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PHFaust: On behalf of Jeff Barringer and all of us at exotichobbyist.com, I'm very pleased to welcome Ellie Lesch to our Ninth Annual Chat Week.

PHFaust: Ellie can you tell us a bit about your work with the House Rabbit Society and The Elmbrook Humane Society?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: I have been volunteering at EBHS over a year socializing the bunnies there and educating staff and the community about what it takes to have a rabbit as a house pet.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: In addition, I attend WI House rabbit events to learn more about rabbits and have four of my own.

MaryNY: How do you train a 2 yo rabbit, healthy, busy, normal male rabbit to use a litter box?

MaryNY: He pulls the papers out of it and sleeps in it

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Neutered? The is the first thing in heading towards a rabbit being litterbox training or they like to mark territory. The second thing put litter boxes in corners.

MaryNY: No, not neutered

Ellie_Lesch_nr: I use hardwood pellets for litter or litter similar to Yesterday's News.

MaryNY: Any particular kind of hardwood?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: The more litterboxes the better while training. The hardwood comes in a pellet form.

FurriePrincess: Like the stove pellets?

PHStilts: Fire your question please

fireladie: What is the best way I can go about helping feral rabbits?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: yes, stove pellets

Ellie_Lesch_nr: feral as in wild and not a domestic rabbit that is a stray?

fireladie: stray rabbit

fireladie: Someone's escaped pet... and that quickly multiplied

Ellie_Lesch_nr: A stray rabbit will stay in one location such as one yard or garden. Entice with oats or banana both loved by most rabbits.

fireladie: thank you

PHStilts: Are there any foods that we should stay away from when feeding our rabbits?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Stick to plain pellets without seeds or dried fruits or veggies. When feeding fruits or veggies it should be in the fresh form.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Oxbow brand is great

fireladie: Being an advocate for rabbits, and for responsible ownership, what is the hardest thing about this job?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Educating adopters from the shelter who still feed the crappy food such as corn, when you know the rabbit's life will be shortened. This saddens me because I often care for rabbits at the shelter up to 6 months. Sometimes taking a while for them to get adopted.

fireladie: thank you! Ireally applaud rescuers and shelter volunteers.

MaryNY: Trimming rabbit toenails. I use the cat clippers while the kids hold their rabbits. The rabbits hate it. How short should the nails be and is there a way to trim them that doesn't upset the rabbit so much?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: It is an aquired skill to clip a rabbit's nails.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: It took me a year after getting my first and watching another volunteer at the shelter.

MaryNY: They get too long in the winter, so I don't have a choice. Summers they go out to a fenced in area inside our fenced in yard and wear them down naturally.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: With clear nails you can see the "quick" you want to clip below that.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: I craddle the rabbit but every rabbit is different, like a baby, expect some rabbit nips with clipping nails

MaryNY: They kick but so far neither has tried to bite.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Do not let them kick too much. Hold them securely.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: A nip is a warning. A bite can be another thing.e

SnowtaMom: How big of a cage or pen is necessary for a rabbit? I've always made a large pen as the hutches look so small. Do they need a lot of room?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: The larger the better. Enough room to fit a litterbox and so the rabbit can fully stretch out, long legs and all.

SnowtaMom: Do they need room to run around?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Recommended 3-4 hours a night

Ellie_Lesch_nr: With four rabbit mine get out approx. 1 hour each night.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Get them out when they are most active morning and evening.

fireladie: What is your favorite rabbit breed? And why? lol

Ellie_Lesch_nr: By far the large ones! To watch them dance. My largest one how is 11.5 lbs. As for markings the mix of my first rabbit Dutch and Harlequin.

RiseAbove: I was wondering if you knew whether or not you can keep pikas as pets. They aren't rabbits, but I thought you might know since they are both lagomorphs

Ellie_Lesch_nr: I do not know about pikas. What are they?

RiseAbove: They are little lagomorphs that live in mountains of North America, that look somewhat like mice from afar.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Just looked on the Internet. Wonder what makes them lagomorphs.

PHStilts: Personally I love having a Rabbit as a pet, had several over the years. Is there a certian breed that makes a better pet?

PHStilts: I prefer the Rex but thats just me.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Larger ones are usually more docile and dwarf more active and less social. Always one that break the norms.

fireladie: Is it possible to keep a hare as a pet? I saw one advertised in the local paper... and was curious if you knew much about them as pets?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Hare is a wild rabbit so no, but the domestic rabbit comes from the hare. Refering to domestic rabbit as hare? Because they are.

fireladie: Oh okay, thanks.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Back to breeds...Rex hair has a harder time passing threw the GI system is why I am not a big fan on Rexes.

MaryNY: Even mini-rex hair?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Yes, because the hair is so short.

PHStilts: At this point I don't have any other questions on the queue, Is there any other information you could share with us.

fireladie: How can you resocialize a rabbit that has serious human fear problems?

fireladie: This particular rabbit can't be held, petted, or even can't be walked up to without fleeing.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Let the rabbit come to you. Spend time with the rabbit in a smaller area so it cannot ignore you.

fireladie: Such as the bathroom...?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: sure

fireladie: This rabbit is a rabbit that was taken out of an abusive situation. Afriend of mine has taken it in to re socialized it for adoption, but it is so very fearful.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Rabbits remember bad situations.

fireladie: Thank you though... I will pass on the info.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Lots of understanding of rabbit in general is needed to understand their fear.

fireladie: She believes this rabbit was physicaly harmed, so that is why it is so fearful, although, it has developed a great relationship with her dog... which we think is odd as the family it was taken out of the dog would terrorize it.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Most rabbits do not like or tolerate being picked up.

fireladie: We just fear that it will be scared to death - literaly, we have heard about rabbits doing this .

Ellie_Lesch_nr: The rabbit found a connection. Animals haver their own communication systems differently than us humans. Cannot explain this occurance but know that dogs and rabbits can get along. Better is cats and rabbits.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Scared to death often only happens to outdoor rabbits. No where to run.

MaryNY: Grooming a rabbit. Ours just do pretty well at self grooming.

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Gut stasis is the most common cause of rabbit deaths and most common disease seen in animal ER.

MaryNY: But I still have nightmares about bathing a rabbit when I was 14 and it had engine grease on it. Should anthing similar happen again, what's the best way to clean the rabbit?

Ellie_Lesch_nr: Often do not have to give rabbits a bath. They groom themselves well.

MaryNY: This would have been toxic

Ellie_Lesch_nr: There is rabbit shampoo out there. Do not know of safe brands off hand. Ask a knowledgeable rabbit vet.

MaryNY: Interesting. thank you

PHFaust: On behalf of Exotichobbyist.com, Jeff B, and myself, I want to take a moment to thank Ellie for being part of our chat week. Ellie, thanks for taking the time out to chat with us on Rabbits.