My foster basset's ears

I've never had a full basset before, just lots of hounds and a basset/beagle cross. My current foster is all basset. B. Basset can get his ears in his mouth. I've seen him do this several times in the 2 weeks he's been with me. The first time I assumed he was cleaning them, but now I'm not so sure. I'm wondering if it is either that he worries them when stressed, or if it goes with the ear irritation the vet found on Thursday we are treating, or all three.

B. Basset is bright, sensitive, spoiled. He's having some challenges adjusting to not being "KING" and big scary monster who is in control. He is doing well with the consistancy of rules and discipline but I can see when even with lots of love and praise it starts to challenge his self-control and he needs some time alone in his crate to sleep or take out his frustrations on a chewy of some sort.

The behaviour I'm puzzled about is this:
He takes one ear in his mouth and then lies on his side sucking the ear in like a piece of spagetti, then he chews on it gently like he is massaging it and after about a minute he drops it sometimes grabbing the other and flipping sides. He always lies with the ear he has in his mouth under him. The ears are thoroughly soggy when he is done, but usually are normal looking when they dry. Today he has a band of stuck down fur in the middle of one ear so I'm guessing he's been at this activity today.

I can handle his ears but have been progressing slowly with seeing how tolerant he is as he came with instructions to muzzle him for ear cleaning. He is not struggling when the twice daily drops are administered. I can just fold the ear back over his head, count to 10 and put 2-3 drops in, then do the ear massage and on to the next.