How to keep hay tidy

We have a 3 month old giant lop buck, he is very well litter trained (except when on the sofa!!!!) and is generally mess free. As hay makes up 80-90% of his diet we put it in a corner of his litter tray as he loves to poo and eat @ the same time!!!! The tray is in our bathroom (which is very big) but when he hops out he seems to carry strands with him, i know its a small problem as is easily sweeped up but im getting tired of seeing and sweeping the mess multiple times a day. i have tried the hay cakes but they just break up and make more mess and he doesnt get on with a hay rack at all (which i also found more messy as it fell through the bottom everywhere). I even tried putting a small pot of hay in his tray hoping he would eat over it as such (wishful thinking) but he hated it and spent 10 minutes throwing it around till it eventually went over the side of the tray. Im just wondering how other people get on and maybe could advise of potential remedys?

I think getting hay all round the house comes with having a house rabbit. I tried those hay cakes once but found they made even more mess. I don't think there is a magic remedy to reduce hay making a mess. It's something you just have to put up with and hoover and sweep up regularly. Sorry that's not much help.

racheljessica said:

I think getting hay all round the house comes with having a house rabbit. I tried those hay cakes once but found they made even more mess. I don't think there is a magic remedy to reduce hay making a mess. It's something you just have to put up with and hoover and sweep up regularly. Sorry that's not much help.

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Yep i would agree with this, i am forever hoovering our bedroom as Molly makes such a mess with her hay

racheljessica said:

I think getting hay all round the house comes with having a house rabbit. I tried those hay cakes once but found they made even more mess. I don't think there is a magic remedy to reduce hay making a mess. It's something you just have to put up with and hoover and sweep up regularly. Sorry that's not much help.

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My thoughts exactly..

Yep, you just have to get used to it!

It's not fair to give them hay cakes and deprive them of hay, the main reason they need hay is to wear down their teeth, so the stalkier the better... hay cakes are basically tiny bits of chopped hay that will be great for fibre intake, but not enough to do their teeth as much good.

Thank you all for your replies - i didnt think there would be a simple solution but its nice to know there defo isnt a trick i was missing. We are moving house soon so Alfie will soon have a room of his own and im guessing since i wont have to look @ the mess 24/7 then the hoovering/sweeping can reduce down to morning and evening (which is a great improvement).

Thanks again :wave:

Does he have a cage as a "base"? I have a large dog crate, it is always open but I keep the litter tray and hay in there...seems to stop it getting around too much

No, no cage, at the moment the bathroom is his base when we are out and he free roams when we are in (4pm - 11pm and most of the day sat & sun). I thought as he will grow very big he would out grow most cages so start as we mean to carry on. Im hoping once he is old enough and totally trusted he can free roam all day.

Alfie cohub said:

Thank you all for your replies - i didnt think there would be a simple solution but its nice to know there defo isnt a trick i was missing. We are moving house soon so Alfie will soon have a room of his own and im guessing since i wont have to look @ the mess 24/7 then the hoovering/sweeping can reduce down to morning and evening (which is a great improvement).

Thanks again :wave:

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Oh trust me you will still have hay everywhere! Strawberry and Snowdrop have their own room upstairs and yet I still have hay in my living room, kitchen, bathroom! You wouldnt believe how much hay can travel!

that's such a relief! i thought it was just me....