wild rabbit fleas

Question
Hi Dana! A couple of years ago I emailed you about my little wild cottontail rabbit friend. I fed him and his friends over winter this year, and they had quite the turf battle, but made it through the winter okay.  I even got my fur coat on when it was really cold out and played alpha bunny! Now the other two buns have moved on,or at least don't hang around here for food, but my bun pal has stayed as usual. I have been feeding him the tame rabbit food which has some timothy, corn, sunflower and other seeds and now since it has been warm and grass is growing, I have been giving him his morning and evening baby carrot which he seems to enjoy. But now, my poor bun has fleas and he is miserable. I just talked to a vet and they said that the flea drops for tame pet rabbits would work on my wild bun except that it is illegal for them to dispense meds for wild animals.  what can I do to get the fleas off of my poor bun? I heard about some kind of garlic treatment but don't know details on that.  Can I just go to the pet store and get rabbit flea drops without going through a vet? and what kind of drops and how much should I use for a small wild cottontail? I would so appreciate your help.... also bun is only eating the seeds in his food mix and is avoiding the timothy pellets and corn..... should I just be feeding the grain seeds or what can I do to vary his diet? I was thinking about planting a rabbit garden of carrots. Anything else I should plant for him? I and itchy bun await your helpful response!

Thanks again!
Liz

Answer
Dear Liz,

If you have any pets or know anyone with a domestic dog, cat, or rabbit, then ask them to take the animal to the vet for Revolution (selamectin).  It will be up to you whether you then use the Revolution on the wild cottontail, but as the vet says, these drops will work just as well on a wild rabbit as they do on a domestic.

We use about 8 drops on the back of the neck.

I hope you can find a vet willing to dispense Revolution for you.  DO NOT use Frontline, which can be fatal to rabbits.  Please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/furloss.html

Hope this helps!

Dana