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All You Need To Know About 'Mange' And Mites Infestation In Rabbits

These mites affect all rabbits of any age, breed and of either sex.

Rearing healthy animals is the desire of any progressive farmer. Skin conditions are among the most common diseases affecting pets, commercial, and laboratory rabbits in Kenya. 

The common causes of these diseases are ectoparasites such as fleas, lice, and mites.

What is mange?

Mites cause mange, a highly contagious disease affecting several species of animals. Mange is spread easily by direct contact between sick and healthy rabbits or indirectly through objects in their environment.

Psoroptes cuniculi, Sarcoptes scabiei var. Cuniculi, and Cheyletiella parasitovorax are the commonly reported mites infesting rabbits in Kenya. Psoroptes cuniculi is a large surface mite that causes psoroptic mange.

These mites affect all rabbits of any age, breed and of either sex.

What are the signs of mange infestation?

Affected rabbits primarily present with clinical signs of intense itching/ pruritus, head shaking, reddening of the body/erythema, and crusty, scaly, and scabby lesions on the inner side of the ear pinnae and on the external ear canal.

In extreme cases, rabbits may present with drooping ears, foul-smelling discharges emanating from the external ear canal, and occasionally pain on palpation of the ear which is generally limited to the ear but can also be diffuse.

On the other hand, a burrowing mite causes sarcoptic mange characterized by extreme scratching, loss of fur, crusts, scales, and erythema on the skin of the margins of pinna, lips, nose, legs, and areas adjoining the genitalia. In chronic cases, rabbits may present with anorexia, lethargy, and loss of body condition, all of which sporadically results in death. Cheyletiella parasitovorax is a large, fast-moving, non-burrowing mite, which can be seen moving on the skin. Infested rabbits show signs of pruritus, scratching, crusting, scales on the skin, and alopecia, among others. Some mites have a zoonotic potential and can infect cats, dogs and people.

An outbreak of sarcoptic mange in commercial rabbits is likely to result in increased mortality - deaths.

What is the treatment for mange in rabbits?

Infested rabbits do not perform optimally. The growth rate is reduced as rabbits spend time scratching themselves rather than feeding.

Once you notice the above signs promptly call your veterinarian to treat the rabbits before the disease spreads rapidly.

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Good news is that the disease is treatable and the rabbits fully recover.

How to control mange in rabbits?

Isolate the infested rabbits and have them treated promptly.

In addition to the costs of animal treatment, the environment, that is, the rabbit cages, will require disinfection.

When you buy a rabbits from another farm, strictly isolate it for two weeks before allowing them into your herd.

-This article is partially adapted from the Journal of Tropical Medicine

Intraoral Examination In Rabbits

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Rabbit Hole

The folks down at The Rabbit Hole Hackerspace have been busy lately. They've created an amazing stop motion animation short titled "The Rabbit's Hole". The three-minute film documents the journey of a white rabbit through several strange lands, including the court of a "hormonally imbalanced queen", the sewers, a PCB wasteland, and a banana jazz concert. The rest of the video is a behind the scenes view, showing the incredible amount of teamwork that went into the film's creation.

From set building to final photography, the entire film was shot in one day.  The set was split into 8 pieces. Each piece represented a scene the rabbit would journey through in the final movie. Members of The Rabbit Hole were able to work in parallel, each designing their own section of the set. Once the photography was done, [Whisker] took over for the process of editing and sound design. Just like in Hollywood, post production took much longer than the actual shoot.

The amazing part of the video is that most of the characters and set pieces are created from The Rabbit Hole's junkbox. Even the star of the show, a 3D printed Rabbit wasn't immune. Many rabbits were printed for the stop motion animation process. As can be expected, there were a few failed prints. Those prints became Rabbit footed Lamps, Tables, and a rather macabre rabbit's hand in a tray. Even the camera dolly was welded up from some scrap metal and old roller blade wheels.

We like the way the entire hackerspace was able to come together to create something greater than any one of them could have done alone. This sort of project should be a template for other hackerspaces to follow.

Continue reading "The Rabbit's Hole: Creative Reuse And Stop Motion Animation" →

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