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Bedding problems

dutchbunny

Mama Doe
I am at my wits end. We have tried virtually any form of bedding under the sun and my little girl, Watson, doesn't seem to like ANY of it.

Started with towels as nice and easy to clean. They got shoved aside by her and hubby Moses and they were lying on the plastic of the cage. Then we moved to bio degradable recycled paper bedding, definitely didnt like that.
Then tried news papers. They got ripped to bits and shoved into a corner.
Now we tried wood chips and she has moved everything onto one massive pile and is lying, you guessed it, on the plastic of the cage!

Now she's been getting pretty broody recently and I cant wait till I can get her sorted but I haven't got a clue what else to put in the cage.
I dont want to do carpet tiles. Because of the type of cage she can easily chew it and am scared she might swallow some of it.

Moses just stares at her most of the time, with this bewildered look on his face. Is it the hormones or do I have a high maintenance girl on my hands?
 
vegan_bunny, what is vet bed??

Yes I put hay on top of it, doesnt make any different. Put hay in the holder, she pulled it all out without eating it and threw it around the cage. There is no pleasing this missy!
 
Vet bed is like fleecy stuff usually with a none slip base. You can buy it from pet shops, ebay, amazon etc. It's used for animals that are poorly/incontinent but it's also used as a base for cages etc. I have 2 in my bedroom for my buns to sit on because Fiver gets sore hocks, they prefer to sit on the carpet though :roll:. The vet beds can be machine washable and you can buy them in a requested size or cut them down to fit the crate, get a couple and you can alternate them whilst washing one. :thumb:
 
Is she too warm?

Geoffrey Rabbit would push his bedding all to one side and sleep on the floor when he lived indoors for last winter. He was simply too hot with the bedding! (I will be the first to admit I keep my place very warm during the winter, I love my wood burner:love:)
 
Aside from having rabbits with special needs, I do wonder if we do things for ourselves rather than what our rabbits actually require. In all my years of having rabbits, none have paid particular attention to a 'sleeping area' as such. They prefer to be out in the run or may sit in the 'hall' area, leading to the sleeping area.

Personally I would not worry about bedding - at the most I would line it with newspaper/hay (mine would then use it as a litter tray).
 
The news paper does stop her from her constant quest of chewing the carpet. I will wait and see how she is after she's been sorted in September. When we had our boy done he calmed down so much that he doesnt do any of the chewing, tearing or scratching anymore.

Did have a look at vet bed and they are very expensive to be honest and I do think she will treat it the same way as everything else. Thank you for the tip though!
 
I use lino as a base under the pen. It's big enough that bun can't get to the edges as they're outside the pen (otherwise they would be nibbled!). He also has a blanket and a small carpet mat in the pen. But he seems to prefer just sitting or lying on the lino, and blankets get pushed aside too! I got it from the local carpet shop - just a cut off which was large enough for £8 :) The guy guessed it was for a bunny room before I told him why I wanted a cheap off cut :lol: Saves nibbled carpet too :)
 
Lino unfortunately wouldnt work. I got a cage for them. Massive beast taking up half my old dining room so lino would always end inside the cage and guaranteed Watson will eat it, which is what I am terrified of!

Some day we will build them a multi story indoor house but we are renting at present and our house isnt very big so my monster cage will have to do. They already have my old dining area to run around it when we are home. can't wait to buy a house so I can create a proper bunny room for them!
 
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