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ETHERBUN

...is an electronic mailing list devoted to care, health and behavior of domestic companion rabbits. The list is free of charge, and offers a wealth of information, especially for the new rabbit "parent."

Our subscribers include veterinarians, vet students, microbiologists, nutritionists, chemists, biologists and others whose areas of expertise are very helpful in getting to the root of a rabbit health problem.

Obviously, there is no substitute for taking your bunny to your rabbit- experienced veterinarian. But when an unusual problem rears its head, EtherBun folks put theirs together and can offer ideas and suggestions based on experience and a strong background in the sciences.

The list is "subscribers only," so if you post a question directly to the list, it will not appear unless you are subscribed to EtherBun.


Quick Links to EtherBun Information

  • EtherBun Functions

  • EtherBun Welcome Message: Rules and Guidelines
  • EtherBun Archives
  • EBAC: Moderation (in moderation)
  • EtherBun Community: Who Are We?
    NEWBIE BUNNY PEOPLE! You can find excellent resources for information on basic rabbit care at several web sites. Please peruse these as you enjoy EtherBun, so you'll be better able to participate in discussions and have some good background information before you begin:

    Using EtherBun: Basic Nuts and Bolts

    To join EtherBun, go to Io Groups for instructions.

    To post a message to EtherBun, use this address: main@etherbun.groups.io

    To unsubscribe from EtherBun, send a blank message to main+unsubscribe@etherbun.groups.io


    Welcome to EtherBun!

    Please retain this welcome message for easy access to Etherbun guidelines and policies.

    Posting Guidelines

    Please read these guidelines carefully and abide by them.
    All EtherBun subscribers are held accountable for the guidelines.
    Serious infractions may result in a revocation of posting privileges.

      1. All EtherBun posts should pertain to the health, care, and behavior of domestic companion rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). If your post does not fit that description, there's a good possibility that it's off topic. Please check with EBAC before proceeding, if you're not sure.

      2. All administrative requests or technical questions about the list should be sent to one of the members of EBAC. Please do not send such questions to the EtherBun Listserve.

      3. Condolences, healing wishes, birthday wishes, and any other responses directed to (or of interest to) only one person (such as "I agree!" Or: "Alice, you're the greatest!" Or: "Will you please send me this information?") should be sent only to that person, not to the entire list.

      4. Verbatim re-posting or forwarding of non-emergency messages from other listserves or newsgroups is not permitted. If you feel that a post on another list or newsgroup is of interest to EtherBun subscribers, please paraphrase the content and write it as an original EtherBun post.

      5. Life-or-death rabbit emergencies from any source may be posted at any time. However, please help us keep list volume down by notifying members of the list or newsgroup from which you are forwarding an emergency message that you have already done so. This will help prevent numerous repeat forwardings of the same emergency.

      6. When you respond to a particular post DO NOT RE-POST THE MESSAGE TO WHICH YOUR ARE RESPONDING IN ITS ENTIRETY. Copy only the few lines essential to making sense of your reply. This is especially important if you are on digest! NEVER RE-POST AN ENTIRE DIGEST.

      7. Do not quote the entirety of another person's letter or an extensive information entry from another source--whether from private mail, another forum, or a published document--without the author's express, written permission. If you wish to post information from another source, paraphrase it if possible or quote only the minimum necessary and reference the source or URL so others can consult the original. Failure to comply with this guideline is grounds for immediate removal from EtherBun.

      8. Remember: messages should pertain to the health, behavior, care and biology of rabbits. If you have found a rabbit-related product designed for humans (e.g., cute rabbit note cards, jewelry, artwork, clothing, etc.), please post it to a more appropriate list. If, however, you wish to share information about a product designed for rabbits (food, litter, hutches etc.), please feel free to post it to EtherBun.

    IN SUMMARY, whenever one posts any electronic mail message to any electronic mailing list, it's a good idea to ask yourself the following questions...

    • This list is being read by busy people. Will my post convey something useful to them, or will it just cause their eyes to glaze over? Can I say what I need to say in a more concise manner?

    • Is my post consistent with the list guidelines?

    • If part of another message is quoted - have I quoted only the amount that's really necessary? Have I stripped out any signature lines, or lines added by the mailing list software in the quoted section? These non-substantive items take up space in other people's mailboxes, and may cost them money.

    • It's okay to post very long posts if an issue really does need to be described in great detail. But do my posts *regularly* seem to run several screens in length? If so, it's time to look for ways to be more concise, so as to spare fellow subscribers unnecessary expense.

    • Is my signature quote *longer* than most other people's entire posts? Out of consideration for other subscribers, please try to be reasonable. Nothing will turn people off to a sign-off philosophy more than its volume.

