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About Lee Meyer (Mr.)
Expertise
I have 4+ years of experience with House Rabbits, rescue groups, and working with shelter rabbits. I do educational talks about house rabbits. I advise potential adopters, supervise bunny 'dates', fundraising/educational rabbit events, and help rabbit owners with their rabbits. I will answer questions about: general behaviors, body language, housing, toys, bunny-proofing, diet, spaying/neutering issues, nail clips, preventative measures, diet, and health questions.

I will not discuss: anything that deals with rabbits for fur, food, factory-style breeding, deliberate or casual breeding by pet owners, or experimentation. My focus is solely on rabbits as loved pets. It is the reason I am a House Rabbit Society member as opposed to an ARBA member. If you do not view your rabbit the same way you would a pet dog or cat, please ask another expert your question.

I am not a veterinarian and cannot conclusively diagnose your rabbit. IF YOU THINK THERE'S A PROBLEM, DON'T WAIT FOR A REPLY, GET TO A VET IMMEDIATELY!!! Sometimes what appears to be a small problem is life-threatening.

My advice with respect to medical issues doesn't take the place of a good rabbit vet. The House Rabbit Society has references on their site for vets they have researched. There are US and international links here for vets all over the world with rabbit experience: www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

I recommend the following resources to all rabbit owners:

House Rabbit Society - online rabbit info (www.rabbit.org)
Book: Rabbit Health in the 21st Century 2nd Ed. by Kathy Smith
Book: House Rabbit Handbook 4th Ed. by Marinell Harriman

Experience
House Rabbit Member since 2004 Discover Your House Rabbit organizer - 2006 Rabbit Adopter since 2004 HAWS Board of Education member (rabbits) since 2005 HAWS Rabbit Volunteer since 2004

Organizations
National House Rabbit Society, Wisconsin House Rabbit Society, Humane Animal Welfare Society (HAWS), Education Board Member for Rabbits, Friends of HAWS

Education/Credentials
BSEE, MSEE (Electrical/Computer Engineering), Marquette University

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Veterinary Medicine > Rabbits > Cage cleaning-early days

Topic: Rabbits

Expert: Lee Meyer (Mr.)
Date: 7/8/2008
Subject: Cage cleaning-early days

Question
I have a 9 week old mini lop. I have had him now 5 days he has become used to his cage and surroundings and seems very comfortable. He has become nosey peering around but is yet to leave his cage, i am very patient and have no problem in sitting with him, talking and waiting for him to want to come out. Only thing is he has urinated in a few places and his cage needs a clean! I just didn't want to pick him up as I do not want to go back to square 1 in getting him to trust me. Please help, thank you

Answer
Hi Carly,

well, you need to be able to pick him up when necessary. He also has to learn to tolerate it. If the cage is off the ground and has a door he could hop out on his own, you may need to give him a step or ramp to get down. Make sure the ramp/step is covered with material that he can get traction on - bare wood itself or plastic will be too slippery.

You need to kind of get him used to you petting him, and handling him. You also need to know how to handle him and hold him properly and safely for his back. The rump always has to be supported, because if they kick hard and they aren't supported, they can break their back.

I would suggest contacting your local rabbit groups and get together with someone from there. The House Rabbit Society (www.rabbit.org) has state chapter info, and you can contact them or if there are independent rabbit groups around you, those would be good places to start. Often they have volunteers who will meet with you and answer questions/show you proper handling, etc.

Lee

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