General housing questions

Sorry I've been asking a lot of questions lately, but the bunnies are moving into new accommodation and I have a few things I want to clarify.

1. Lino or vinyl? I understand both are similar but I'd like to know the difference in a bunny-hutch situation. Do you generally curve the flooring up onto the walls a little and then fix it there with metal edging? How do I fix it to the hutch floor? Do you usually put newspaper down or just as extra insulation in winter?
2. Any recommended disinfectants besides the vinegar and water solution? I'm using the Johnsons Clean N' Safe brand but I don't think it's particularly effective.
3. About blankets for bedding. What kind is suitable? Fleece seems like a good option. A no-brainer, but does it need be specifically rabbit-/baby-/pet-safe? It's no issue, but just so I know what I'm looking for.
4. Digging boxes. What do you usually put in them? I'm thinking sand, but I'm also thinking shredded paper. What kind of sand is safe to use?

Whew. Thanks for reading - share your opinions and advice, the more the merrier.

naohren x

I don't have much of any use for some of these (sorry!) but I've put in a couple of thoughts in bold below. I hope they might be of some use!

naohren said:

Sorry I've been asking a lot of questions lately, but the bunnies are moving into new accommodation and I have a few things I want to clarify.

1. Lino or vinyl? I understand both are similar but I'd like to know the difference in a bunny-hutch situation. Do you generally curve the flooring up onto the walls a little and then fix it there with metal edging? How do I fix it to the hutch floor? Do you usually put newspaper down or just as extra insulation in winter?
2. Any recommended disinfectants besides the vinegar and water solution? I'm using the Johnsons Clean N' Safe brand but I don't think it's particularly effective. I use the basic one we found at Wilkinsons, which seems to do the trick if there's time for it to work, but I think I might switch to vinegar now I know about it - I'm always nervous about using any chemicals around the animals.
3. About blankets for bedding. What kind is suitable? Fleece seems like a good option. A no-brainer, but does it need be specifically rabbit-/baby-/pet-safe? It's no issue, but just so I know what I'm looking for.
4. Digging boxes. What do you usually put in them? I'm thinking sand, but I'm also thinking shredded paper. What kind of sand is safe to use? I put in some sand we had lying around from the hamster rejecting sand baths (I think it was some sort of chinchilla/lizard sand, it's bright pink) and then covered that with soil. Monty has dug in it about twice since he moved in, but every evening he'll go and flump in it in a very satisfied way - it's his favourite flumping place, I think he likes the feel of the soil to lie on. Tho' that does mean there's permanently a circle of soil spreading outwards from it across the living room floor...

Whew. Thanks for reading - share your opinions and advice, the more the merrier.

naohren x

Click to expand...

Hi :wave:

Just had a quick Google re Lino and vinyl and the difference is in their composition, natural vs man made fibres, but in terms of its use I don't think it matters too much. I've found that generally vinyl seems more widely available and usually cheaper.

For my sheds and playhouses I have just taken the vinyl to the edges and tacked it down, but they do usually try and chew it if they can find a gap anywhere. So putting edging around probably wouldn't be a bad idea.

I don't use newspaper. I buy Fitch bedding https://www.fitchrecycling.co.uk/fitch-pet-store/rabbit-guinea-pig-hamster/bedding.html

I use the same brand cleaner as you.

x

1- as thethreebs said :thumb: rubber stable matting would be a good option if it's in a shed-its very thick, and provides a lot of grip. When I had outside rabbits I used conveyor belt matting in their shed, it's 1cm thick and was cheap as it was used-but pristine on the other side! I kept the floor clear and just had bedding in litter trays.
2-Virkon and Arkklens are both good and I've used both. If you have a steam cleaner they are good.
3-fleece blankets are good, providing you don't have rabbits that wee on anything soft!
4-digging boxes I would just use plain soil, but it might become an extra toilet

Vinyl and lino are essentially the same thing for these purposes. Non-slip would be useful. Curving it up the walls and sealing the joints has a few advantages - it makes it less easy to chew a loose edge, and it is easier to clean properly as the bits don't get stuck in a joint at the floor edge. Anything cheap that fits will do the job - look for offcuts.

Disinfectants - sweep out any solid debris, scrub off anything that is stuck on, and then a bucket of warm water with a squirt of washing up liquid and a squirt of standard bleach will do an excellent job. Leave to air dry. There's no need for branded hutch cleaners. If you need something 'extra', then Virkon will provide an additional level of disinfection for all things washable (including in the washing machine).

Blankets - if the bunnies are not chewers, fleece blankets will work and are readily available. They are easy to wash and dry. You may need a mesh bag (see horse supplies) to wash it in or your machine may get gummed up with bits of hay and fur. Vetbed is another option. Felt will be almost impossible to keep clean and dry, as well as being very expensive.

Digging boxes - look at something like an underbed / large plastic storage box, hooded litter tray or child's sandpit. I don't use them, but would use soil or bagged compost with hay if I did need them.

Thank you so much for the help, everyone. I had rabbits previously for about six years but due to sharing and a lack of proper awareness as a child I missed some useful information! The community and advice here is invaluable as someone helping out baby rescue bunnies. I want them to have lots of interesting things to do and a comfy place to chill out, but to give them that I need to know what steps to take ^^

I think I'll take a look at Vetbed for soft winter bedding. I'll also look out for nice grippy flooring! The rabbits went inside yesterday while my dad cut the grass and they did not like the laminate much. Again, thank you all for the advice. <3 Hopefully I can sort all this out soon.

1.I don't know about lino and vinyl, but both are safe
2. Water and vinegar is always going to be safe so I stick to it
3. I find that fleece is good because in my experience it doesn't come apart in long threads and fibres that they could swallow. Towels and fleece work well for me, just ensure your buns aren't chewers first
4. Are your rabbits outside, because you can sometimes fill large outdoor boxes/planters with fertiliser-free soil/sand. Children's play sand is fine. On a smaller scale, shredded paper is okay