    • Does my post contain anything that will be helpful or interesting to others, or am I writing it only for my own gratification?

    Your answers to the above will help you screen out "noise" and become a welcome member of any electronic mailing list.


    Off Topic Posts: A Beginner's Guide

    Please do not post anything to the list unless you are sure it is on topic. If you are not sure, please do one of the following: Please note that any discussions PROMOTING, ENDORSING OR ENCOURAGING the following are STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND NEVER ALLOWED on EtherBun:

    • Rabbit breeding
    • Rabbit showing
    • Rabbits as food or any other "product".

    Anyone who identifies him or herself as a breeder in EtherBun posts or sigfile will immediately be placed on permanent moderation.

    Off Topic Posts: RABBIT BREEDER POLICY

    The owners of EtherBun do not condone rabbit breeding for any reason. Therefore, any discussion promoting, endorsing, or encouraging rabbit breeding or showing on EtherBun is strictly prohibited. Likewise, the posting of links to rabbit breeder web sites is strictly prohibited on Etherbun. Before you post a link on EB, please verify that it is not a link to any breeder site.

    Our rabbits are beloved, respected members of our families. A large number of EtherBun subscribers are not only devoted to their rabbit companions, but also are deeply involved in rabbit rescue. Many of us spend a large portion of our lives and a huge chunk of our annual income rescuing rabbits that were abandoned or dumped when their purchasers grew tired of them. Almost without exception, those rabbits came from a breeder (either directly, or via a pet dealer) who raises rabbits for fun and/or profit.

    Even breeders who raise rabbits "only for pet or show," contribute to the domestic rabbit overpopulation problem: a very large number of our rescued rabbits are purebreds who were dumped because of health problems (e.g., malocclusion) caused by inbreeding. Although some breeders may carefully avoid bad breeding practices, a large number do not. This often leads to unnecessary illness, suffering and "genetic poverty" in the rabbits they raise.

    If you breed and/or show rabbits, do not identify yourself as a breeder, or ever post about your breeding/showing operation in any way. This includes using a rabbitry title in your user name or email headers and linking to any web site that is breeding-oriented. If you do any of these things on EtherBun, you are subject to deletion from the list without further notice. If you love your rabbits, we hope that reading EtherBun posts will enlighten you about how intelligent, sentient and deserving of love rabbits are. Once you read about how much EtherBunners love their rabbit companions, you might decide to get involved in the rescue efforts yourself. We welcome you to do that!


    Off Topic Posts: ANIMAL RIGHTS ISSUES POLICY

    Animal rights issues, while important to many of us on EtherBun, are not an appropriate topic for EtherBun, as they do not directly pertain to the health, care, behavior and biology of companion rabbits. Animal rights issues tend to elicit intense emotions on both sides, inviting flame wars. Because of this, we do not allow their discussion on EtherBun.

    If you are interested in animals rights, another group called Rabbit Activist is available for just that purpose. Please click on the link to join.


    Off Topic Posts: RESCUE/ADOPTION NOTICE POLICY

    If you are a rabbit rescuer, you may post descriptions of adoptable rabbits only on the last Friday of each month. Please limit your "adoptable rabbits" post to descriptions of no more than four different rabbits.

    ETHERBUN IS *NOT* A RESOURCE FOR PEOPLE ATTEMPTING TO FIND A NEW HOME FOR THEIR PETS. Do NOT post a message if you are "trying to find a home for your bunny." Such posts are strictly prohibited and will result in your immediate removal from the list, without further warning.

    If you are trying to find a safe home for your rabbit, here are some resources you might find useful:


    Off Topic Posts: WILDLIFE REHABILITATION POLICY

    EtherBun is a list about domestic companion rabbits. Discussions about the behavior of wild rabbits and how it compares to that of our companion rabbits is acceptable. But because there are very few people on EtherBun with the expertise necessary to teach about rehabilitating wild rabbits, and because it is against the law in most states to harbor wildlife without a permit, discussions of rehabilitating wild North American rabbits is not permitted on EtherBun.

    There are many lists devoted to the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife, and there is a section at the House Rabbit Society's web site (www.rabbit.org/) on what to do if you find a nest of wild rabbits. Please refer to those sources for help with wild rabbits, and keep the topic on EtherBun to domestic Oryctolagus cuniculus.

    If you need help rescuing wild rabbits in danger, please go to The Wildlife Rehabilitation Information Directory, where you can find links to licensed wildlife rehabilitators in your area.


