advantage safe on baby rabbit?

Question
I just recently adopted a baby rabbit about 2 weeks old.  This little guy was found at someone's backyard. He has fleas though -  we found out when we were petting him.  We used flea comb and got rid of a few of them but I have a feeling that he has a lot more on his tiny body.  Do you know if using Advantage safe for baby rabbits this young? Our vet told us to wait til the rabbit is older, but I can't bare seeing fleas under his fur all the time. Thanks!!

Answer
Dear Cindy,

I am not sure if Advantage (imidocloprid) is safe for babies, but I can tell you that we have used Revolution (selamectin) on *very* small babies (including wild ones) with excellent results and no adverse side effects.  You can read more here:

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

Revolution will kill not only fleas, but also mites which are an even bigger problem for rabbits.  I would recommend that for the baby.

If this is a wild rabbit, I hope you will be able to get him to a releasable size, and then turn him loose once he's healthy.  Wild rabbits do not thrive in captivity, and usually become fatally nervous once they start to grow up. For information on how to safely raise a wild cottontail, please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/wildbabies.pdf

If this is a domestic rabbit, congratulations on your new family member!  :)  He is very little, and too young to be weaned.  So be on close alert for any sign of runny stool:

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

If you see that, please write to me right away for emergency instructions, since this can kill a baby rabbit within hours.  In case you need it in advance, here it is:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/squirts.pdf

You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope that helps!
Take care,

Dana

But it would be good to get rid of the flease