Question - please help!

[Minilopbun]

Hi so I got my bunny 2 days ago. Today for the first time he came out of his cage and was out all day. He was so happy and kept doing binkys! But I noticed that he kept cleaning and scratching his ears. He is a 10 week old mini lop and he is my first bunny so I'm not sure how much they actually groom themselves. I'm not sure it's normal or if it could possibly be ear mites. I checked his ears today bc I saw him scratching them but they seemed to look okay. I'm going to have a better look tomorrow but are there certain things I should be looking at? Please help because he's brand new and I want to make sure it doesn't get worse if it is ear mites

 

[Watermelons]

Gunk inside. Funny smell. Dry skin.

 

[Minilopbun]

Okay thank you. There wasn't a smell today and it didn't look dry but I'm not sure I would've realized bc I didn't know what I was looking for. Do they usually scratch themselves throughout the day without anything being wrong? He grooms himself a lot i don't know if it's normal or not

 

[Watermelons]

Well they groom frequently but scratching is different and frequent scratching may be a sign that somethings up.

 

[Minilopbun]

Ugh I just got him I hope nothing's wrong I will check first thing tomorrow. Thank you very much

 

[squidpop]

You might want to start hunting and asking around for a really good rabbit savvy vet if you don't have one, just incase. You will need one eventually anyway. I personally don't trust my rabbits with any regular cat/dog vets, because if they aren't really familiar with rabbits they just don't know what to look for.

 

[Minilopbun]

I just checked his ears. One is completely pink the other is pink too but there is a light brown spot it's not near the ear canal at all its like on the upper part under the ear if that makes sense.

 

[Minilopbun]

It doesnt look crusty or dry or anything though

 

[Minilopbun]

I have 2 exotic vets near me thank goodness! I am going to check AGAIN tomorrow and see if he scratches more. If he does I will take him to the vet

 

[Azerane]

I always recommend taking a new pet to the vet anyway, even if they seem perfectly healthy. Sometimes vet will pick up on things that we can't, and they can answer any questions and advise about time of desexing or any vaccinations etc. Plus getting your rabbit on the books there is a good thing for the unlucky event of an emergency when you don't want to have to be filling in all the info before they treat him.

 

[Aki]

I second that. Going to the vet to check that everything is okay and discuss vaccins / neutering is always a good idea (it's also a good way to assess the vet before needing to see them for anything serious, you can ask some questions about the neutering procedure or the rabbit's diet for example or how often they neuter rabbits... to check they have a lot of experience with them).
I don't know if your rabbit have a problem, nevertheless, scratching their ear is something rabbits sometimes do when they feel a bit unsettled or when something displease them. Last year, I took a new rabbit home and, at first, the rabbit I've had for years hated him. For about a month, she was scratching her ear all the time. I was worried and run to the vet who told me there was nothing wrong with her. After the new rabbit grew up and calmed down they went along a lot better and the scratching magically stopped. So, better be safe than sorry - go to the vet. But it might just be that your bunny isn't very comfortable with his new home yet!

 

[Minilopbun]

Thank you I'm taking him to the vet this week. Although I think he is comfortable. He seems likes settled in really well he's not scared of people and loves running around outside of his cage. He binkys so much it's adorable! I'm wondering if it may just be a little warm in the room he stays in and it's causing some dry skin.