• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Suggestions instead of straw bedding.

I recently (3wks ago) became a bunny mummy to a 5month old white blue eyed lop which as we are H.Potter fan household we renamed him Dobby. He came in a standard small cage so straight away after googling for advice I put him in a medium dog crate which he loved and has been my best friend ever since. Anyway today I extended this crate as an add on to an even larger crate/cage but am looking for advice if the straw used for bedding that he's use to could/should be replaced with something that makes less of a mess of my living room. As my neighbours must think I'm obsessed hoovering 2 a day lol 😆 I'm in the uk btw x
 
hi! welcome to RU. I'm glad you've done some research and gotten him a much larger cage. the things you see in pet stores really aren't suitable, nor are most of the hutches :( its sad. I'm not sure how much you know, but I'd just like to cover some basics with you if that's alright. you can disregard this if its information you're aware of!

- Dobby will need to be vaccinated for three deadly diseases, myxi, RHD1, and a new horrible strain called RHD2. the first two (myxi, RHD1) come as a combination vaccine known mostly as nobivac. the second requires its own vaccine mostly known under filivac. vaccination is the only protection.
- I would suggest finding a good exotic vet, or one with a rabbit specalist to be under. the RWAF has a list of registered vets here so you know you're in good hands
- I have no idea if he is but, now is also probably a good time to start thinking about neutering. he's of age and will start to become full of hormones. it makes litter training a harder process as well, aggression, humping and spraying will perhaps start to happen too. he'll be a happier bunny without his plums ;)
- in the future, I would also suggest after neutering that it would be a good time to look for a friend. bunnies thrive on bunny company and having a human only friend just idn't the same.

anyway, sorry for lecturing you. I just wanted to drop some info as I'm never sure how much people are aware :D

I personally use bathmats, but my girl has some troubles with arthritis so she sometimes can't quite make it to the litter tray. they work for me as they are absorbable. the only problem is is that they unravel so if they chew it, you end up with a blockage possible.

polar fleece or anti-pill fleece is very good as it doesn't unravel and is very hard to chew in my opinion.

it really just depends on your bunny, thankfully mine have never chewed the blankets i've provided in cages, but have eaten any soft beds they have been offered :lol: some bunnies also pee on soft things so blankets are out of the question.

is he litter trained? if not, its probably best that you do that first before you change bedding. here are some useful links on litter training your bunny:
https://rabbit.org/faq-litter-training-2/
http://myhouserabbit.com/rabbit-care/litter-training-your-pet-rabbit/

here are some other links for you as well to check out :)
https://rabbit.org/faq-spaying-and-neutering/ : information on spaying and neutering
https://www.vets4pets.com/pet-health-advice/rabbit-advice/neutering-your-rabbit/ : information on spaying and neutering
https://www.saveafluff.co.uk/rabbit-info/neutering-spaying-rabbits : information on spaying and neutering
https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-care-advice/rabbit-friendly-vets/rabbit-friendly-vet-list/ : a rabbit approved vet list, all vet practices on here have a rabbit savvy vet so you know you're safe with them :)

generally for any good online advice, these places hold reliable and accurate information:
http://myhouserabbit.com
https://rabbit.org
https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk
https://www.saveafluff.co.uk
http://www.therabbithouse.com
 
Hi there :) I have house rabbits and currently just use puppy pads to line their cage with, B&M are probably the cheapest place to get them and they're decent quality too.

I have also tried non-slip vet bed, it was a nightmare at first because my boys would just pee all over it. The vet bed stays dry on top and the smell didn't come through, so I didn't think to look underneath until days later and it was dripping :shock: After they were neutered and their hormones settled down they stopped weeing all over it and used their tray 99% of the time, but I still found it quite hard to clean because fur and hay gets really stuck in it. It is great though for poorly buns or those with sore feet because it's so soft and it keeps them dry, but some rabbits will just chew/dig at it.

Blankets were useless with my lot because they would just wee all over it and unlike vet bed, the wee just stays at the top and the rabbits walk in it. They also chewed them to bits.

They loved chewing my rug so I bought some waterproof fabric from ebay (it's like what you'd put on outdoor chairs) to cover it, that works well because it's very hard for them to grip on to it with their teeth, it gives them some traction so they don't slip around and if they do wee it isn't absorbed at all so the rug is safe and its easy to clean up. I haven't tried using it in their cage because I think they'll just end up digging at the edges and chewing it.