    Off Topic Posts: FLAME POLICY

    EtherBun is an unmoderated listserve. However, because we want EtherBun to be a happy place, the list owner and the EtherBun Advisory Committee insist that there will be NO FLAMING, EVER. A flame is defined as a personally insulting or derogatory post. Strong opinions, healthy disagreement and civil discussion are welcome on EtherBun, but flaming will not be tolerated. If you write a post voicing a strong opinion about a controversial issue, please DO NOT name other EtherBun subscribers personally. To do so invites hostility and fans the flames of war, which will not be tolerated on EtherBun. Offenders will be warned by the Advisory Committee, and repeat offenses will result in the offender's being deleted from the list.

    If you are ever the victim of a private flame because of something that occurred on EtherBun, please forward a copy of the flame post to an EB moderator (contacts listed below). At the discretion of the EtherBun Advisory Committee, the perpetrator will be warned and/or deleted from the list of subscribers.


    May Off Topic Items Ever be Posted on EtherBun?

  • RABBIT-RELATED, OFF TOPIC POSTS OF POSSIBLE INTEREST TO ETHERBUN SUBSCRIBERS MAY BE POSTED ONLY IF THEY ARE WRITTEN AS A SHORT "P.S." TO AN ON-TOPIC POST.
  • Please request that all responses to any off-topic P.S. announcements be made to you privately, so that they do not clutter the list. We appreciate your cooperation!
  • The following are never allowed on EtherBun, even as a P.S.
    • promotion, endorsement or encouragement of breeding or showing rabbits for any reason
    • attempts to find a home for an unwanted pet rabbit
    • flames of any kind


    Penalties for Off-Topic Posting

    What constitutes appropriate and inappropriate posts on EtherBun is described in detail above, but please remember that if your message does not pertain to the health, care and behavior of domestic companion rabbits, it is likely to be OFF TOPIC, and subject to certain penalties. When in doubt, check with EBAC before posting.

    If you send an off-topic post to the list, you will be sent a warning/reminder privately from a member of the EBAC, asking you to please abide by the guidelines. Please do not take this note as a personal offense: one is sent to every subscriber who violates Etherbun guidelines.

    A second transgression within two weeks will result in the offending subscriber's receiving a second advisory note and being placed on moderated status for two weeks.

    If within two weeks after reinstatement following a "moderated status" period, the subscriber continues to post off topic notices to EtherBun, the Advisory Committee will place the subscriber on permanent moderated status.

    If a moderated subscriber continues to attempt to post off-topic posts, creating a large workload for the list moderators, s/he will be given a warning. If this warning is not heeded, the subscriber will be banned from EtherBun, at the discretion of the moderators and list owners.

    Please note that anyone who deliberately posts off topic messages--ESPECIALLY if they are labeled "OT" in the header, or if they start off with "I know this isn't really on topic, but..." IS SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE MODERATION WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE.

    Deliberate OT posting rude and inconsiderate of the hundreds of subscribers who stay on EtherBun because it is a low-noise, efficient list. EtherBun isn't a democracy. It's a resource valued by many, and because of this, EBAC will protect the list, even if it means bruising the feelings of a subscriber who has not taken the time and effort to read and abide by the rules.

    We know these rules may sound harsh, but we try very hard to be fair while keeping list volume manageable and topics of interest to everyone. If you have questions about any of these guidelines, please feel free to email one of the members of EBAC for more information.


    The EtherBun Archives

    If you'd like to see what EtherBun posts are like, or need to find information from past EtherBun discussions, please refer to the EtherBun Archives of all messages.


    EBAC: The EtherBun Advisory Committee

    Please note that EtherBun is a relatively high volume list, and that a committee has been organized to keep the list on topic.

    If you have a question about the appropriateness of a post you wish to send to EtherBun, please do NOT send it to EtherBun with the forewords, "I'm not sure if this is on topic, but..."

    Instead, send the post to one of the members of the EtherBun Advisory Committee (EBAC) and ask whether it is on topic. The moderators are:


    The EtherBun Community: Who Are We?

    EtherBun is a community of people who love their rabbits as members of their family. With over 1300 subscribers, EB has subscribers of many different professions and levels of expertise with rabbits and their care. Although many knowledgeable rabbit rescuers are EtherBun subscribers, and although three members of the EtherBun Advisory Committee (the body that monitors EB for content to be sure things stay on topic) are affiliated with the House Rabbit Society, Etherbun is NOT sponsored by nor officially affiliated with the House Rabbit Society.

    EtherBun subscribers generally consider their rabbits to be members of their family, and are aware that there is a severe domestic rabbit overpopulation problem which results in thousands of rabbits being abandoned/euthanized every year. This list is devoted to the care, behavior, health and biology of domestic rabbits as companions, and not about producing rabbits for either pleasure or profit. Such topics are unacceptable for EtherBun under any circumstances.


    We're glad you have joined us, and look forward to lots of fun and learning!


    H.A.R.E. (Houserabbit Adoption, Rescue and Education) / Dana's Bun-o-Rama