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Ideas for hay dispensers etc U/D not going well!

SarahP

Wise Old Thumper
Right, let me explain! As part of my 'getting tough with E Cuniculi' plan, I am trying very very hard to stop my 2 bunnies reinfecting themselves. I have started bleaching their litter tray (well, dog bed), the kitchen floor, bowls etc. This was after advice I saw on a website that said that nothing kills the spores other than bleach (so the Virkon I'd been using probably wasn't doing much).

I always fill their litter tray with hay, on top of megazorb, so they are probably nibbling on the odd piece of contaminated (with urine) hay all the time. I'm therefore thinking that I will fill the tray with megazorb, and have a hay manager/box/dispenser of some kind right next to the litter tray. Needs to be small enough that they can't climb into it, but big enough to contain enough hay.

Obviously, the last thing I want to do is discourage them from eating hay (and will have to revisit the plan if that happens), but drastic steps are needed here!!

Any ideas on what to put the hay in would be gratefully received. :)

edit: I should explain that they are house bunnies and don't have anything to clip on to (eg hay rack). Would have to be free standing.
 
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Haven't got a picture of mine but I'm guessing yours are indoor bunnies? Do they have a cage to retreat to? Mine have a litter tray in their cage and I have a hay rack on the outside hung up just by the tray so they can sit in it and still munch the hay through the wire.
 
oops - sorry, I edited my post at the same time you were making yours to say that they don't have a cage, so nothing to clip on to. :(
 
I use nursery fireguards from Argos as moveable fencing - it comes in 2 panels and is freestanding if you turn it upside down as there's a big 'foot', so it's very stable - you could put a litter box on the foot so there's no danger of it tipping over, and hang the rack on the wire fireguard? About £20 I think. and folds flat :)
 
This is how I had my four set up inside, the haynet worked really well :D

CIMG7671.jpg
 
Audrey has a bowl of hay/dried grass in her normal ceramic food bowl. Strangely enough she seems to eat more this way, cos it's in her bowl I guess she associates it with food.

She has her pellets scattered around or in a treat ball.
 
Right, let me explain! As part of my 'getting tough with E Cuniculi' plan, I am trying very very hard to stop my 2 bunnies reinfecting themselves. I have started bleaching their litter tray (well, dog bed), the kitchen floor, bowls etc. This was after advice I saw on a website that said that nothing kills the spores other than bleach (so the Virkon I'd been using probably wasn't doing much).

I always fill their litter tray with hay, on top of megazorb, so they are probably nibbling on the odd piece of contaminated (with urine) hay all the time. I'm therefore thinking that I will fill the tray with megazorb, and have a hay manager/box/dispenser of some kind right next to the litter tray. Needs to be small enough that they can't climb into it, but big enough to contain enough hay.

Obviously, the last thing I want to do is discourage them from eating hay (and will have to revisit the plan if that happens), but drastic steps are needed here!!

Any ideas on what to put the hay in would be gratefully received. :)

edit: I should explain that they are house bunnies and don't have anything to clip on to (eg hay rack). Would have to be free standing.

What about this?

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/rodents/accessories/feeder_water_bottles/36330
 
We have hay containers dotted around the flat. There's a wicker washing basket, a small straw basket, and a couple of shoeboxes. I try to make each one different, so it has a different treat on top for him, and if I'm flush, they have different hays in them as well.
I got the baskets from a charity shop for £1 each, and he loves them cos he can gnaw on them as well. It's a cheap but effective alternative :D
b30FX.jpg
 
Mines will only eat hay if they can sit on it and possibly pee at the same time. Even Archie who loves any kind of hay will not touch it if it is in a rack :roll: Fuss pots:lol: :lol:
 
I use these
fatballcage.jpg
you can stuff lots of hay into them and then hang them from the mesh, if yours like to eat when in the litter tray, you can put a hook above the tray so they can eat while they use their tray.

They are bird fat feeders from a garden centre.
 
Mines will only eat hay if they can sit on it and possibly pee at the same time. Even Archie who loves any kind of hay will not touch it if it is in a rack :roll: Fuss pots:lol: :lol:

Yeah, that's what I'm worrying about with mine - hope I can re-educate them! :lol:
 
I use a metal hanging basket (£2.49) which is fastenend to the wall with there litter tray underneath, works a treat and holds stacks of hay, they seem very happy using it!:D
 
I have a haynet made from wire stuck to the wall in Sasuke and Zakura's cages. Unfortunately I'm having a problem with Zakura occasionally tearing it of:shock: Doesn't help what I do. Sasuke's fit fine though.
Sasukehviler.jpg

Here's a picture of Sasuke's haynet. Bought one at the pet store, the other at a farm store.

Out in the pen I sometimes give them hay in their salad balls, though they rarely eat hay when they have grass so:roll:
Zakura1.jpg

Aroma doesn't have a haynet, so she gets hers in this ball all the time (waiting for her new cage)
 
bunsandbella027.jpg


this is mine...well my rabbits, it is a hanging basket attached to the wall with 2 screws. you might want a smaller or higher one though as mine get in theirs to eat but it holds the hay really well :D. i also meshed the inside of mine because i got paranoid incase they put their heads through the bars :oops:
 
Please excuse the terrible picture...

deejbowlcage.jpg


Deej has a flat black hanging basket above his litter tray (which you can't see in that pic, but was put in as we too found he loves to eat in his litter tray), which is a great size and can be very easily tied or screwed to all sorts of things as it's quite light weight!

Occasionally we will put some hay in his tent, and he likes to eat there too, as he has his dinner (food bowls) on the mat outside his tent.

04_1.jpg

(this is it before we removed all the dangly toys).
 
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