So yes right now I just line the cage with puppy pads. They don't wee on them but it's a bit comfier for them than a plastic base. Also once they've used their litter tray they have to hop across two puppy pads before they come out in the living room so if they stood in a damp area of their tray, the pads would dry their feed before they start running around my room. In the litter tray I use woodshavings or wood pellets but I always cover them with some hay because the pellets are harsh on bunnies feed and woodshavings would just stick to them and get dragged everywhere. If you use hay which has long strands they might drag the odd strand out but it's better than having woodshavings everywhere :)
 
Hello and welcome. I never use straw, just newspaper and hay in the litter tray. I am afraid there will always be a bit of a mess as rabbits need constant supply of hay. This should make up about 80% of their diet so there is no way of getting round it. If you put it in the litter tray it will encourage your bunny to use it for a toilet.
 
Thanks for the advice, the more the better as feel like a first time mum again lol. He's booked in to get his first lot of vaccines on Weds so going to discuss getting him done with the vet yet as he started trying to hump my teen daughter this wk. So far he's a clean bunny, only wee's and poops in one corner of his cage and hasn't done anything outside of cage yet��. So today I put in a litter tray in to see if he'd use it but am I right in thinking, this will be easier to train to use it once he's been done?
 
Ooo thank you, I never thought of putting hay in the litter tray but I put a hay feeder nxt to it. Would he eat hay thats he's pooped and weed on?
 
It's a good idea to get him used to a litter tray asap and no worries about eating soiled hay as it will need to be cleaned out daily. Most of us use litter trays or something similar and quite often they go to sleep in them! You can try a hayrack with a litter tray underneath it. The thing is rabbits like to chew while they pooh :lol:
 
Is just newpaper soft enough for his feet? Have read somewhere that rabbits can get sores on their feet if constantly on hard surfaces.
 
I will try the hay in litter tray instead of straw now as I clean or what I call pooper scoop daily and do a through clean with white vinegar and hot water once a wk. Found out about doing this via the power of google ��
 
We never stop learning about rabbits. I've had rabbits for 20 years with no sore hocks. Rex rabbits are the ones which tend to get sore hocks most.
 
Good old vinegar and water. Works a treat.

My four have newspaper and hay in their litter trays and a magazine rack for extra hay (stalky timothy hay)

2vjd1q8.jpg


2nkpbb8.jpg
 
It's amazing what I've learnt in just the past few wks. Every spare min I have I'm reading something rabbit related lol. Rex is that a breed?
Does anyone have pics of their rabbit homes? As would love to see them
 
Hello and welcome to the forum! [emoji3]

My two bunnies have full free range of my flat and generally sleep out on rugs in the living room. They also have a couple of hides they can go and sleep in when they want. This first one is in the living room and is from Manor Pet Housing. This one is the bunny manor and is quite large. They do other hides of different shapes and sizes.

4c9fdef051e50a5764095d1b748b2ba6.jpg


There is also a smaller one for them in the bedroom. This is from Small Paws Playtime. Again they do lots of different hides of all shapes and sizes.

aa28393a646b7980613f2edd9f7d98d6.jpg


There's nothing in the hides other than rugs to sleep on.

There can be quite a long wait time for both these companies, about 1 to 2 months as they make the hides to order. The Hay Experts also do little hides. The choice is much more limited but you would get them more quickly (usually a couple of days).

The Hay Experts is well worth looking at generally. A lot of us on here buy from there regularly. It's a good place for hay and dried grass, dried forage, healthy bunny treats and toys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Lots of us use an underbed storage box as a giant litter tray. The hay has more chance of staying in it, especially if you use a large cardboard box over one end to form a shelter.
 
My four sleep in their lino lined shed. They lie in their litter trays (32 litre underbed storage boxes full of newspapaper and hay) or under pine shelves directly on the floor.

Any soft things (rugs or fabric of any kind) get wee'd on and chewed.
 
Most rabbits naturally use one corner of their cage for most of their wee's/poos, I would definitely put a tray in his chosen spot and get him used to the idea of sitting in it when he needs the toilet. Young rabbits and unfixed rabbits are very likely to have accidents, so don't be surprised if he wee's outside of his tray (the sofa used to be my boys favourite pee spot :roll: ). Rabbits also mark their territory by leaving lots of little poops around, especially when unfixed or someplace new, but again this will settle down. Right now I'd say my rabbits do all their wee's in their litter tray, 95% of their poos in the tray, 4% dotted around the rest of the cage and then the other 1% when they're out in the room. Also my rabbits associate hay with toilet so will wee wherever there is hay. I used to use those hay racks that go on the outside of the cage, but then when they were out in the living room they could get to the hay from the outside of their cage, make a mess and then wee on it, so now hay is strictly in the litter tray or in a rack right above it
 
Back
Top