M DISEASES OF RABBITS 



tion is that fanciers keep lop ears rabbits in 

 hutches in which the temperature is excessive 

 and only clean the hutches out at long inter- 

 vals. 



Treatment: The animals should be dusted 

 with pyrethrum powder and well brushed and 

 combed and, since fleas are transitory para- 

 sites, the hutches and living quarters must be 

 well scalded with boiling water to destroy the 

 larvae. 



Lice 



As a rule, lice are f oimd only in badly man- 

 aged establishments and on badly nourished 

 and debilitated individuals. The rabbit louse 

 Hematopinus ventricosis is a true blood suck- 

 er and, if present in large numbers, produces 

 anemia and marasmus. A dermatitis is also 

 produced, and the animals are continually 

 scratching and biting at themselves, the fur be- 

 comes ragged, covered with nits, and the skin 

 erythematous in patches and sometimes abrad- 

 ed by the animal's claws. 



Treatment: The adult lice can be destroyed 

 by dusting with insect powders or by sponging 

 with an infusion of stavesacre, 1 to 20. The 

 nits are best dissolved by wetting the fur with 

 acetic acid or vinegar and combing out. In any 

 case, the treatment should be carried out at 

 least twice at inten^als of five days, in order to 



