Types of Tapeworms in Rabbits

Tapeworms are flat worms with segmented bodies that live inside the intestinal tracts of various animal species. According to Dr. Peter Darben, writer for Worm Learn, most tapeworms require an intermediate host between the egg and adult cycle. Some tapeworm eggs are ingested by larval fleas and only reach maturity when the flea is ingested by a dog. Other species hatch from eggs into larvae inside the bodies of wild rabbits and other animals.

  1. Taenia pisiformis

    • Taenia pisiformis is a type of tapeworm that commonly affects carnivorous wild animals such as foxes, dogs and wolves. The adult worms live in carnivorous animals, but rabbits act as hosts for the parasite's larvae. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment explains that dogs pass the tapeworm eggs out in their feces. Rabbits are infected when they eat plants contaminated with tapeworm eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae inside the rabbit. The larvae travel through the rabbit's body into the liver and eventually into the abdominal cavity, where they develop into blister-like cysts throughout the rabbit's abdominal organs. This condition is called cysticercosis. When a dog east the rabbit, the tapeworms infect the new host and hatch into adults inside that animal's intestine.

    Multiceps Serialis

    • The multiceps serialis tapeworm also infects carnivorous wild animals. Like taenia pisiformis, the rabbit serves as an intermediate host. However, the larval cysts in multiceps serialis do not scatter throughout the body like taenia pisiformis. Instead, they form a blister-like cluster of cysts called a coenuris. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment says that coenuris cysts are considerably larger than those formed by taenia pisiformis. The website describes them as being elongated and filled with white, floating tapeworm heads. Carnivores that ingest the rabbit devour the larval cysts and become infected with tapeworms.

    Cittotaenia Variabilis

    • Dr. Esther van Praag, writer for Medi Rabbit, indicates that cittotaenia varabilis is a type of tapeworm that grows to maturity inside the rabbit. The worm is whitish-colored with a flat segmented body. It has a head with four suckers that are used to secure the parasite firmly to the intestinal wall. This type of tapeworm grows to be three-eighths of an inch wide and nearly eight inches long. Rabbits become infected by ingesting the tapeworm eggs while eating. The main symptom of infection is the evidence of proglottids, or tapeworm egg sacs, that pass out of the animal's body through the feces.