WORMS!!!

[AquaticRex]

i have a 6 month old rex rabbit and i cleaned out his litter box to find little worms in there. what kind of meds do i have him take? it's saturday so i don't think the vet office is open tomorrow. and i don't have the money to keep dishing out for meds all the time, so i need something that works. help?

 

[AquaticRex]

the weird thing is he hasn't eaten grass or anything like that in a long long time...

 

[AquaticRex]

i just need info, something to use, basic inf to last till monday, since no clinics are open till then :tears2:

 

[pamnock]

Need more info or a vet exam. If the "worms" are very active, they are most likely maggots. If the worms are thin and small, probably pinworms. If they are long, probably round worms. Tapeworms are also a possibility. These can require different treatments, so a proper diagnosis is very important.

A rabbit doesn't have to have contact with grass to contract worms.

 

[AquaticRex]

i was just looking at some pictures on line, and aside from becoming paranoid of catching something (cause i dunno which worm he has), it looks and sounds like 2 of them. either round worms or pin worms. i called the vet and left a msg on the machine for Monday to have an appointment set up asap. i'm going to put down only enough litter for the bun to recognize that area as his bathroom area but little enough that i'm not wasting the litter and the vet can get at the bottom easily.

i know it's not maggots cause i remember cooking noodles one day and they had infested the powder pack and i stepped on a live one (never eating mr noodles again).

they were thin, but long, but could easily be babies... so i dunno if i can catch any of them worms.

 

[AquaticRex]

i've got Dante in the living room instead of the bunny room so that he can have human interaction all day, but everything is enclosed on the bottom and sealed so nothing can get out. at least until i can figure out if humans can catch what ever worm he has, and if they can't catch the worms, then he's free to have the run of the house again, well, at least the living room so that he don't have to go far to get to his litter pan...
i hate caging my bun :cry4:

 

[tonyshuman]

Check out this web page. It will help you figure out which species and thus how they should be treated. If you're comfortable making the determination yourself, you can usually find things like ivermectin or fenbendazole (panacur) at farm supply stores. Look for a smaller tube for oral administration. Massage the tube well before you give it because it needs to be mixed up some more. If you're not sure about which species it is, take a poo sample to the vet and have them help.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Parasitic_diseases/nematodes.htm

 

[ra7751]

Just an alternate thought here....the worms may not be from your rabbit but are likely to be the offspring of Phorid Flies. These flies lay eggs in decaying organic matter and a litter box is the perfect breeding ground for them. These flies are common in most areas of the world.

Randy

 

[AquaticRex]

yea i thought that too, cause i only saw them in the bottom of the pan, not in any of his poop. i'm just sort of preparing for the worst. we did however find alot of flies lately, but then again, we leave our front door open cause we don't have an A/C

 

[AquaticRex]

but fly babies look different then what i saw, unless it's a different species...

 

[Shaded Night Rabbitry]

Babies shouldn't be what you're finding. Generally, the worms that escape the body are females leaving to lay eggs. (As far as I know.)

I generally find pinworms if any, but it could be anything. Take a picture? That may help us. Or go to the vets. Fortunately, worms aren't -that- huge of an issue. They're unlikely to kill your rabbit in one weekend.

 

[AquaticRex]

ok lol that's what i've been looking for. i've never had to worry about worms before, so i wasn't sure if i should be lunging for the phone to dial an emergency line or what.

and yea that would make sense. so if the females are leaving to lay eggs then does that mean as long as dante don't eat them then it will kind of just go away? of course i'll be bringing him to the vet to get a proper diagnosis, but i'm just curious on how that works. also, why wouldn't they come out in the poop? also, there may have been more, cause i dumped it into the garbage bin outside, but i only noticed it when i looked in the bottom of the bin and there were only 2 of them stuck in the leavings in the bottom of the pan. i never really check the bottom cause i do an inspection of everything almost every day, just kinda for record to make sure he's leaving enough, which means he's eating enough (which i noticed, sometimes he doesn't eat everything any more in the morning or at night, not always though).

 

[pamnock]

AquaticRex wrote:

but fly babies look different then what i saw, unless it's a different species...

What you saw in the noodles was a completely different species.

The maggots you would see in manure would be very active.

Pinworms are nearly as thin as a piece of string and no longer than a cm.

Roundworms are as thin as a thin piece of yarn.

 

[AquaticRex]

i had to judge by eye, they were pretty active, but not spazzing out or anything, and they were maybe a little over 1 cm, if that.

 

[pamnock]

When you see pinworms in the droppings, they generally aren't moving. Maggots (fly larvae) are generally active.

 

[AquaticRex]

hmmm, maybe he doesn't have worms then. either way i should have an appointment set up and see if he's completely healthy any ways. i'll just bring up that we found something in the bottom of his pan.