Help my rabbit has worms

[amycrow98]

My rabbit is scratching his neck on stuff and has worms in his poop what can I do?

 

[JBun]

What do you mean scratching his neck on stuff? Do you mean like he's itchy? Does his skin have dandruff, sores, specs of dirt, or fur coming out?

Are the worms coming out of his bottom with worms in them or are you finding worms on old poop later on?

If it's worms in his fresh poop, then he probably needs to be given the proper dewormer, depending on what kind of worms you are seeing. Posting a picture might help identify them.

 

[amycrow98]

They came out on his poop he was rubbing his neck on items the worms are white

 

[JBun]

I'm still not quite understanding what you are describing. If it is like the worms in the pictures in the link I'm including, they are pinworms and need to be treated correctly, with fenbendazole(Panacur, Safeguard). It's probably best that you just take your bun to a rabbit savvy vet to figure out what is going on and get it treated correctly.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Parasitic_diseases/Pass/Pass_en.htm

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

 

[amycrow98]

How long will he live with pinworms

 

[JBun]

Provided it is actually pinworms you are seeing and not something else like tapeworm or maggots, it depends on how bad they are. If they aren't too bad, meaning he doesn't have too heavy of a load of worms in his digestive system, then he may not have any other problems besides you seeing a few worms in his poop. It's not uncommon for rabbits to normally have some pinworms in their digestive tract, and it usually doesn't cause any health issues. If he does have a bad case of pinworms(lots of them) and he does have a heavy load of worms in his digestive tract, then it could lead to problems such as severe weight loss, digestive upset, digestive obstruction, and even death. So it's best to treat the condition properly with the correct dewormer, as it's difficult to know just how many worms a rabbit might have inside them.

While it would be best to take your bun to the vet to get properly diagnosed and treated, if for some reason you aren't able to do this and it is certain that your rabbit does in fact have pinworms(the worms you see in his poop are exactly the same as the ones in the picture from the link), the deworming medication can be bought online. I bought mine from Amazon, or most farm supply stores carry it. I use Safeguard goat dewormer and it's about $20-25 for the bottle. Vets usually use Panacur, but it's essentially the same thing. I do the recommended dose of 20mg/kg, which comes to about 0.1ml/cc per lb. of the rabbits body weight.

While I can't say whether or not you should worm your rabbit, it's what I would do if I found confirmed pinworms in my rabbits droppings. With a heavy load of worms, it's possible that when the dewormer causes the worms to die, the 'die off' can sometimes make the rabbit very sick. So it's very important to keep a close eye on the treated rabbit and make sure they continue eating and drinking normally. If not, then additional help will need to be given to the rabbit. This is another reason why it is best to take your rabbit to a rabbit savvy vet, and have the vet diagnose and treat the illness correctly.

 

[Aki]

How long will he live with pinworms

That's a strange question to ask. When a health issue is confirmed it's always better to treat it as quickly as possible, for the rabbit's health but also because it's often a lot easier and less costly to treat a problem early on. Don't wait until your rabbit is really poorly to get him to a vet, once rabbits really get sick it's not easy to heal them. If you're worried about the cost, dewormers aren't expensive. The best would indeed be to take him to the vet, bringing some of his poop with you to make sure you get the adequate treatment. Worms won't disappear on their own and the problem is likely to get worse with time. Beside, if your rabbit is itchy he might have another problem (maybe fleas - for dogs, fleas and worms often go together, so it might be the same things for rabbits).

 

[amycrow98]

Thanks for the help I am putting diatomaceous red lake earth is that okay it is for worms have you heard anything about it does it work?

 

[amycrow98]

In his food

 

[JBun]

You should not give rabbits diatomacious earth. It can cause internal damage to their digestive tract.

 

[amycrow98]

What would you recommend

 

[JBun]

If you refer back to one of my previous posts, I did mention what I would do when dealing with a rabbit that had worms.