Bearded cattle pest control

[Pernillejohannsenn]

WARNING picture of an insect.

Hi everyone! So in my apartment, I have a lot of bearded cattles and they’re honestly very disgusting. They’re huge, and crawl everywhere, so I’ve had my landlord contact the exterminator, and they’re coming this Wednesday. There’s going to be three treatments with poison capsules and spray poison in all the baseboards. I have no idea if that is poisonous for my two rabbits, and google isn’t providing much of an answer. Can anyone help me? I don’t want them to be poisoned by the treatments…

Xx, a worried rabbit owner

 

[JBun]

The exterminator should be able to give you the information on what they're using and if it's safe for pets. I would suggest contacting them.

 

[jeff38002]

Do not trust the exterminator to know if something they use is actually safe for rabbits or not.
They're spraying stuff literally designed to kill animals - why on earth would you ever just hope for the best and that your pets won't be affected? That would be extremely poor judgement on your part. There's literally thousands of things that are deemed "safe for pets" because it doesn't kill too many dogs or cats to warrant using a different product (it usually does still kill a small percentage of those though, too).

If at all possible I would do one of two things, if I were you:
1) get your rabbits (and any other pets you might have) out of the home for the next 30 days - yes, 30 days
or
2) cancel the exterminator until after you have tried using diatomaceous earth (it'll cost you about $10 and is completely safe when used properly - just don't go crazy with the dust clouds they can make when you're applying it, and if possibly move pets to a different room for an hour or so until the diatomaceous earth all settles, so they don't breath a bunch in)

BTW - diatomaceous earth works literally every single time. Be sure to ONLY use the food grade kind and NOT the stuff for swimming pools. Health food stores, Tractor Supply or many places online sell food grade diatomaceous earth.

 

[Pernillejohannsenn]

Do not trust the exterminator to know if something they use is actually safe for rabbits or not.
They're spraying stuff literally designed to kill animals - why on earth would you ever just hope for the best and that your pets won't be affected? That would be extremely poor judgement on your part. There's literally thousands of things that are deemed "safe for pets" because it doesn't kill too many dogs or cats to warrant using a different product (it usually does still kill a small percentage of those though, too).

If at all possible I would do one of two things, if I were you:
1) get your rabbits (and any other pets you might have) out of the home for the next 30 days - yes, 30 days
or
2) cancel the exterminator until after you have tried using diatomaceous earth (it'll cost you about $10 and is completely safe when used properly - just don't go crazy with the dust clouds they can make when you're applying it, and if possibly move pets to a different room for an hour or so until the diatomaceous earth all settles, so they don't breath a bunch in)

BTW - diatomaceous earth works literally every single time. Be sure to ONLY use the food grade kind and NOT the stuff for swimming pools. Health food stores, Tractor Supply or many places online sell food grade diatomaceous earth.

Thank you so much! I wouldn’t ever let anything happen to my rabbits, so I called and cancelled the exterminator, really because I couldn’t get any answer, but also because they can’t endure many things, and it would likely kill them. I will try with the food grade diatomaceous earth. Thank you, I really appreciate you helping me out, and making sure I’m making the right decision!

 

[JBun]

You need to be very careful with the use of DE. Rabbits noses are right near the floor, and they lick and ingest things on the ground or transferred to their fur. DE may cause internal harm if breathed in or ingested in sufficient amounts. If you're uncertain about the safety of something affecting your rabbits health, it's always best to consult with a knowledgeable rabbit vet.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Choosing_a_rabbit_veterinarian

https://www.rabbitvet.net/Eurovets.htm

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Denmark

 

[jeff38002]

You need to be very careful with the use of DE. Rabbits noses are right near the floor, and they lick and ingest things on the ground or transferred to their fur. DE may cause internal harm if breathed in or ingested in sufficient amounts. If you're uncertain about the safety of something affecting your rabbits health, it's always best to consult with a knowledgeable rabbit vet.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Choosing_a_rabbit_veterinarian

https://www.rabbitvet.net/Eurovets.htm

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Denmark

Hi JBUN -
could you please cite any information you have on ingesting DE being dangerous for rabbits?
Not the dangers of them breathing in the dust, because that's pretty well documented for all most if not all animals, but rather ingesting/consuming DE and consequently causing buns any harm (or causing harm to other pet mammals). I've done what I thought was quite extensive research on the matter, but admittedly that was over a year ago. Searching again a few weeks ago for just several minutes, because we started to get creepy crawlers in the house again, I didn't find anything that would cause me concern for our buns consuming DE - but I trust your knowledge regarding rabbits much more than my own.
Thank you very much in advance.

 

[JBun]

It was information relayed by a large animal vet, but also experienced with rabbits. But honestly it's not something I've tried to research myself in depth. It's been several years, so I don't remember exactly what was said, but essentially the information he shared was he had seen intestinal damage caused by DE given to horses. I would presume as an additive to feed, but those specifics weren't given. I think it may have been in the form of ulceration, but I don't remember enough to say for sure.

And with there being verifiable respiratory risks with it, I tend to be very cautious with any suggestion of it's use. Maybe if applied and then sufficiently cleaned up before a rabbit was put back in the area, maybe it would be ok with minimal risk. But that would entail a very thorough cleaning to get such a fine powder removed enough from surfaces that a rabbit, whose nose is always right near the floor, won't be breathing in remnants of the powder left behind.

 

[jeff38002]

thank you - I've never heard of it even being possible to accumulate in the body and cause any damage, as it's main benefit for using against insects are the microscopic, razor-sharp edges that eviscerate dry exoskeletons, but do no damage when the DE is wet - and I just assumed all mammals' intestinal tracks are always wet enough to coat the DE edges to the point of them lubricated enough to never cut anything.

In regards to cleaning DE up thoroughly before a rabbit can get access to it, do you have any suggestions as to what insecticides are safer than DE for rabbits, specifically where the insecticide doesn't need to be thoroughly cleaned up before the rabbit would have access to the area and most likely would ingest any poisons on the floors, baseboards, etc?

 

[JBun]

Like I said, I haven't researched it, so nothing to verify or disprove it. And only getting this from one vet, though he did sound like he was knowledgeable about the subject. But who knows. I don't even know if there's any literature or studies on it, or if it was only his own first hand experience and presumption that DE had caused whatever damage he saw. And maybe it occurred because the wrong kind of DE was used. I wish I had thought to ask more about it at the time.

But even if you don't believe that's a plausible risk, the respiratory one certainly is. So my firm belief is to be very cautious with it's use on that account. If it is used, I'd vacuum, wash, and wipe all affected surfaces very thoroughly, before allowing rabbits to have access to the area again.

I've used a dawn dish soap/water mix to spray directly on insects with exoskeletons, where my rabbits could have access to the area.

This is from Medirabbit.

www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/Mange/Sarcoptes.htm

While treating for mites, careful cleaning of the cage and environment is recommended. Treatment of the environment is important (boric acid such as Fleabusters®; Vet-Kem Acclaim Plus® - Sanofi; Staykil® - Novartis; Indorex® - Virbac; acaricide spray). When treating a carpet, vacuum first in order to further penetration of the spray or powder. Shampooing and steam cleaning are not ideal; their residual humidity can increase the mite problem. During treatment of the environment, rabbits should be kept in another part of the home to avoid the danger of contact with the products.​

You can also consult with a knowledgeable rabbit vet about what insecticides are safe around rabbits. Which would be my recommendation if you're uncertain about the safety of any product.