Wdyt? Exploring an idea

[hiraeth.21]

https://www.amazon.com/Kennel-Aire-...1&keywords=rabbit+cage&qid=1598085794&sr=8-55
My two buns will be getting neutered soon, and after they've bonded I'm exploring ways to save space (they have separate enclosures right now). They're both small bunnies about 4 lbs. So y'all know how the typical litter pan set up has the hay and stuff in reach for the bunnies? My thing with the wired flooring was that I was thinking, can it be used like a really giant litter box? Especially, if I only use it to put water, food and hay in so they can eat and poop in there but they still have access to the whole house. I read that wired flooring was bad, but my bunnies are not caged. They're free roam. It'll just be like a really big litter box with no bedding?

I was thinking it would be nice if I could line the bottom tray with a puppy pee pad, which would catch the pee and poops, reducing all my litter waste.

Right now, with the normal cat litter box. I change it every other day cause I don't like seeing the really dirty cat litter pans filled with poops and pee. Especially when I have hay in it. But this produces a lot of waste and I'm using pee pads (that I cut into small squares) on the bottom anyways to soak the pee instead of letting it pool in the cat litter pan.

 

[Hermelin]

The pan doesn’t really look that deep, do you use any wood pellets in the litter to soak up urine and it also help hiding droppings. Myself often don’t see the droppings if it haven’t gone at least 2-3 days.

I don’t know how big the wire is so the paws don’t get stuck. But if it just when eating it should be okay. Because their paws can rest outside the cage.

 

[hiraeth.21]

Thank you. I use the yesterdays news pellets but it soaks it up and clumps together in a huge pee smelling wad. But I'm awake now and the more I think about it I don't think it'll work anyways. The whole thing just seems too small.

 

[Hermelin]

It’s true it looked pretty small, maybe you can try another litter in the box and see if it will look better. Wood pellets is really popular because you can buy big bags for a pretty good deal.

Otherwise you can try doing a litter box that have layers. Myself got one, it makes the urine go to the lower pan while droppings stay at the same level as the hay like the peewee litter box, there a video on youtube on how to make one

I only need to clean twice every week but because I have more than one litter box in the house I only need to clean the litter boxes once every week. Only time it will smell is if I go over one week. Sometimes I forget I haven’t cleaned the litter box during the week, at least it don’t happen that often.

Only time I had to clean the litter box often was when I had my giant bunny.

 

[hiraeth.21]

What kind of wood pellets do you use? Maybe I'll try mixing them. Yesterday's news is kinda expensive but I was tired of pulling aspen off of my bunny's butt. He's got long hair and he spreads aspen everywhere.

 

[Hermelin]

You should be able to buy normal wood pellets from tractor stores. Myself can’t buy any of wood pellets because the nearest tractor store is 1,5 hours drive from my place. So I use just normal paper based pellets that don’t clump together. For me a bag of paper based pellets cost around 15$ which is litter for a month and I’m a person that waste a lot of litter. I fill up the pans with litter and I have 3 litter boxes for two bunnies. But I’m from sweden, so the brands will be different. But many on the forum use wood pellets and might be able to give tips of different brands.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

These are the pellets I use: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tractor-supply-pine-pellet-stall-bedding-40-lb. They last my rabbit over a year, and I change his litter box every week.

 

[Blue eyes]

Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware, Cal-Ranch, and feed stores all (usually) carry wood pellets. They are sold either as wood pellets for wood pellet stoves, or as pelletized horse bedding.

They usually cost around $4-$7 for a 40lb bag. I'm sure you know that's considerably less than Yesterday's News. I also used to use YN. You'll need to get used to using much less of the wood pellets as they are more absorbent (odor and urine).

With one average size rabbit (5-7lbs) this will last a week before odor is detected. With 2 average size rabbits, its cleaned twice per week. (same as @Hermelin and @Mariam+Theo )

Here's a visual to show how I set up a litter box -- I would use this size box whether I had 1 or 2 rabbits (dwarf or average size).

 

[Diane R]

That cage looks horrible. Even if you intend to use it as a litter tray only, can't be comfortable for bunnies to be on wire. I pick up poop and wet litter twice a day, it doesn't take that long.

 

[Blue eyes]

That cage looks horrible. Even if you intend to use it as a litter tray only, can't be comfortable for bunnies to be on wire.

@Diane R , you may have missed that the OP, it seems, decided against the cage.

But I'm awake now and the more I think about it I don't think it'll work anyways. The whole thing just seems too small.

 

[Happy Hollands]

I've used this same method in the past, and it worked well as a "home base".

Any cage will do, I personally used this one. It served as a giant litter box. I used Yesterday's News non-clumping cat litter and changed it every 3 days... I've never personally had any issues with this litter. Hay, pellets, and the water bowl were also provided in this cage. Putting the hay above the litter pan is a smart choice to help encourage litter box training - rabbits prefer to multitask by going potty and eating at the same time!

Would you plan on keeping them contained in the cage during the night / when you are not home? If so, I feel this cage will be too small for two bunnies. You may want to consider another option, such as a dog exercise pen. Hope this helps!