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The best bedding?

cheryl21

Warren Scout
My bunnies live in the outhouse in the winter and in the garden in the summer. I'm wondering what everyone uses as bedding? I currently use paper, straw, hay and woodshavings. I'm thinking of cutting back on the straw as they seem to prefer eating this to hay and I dont know if this is good for them. I dont know if i'm using too much or too many different types of bedding - there's so much to choose from!!!

Thanks
 
I use lots of hay, with paper underneath and a little bit of carefresh in their litter trays.

I find that hay is easy to clean out and if you shop around, you can get fairly good quality stuff for a reasonable price.
 
I use straw and hay in their bedroom for warmth and then Megazorb over the floor in their living area. I use hay in their litter trays for them to eat and poop on.
 
Hiya.

I use newspaper in the hutch or shed with litter trays with Megazorb and loads of hay.

Megazorb is brilliant in my opinion because it's kiln dried wood pulp so it's very absorbent and you don't need much, making it very cheap overall. Not only that, because it's so absorbent, it doesn't smell even if you bunny has used it quite a lot! You can compost it afterwards or even dig it straight into your garden. As it's kiln dried, it's very low dust and all of mine seem to like it a lot.

I buy it from a local farm shop but you can get it over the internet too. If you can't get that, I can also recommend Care Fresh of even Bio Catolet. Both safe, absorbent and you don't need much.

Personally, I would never recommend shavings as I have read quite a bit about how it can harm bunnies. Firstly it can be dusty. When a rabbit wees on it, it releases phenols which are thought to burn skin and is also thought to have an effect on the respiratory system.

One bunny I re-homed from a woman on Freecycle had kept the bunnies on wood shavings. They weren't neutered. Despite having pre-ops and otherwise being in good health, on the day of the neuters, the boy bunny didn't make it through the anaesthetic. My very bunny savvy vet did a necropsy and found his lungs to be full of dust, likely to have been as a result of being kept on shavings.

Just my experience but I would rather never take the chance again and will stick with Megazorb.

I'd be interested to hear other bunny mummy and daddy's views on shavings.
 
I use Megazorb in the litter trays with hay topped up twice a day and VetBed on the floor area.
 
Mine use hay for bedding. I did use straw at the very beginning, but read somewhere that it was better to use hay as straw is sharper and can cause eye problem if it jags their eyes.

I currently use newspaper for the floor and have recently used wood shavings, but after reading that it can be bad for their lungs will find an alternative now.
 
I use old towels and the old hessian sacks the hay comes in. The hay usually builds up on top of that over the week. I used to put newspaper underneath, but not much need now.

Megazorb over newspaper/cardboard in the litter trays.
 
I have a load of newspapers down and then carpet in the hutch. Flopsy was a fussy bun and wouldn't have straw, hay or anything on floor.

He was in the house for the first month in the summer and think he got used to the carpet.

Their 2 litter trays have bio-catolet (just started using) and I think it is really good and good value. They have their hay in the litter trays.

Hope this is helpful.:D
 
My 2 are house rabbits, but I use bedxcel in their litter trays.

It is small squares of cut up cardboard (~2cm) and I get a bale for under a fiver! It's far less messy than wood shavings and much cheaper than other litters. I use it in all of my cages (rats, chinchilla's, guinea-pigs, African pygmy hedgehogs). It is soft and comfortable for them to lie on as well.

You can usually find it in horse supply places. Here's a link-

http://www.hillmeadow.co.uk/BedXcel_Index.htm
 
I use newspaper throughout, megazorb and hay in the litter tray, straw in the bedroom bit.

When I get their playhouse I'll have carpet on the second floor and lino downstairs where their litter tray will be so it'll be easy to keep clean. the bedroom bit will prob still have hay for warmth and comfort.

Helen x
 
thanks for all your comments. I'm quite worried about the woodshavings now. I only cleaned them out yesterday but I think I will do it again after work - minus the shavings. I've never heard of megazorb. where can I get it from?
 
thanks - I'll have a phone round and see what I can get,

Will they mind that I am changing their bedding? They've always had the same - I dont want to upset them!!!
 
Your buns shouldn't mind you changing the bedding. I would watch them the first time you use it though just to check that they don't try and eat it. I have heard of a few buns that seem to like munching on it. It's not dangerous in the way that clumping or expanding cat litters are though so it shouldn't cause a problem.

When you are looking for a local supplier for Megazorb, try your local horse bedding/feed/farm suppliers as it was originally intended for stables and is known for that. You might get a few blank faces from local small animal/pet suppliers for this reason.

I think that your buns are going to love it.

Good luck
 
Bud does like chewing things he shouldn't - the magazorb wont make him poorly will it? I'm guessing it wont as everybody on here seems to use it!
 
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