Bedding versus litter

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misssara.k89

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I am trying to figure out what the best bedding is for my bunny Skyy. My bun is half Blue eyed White Lion head and half Holland lop. I heard the FelinePine shown in the pic below was the best litter for odor control and absorption especially since I'm still trying to litter train her, but now I'm trying to figure out the best type of bedding for her. I was using the corn cob bedding but it doesn't work that well. Any suggestions??
 

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Wood pellets from tractor supply have reported to be just as good as feline pine. And since wood pellets are cheaper I would go with wood pellets.
 
Pellets can be used for either litter or bedding. However, indoor rabbits don't need loose bedding in their cage. Having loose bedding not only makes a mess, but is unnecessary and can actually confuse bunny as to where to go potty.
 
Ok so it's ok if I use feline pine as bedding too?
Yes you may. But as I said, it may confuse bunny as to where to go potty. She can't tell the difference between bedding in the cage and bedding in a litter box. It's just all bedding/litter to her.

Your rabbit is indoors, right? Could you show a photo of her cage set up. You may not need to bother with any bedding at all. That would be much easier -- having just the litter box with litter.
 
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Yes you may. But as I said, it may confuse bunny as to where to go potty. She can't tell the difference between bedding in the cage and bedding in a litter box. It's just all bedding/litter to her.

Your rabbit is indoors, right? Could you show a photo of her cage set up. You may not need to bother with any bedding at all. That would be much easier -- having just the litter box with litter.
I've been trying different setups and seeing what she likes but can't get it quite ri
 

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I've been trying different setups and seeing what she likes but can't get it quite ri
That cage is way too small, the litter box is way too small, and water bottles are not the best choice for rabbits. I see a gray colored litter box in the photo, will you be using that as her litter box eventually? I would hope that you would only use that cage for potty training and then move the bunny to a MUCH larger enclosure for several hours each day, if you can't give her access full time. I have two dwarf rabbits and they have two litter boxes that are the size of that cage. Having a nice roomy litter box filled with hay might encourage your bunny to spend a lot of time in it and do her business in it.

Having any kind of bedding in my rabbit's cages during potty training was a big mistake for us. I took every soft surface out of the cage and put wood pellets covered in hay ONLY in the litter box until my baby bunnies were reliably potty trained. My bunnies had to sleep on hard plastic for a while and it was hard to do but it worked. My male trained quickly, my female took several months. When my female was reliably potty trained, I started putting fleece blankets in her cage. I had to take them away a few times to reinforce the potty training but now, over a year later, my rabbits are potty trained, neutered, bonded, and live in a play pen with fleece blankets and litter boxes filled with pellets and hay. No other bedding. They rarely pee outside their litter boxes and I only find random stray poops around the play pen, which is to be expected. If I lay down a full size fleece blanket that covers the entire floor of the play pen, then my female will pee on it. So I only give them 2 or 3 small knotted fleece blankets that measure about 2'x2'. My rabbits can dig in the blankets, lay on them, hide under them, etc. The trick for us was to keep the blankets small. I'm not sure why it works, but it does!

I've changed my set up a little bit and my eventual goal is to free roam my bunnies in my living room but here's what their living arrangements looked like after they were neutered and bonded:

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I've been trying different setups and seeing what she likes but can't get it quite ri
I can see why you are having trouble. The cage itself is about the size that a litter box should be. So you've been trying to fit a litter box inside a cage that is, itself, the size of a litter box. Do you have an exercise pen?

I would suggest using an exercise pen to create a permanent area for her. The current cage can then either be converted into a litter box (just remove the top and use the purple part for the litter box), OR it could possibly used for a hidey area (just empty it of everything and drape a sheet or fleece blanket on top of it so just the front is open). If you turn it into a hidey, then remove the ramp/door or cover it with something so her paws don't get trapped.

If you use the current cage for a hidey area inside the exercise pen, then the gray pan can be used for a litter box. Be sure to keep the hidey cage away from the pen walls or she might use it as a step to hop over the pen wall.

The water bottle you have is hanging too low. Bunny has to twist her head to get to the water. Bowls are better for water. You can get one that twists onto a clamp. The clamp can be attached to the outside of the cage or to the exercise pen.

Here is an example of how a standard exercise pen is used to create a good size area by making use of one wall. [ @Butterscotch ' photo is another example of a pen cage]
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Once you have an exercise pen area setup for your rabbit, you can add that cardboard hidey box and various toys.

For the litter box set up -- whether you use the purple base or the gray box -- put your pine pellets in the bottom of the box and then top it with hay. You can see the litter box in my photo above on the back right.
Here is how the litter box is set up:
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You'll notice that in both my pics and those of @Butterscotch that there is no loose bedding anywhere. Only the litter boxes have bedding/litter.
 

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