everypaw, we want to help you keep your bunny healthy and in tip top shape. So, when it comes to your young rabbit’s care, Everypaw’s Rabbit Insurance could be just the cover to look after your little thumper.

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Content provided from Vetstream's Vetlexicon Lapis – www.vetlexicon.com/treat/lapis

Vetlexicon is the world’s largest peer-reviewed online clinical reference source. All our content is written and peer-reviewed by over 1,000 of the world’s leading veterinarians, ensuring relevance, accuracy and quality.