Advice of Bedding-shavings or pellets & saftey? Food - intro greens to young.

Hi all!
New here - so hope my questions arent silly!

Ive got 2 Dwarf lops - now just over 10 weeks old - very sweet & fun and very different characters.

I bought the hay & softwood shavings & pellets (Pets at Home brand- and bunnies from the adoption section - otherwise a rescue centre it would have been!) that they were being given and have now had them for 1 week - and need to get more essentials. Thing is Ive done loads of reading and found that its recommended pine/cedar softwood shavings are posiibly NOT the best thing for them and also unsafe. The packet of shavings doesnt say what type of wood was used except for softwood - so am worried this is too toxic for them? Surely it should state that?

Could anyone advise of other options that are safer?
Cost effective would be great too obviously - but my main concern is their health. They seem quite curious discovering bits to chew on and dig in - so with thatin mind the bedding may well be eaten abit.

Im confused at all the advice the internet offers and need to get hay & bedding asap.

Types of pellets or shavings or what the best option would be great!
Also Ive introduced apples and banana - as the little one was not well the other night and i was up till 2am making sure she didnt de-hydrate - abit of honey water and apple got her going - with banana (due to potassium which helps them absord nutirents) - she was skipping round the room and looking alot happier - bless her!

So - Ive also given them some carrot which they enjoyed - but need advice as to what to introduce them to next as they are so young?
Ive also given them junior pellets (30g) each a day and plenty of hay.
They seem very keen on the pellets though - how do I know Im not over or underfeeding them?
Should they have access to pelltes all day? Ive not done that.

I kept them on hay for the first 48 hrs and then gave them pellets - then the smaller had diahera (spelling!) - so lots of cleaning her and did the above with getting her to eat and drink again.

Sooooo - long story but advice owuld be great - many thanks on behalf of the bunnies!

thanks, michelle

I use Megazorb, it comes in a big sack though so you need somewhere to keep it! It lasts about a month with two litter trays and a rat cage And only costs about £7 or £8 :wave: You should be able to get it from horse supply places, its totally safe. My rats have very bad chests and Megazorb is something my vet is ok with them having in their cages so :wave:

Hi - Many thanks!

I asked baout megazord at our local horsey place & they never heard of it!:shock:

I ened up getting some carefresh - which has been a nightmare as Indiana goes mad eating it (and everything else !) and has now taught Arrabella to eat it too!

So am useing newspaper & hay with a handful of carefresh in their litter tray - which they still try to eat.....eeeeuuuuw!:lol:

Im giong through loads of newspapers - its always damp!

will keep my eyes open for megazorb! At the mo - shavings is the only thing they dont eat! They even eating the newspapers!

thanks again!

If you got outisde buns you can use old carpets scraps, cheap hay for bedding (and better quailty for food) or carefresh or again megazord. You can also you sticky back tiles to protect the wood.

If you got indoor buns you could just you old carpet, blankets and even cat bed plastic and then litter train your buns (then you can non clay based cat litter like bio cat pets at home sell it) as a litter.

Food wise check out the care section? and look for diet for what your buns can and can't eat.

Hope this helps good luck with your new buns

to be honest i use a fleece blanket.
for bedding in the litter trays i use hemp, its cheap and lasts forever! there is also very little smell.

if your going to use shavings make sure they are aspen. pine and cedar are no good for bunnies. Also, if your going to use cat litter, use yesterdays news. But be careful with that brand because it looks exactly like pellets and they make think they are and eat them.


sometimes bunnies appreciate a nice cool place to lay down, specially since its getting warmer.

Thanks guys!

Some great ideas! Im now just useing newspaper & some meadow hay in the area where the wee (thisis in the cage) and I leave the newspaper bare on the other side so they can at least lie in no wee bits! lol!:lol:

I let the mout each day for most of the day and they have alitter tray which has newspaper & lots of hay. Ive been hideing the carefr4esh underneath the newspaper in the cage & loitter tray where they wee so that helps abit....but blesss them - each day is a full cage clean out as it all gets wet!

Im on the look out for the perfect indoor cage....so they have more "indoor" room and can have abit more of their own space....so am hoping that when i get that - i can fit a litter tray inside and that will solve a few probs - then I can use tiles or fleece or carpet for the rest of the cage.....though not sure how dry they will keep it!

I like the hemp idea....whats the brand called/type? where do i start looking?

Ive found that my buns use their litter tray quite well - though both did a naughty wee next to it the other day which i was not happy about!:roll: One bun also tends to still just poop where she feels like it.....any tips? Usually I pick themup - show her them and put them in the litter trsay - but she just hops off!:roll::lol:

Thanks again guys! they doing really well now & putting on a bit of weight - but still so little!