External parasites are more common in rabbits than internal ones and usually consist of fleas, ticks and ear mites. Regular grooming of your rabbit is important for a number of reasons, including the chance it gives you to check him for signs of external parasites.

Common external rabbit parasites:

Parasite	Signs	Effects	Treatment
Fleas	Scratching, brown specks on the skin	Discomfort, excessive scratching leading to open wounds, excessive blood loss	Regular grooming with fine-tooth comb to remove fleas and eggs, use of flea collar, flea sprays. More severe cases require bathing with flea shampoo or treatment by a veterinarian
Ticks	Scratching; presence of tick is usually apparent on visual examination	Excessive scratching, possible infection of open sores or transmission of diseases	Regular grooming with fine-tooth comb to check for presence. Kill tick with tick spray or alcohol and carefully remove with tweezers. Extreme cases require tick dip or veterinary care
Ear mites	Constant shaking of head or scratching of ears, presence of oily brown substance inside ears	Discomfort, high risk of transmission to other animals, injuries to ears from scratching	Refer to veterinarian for diagnosis; treat using bottled drops according to directions