Advice on Drop Pans Please

[rcohen1982]

Ok, I saw this and want to know if other people have used it and if so if it works for them. If not, would you think it would be a good buy? It will be for cages that are stacked 3 high. My cages are 36x24 and divided, which makes them 18x24 each. Which is exactly what this is for. I want to one day get the KW Flush Kleen System, and with my finaces it looks to be the next best thing. Right now I wrap my trays in trash bags and put pine in the corners and changes the cages everyday. This is QUITE pricey, especially since I have to get the 39 gallon trash bags and they only come in 18 bags for $7. So, I go through like 2 boxes a week, plus pine. But will be having more rabbits and cages soon, so I will be spending more. I do this because I am in an apartment. I hate the smell and can't imagine they do either. So, I hope the picture comes out good enough, if not let me know and I will do my best to get you more information since I could only take the picture out of my catalog, I could find a picture of it online. Thanks

Rachel

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

I have known a few people who got the Flush-Kleen trays and weren't happy with them because if you feed hay, the hay clogs up the little hole. So the trays were more of a pain than they were worth.

I'm also not sure a Flush-Kleen system would be condusive to apartment living...lol! If you are looking into having a large amount of rabbits, I'd probably look into renting a horse stall somewhere or a small shed to keep your rabbits in. Having a breeding/show herd in an apartment is do-able but like you said, it's expensive to keep it clean enough. Once my numbers moved up to 6, we just couldn't keep them in the house anymore. I was cleaning every other day and it still smelled like rabbits!

 

[rcohen1982]

OakRidgeRabbits wrote:

I have known a few people who got the Flush-Kleen trays and weren't happy with them because if you feed hay, the hay clogs up the little hole. So the trays were more of a pain than they were worth.

I'm also not sure a Flush-Kleen system would be condusive to apartment living...lol! If you are looking into having a large amount of rabbits, I'd probably look into renting a horse stall somewhere or a small shed to keep your rabbits in. Having a breeding/show herd in an apartment is do-able but like you said, it's expensive to keep it clean enough. Once my numbers moved up to 6, we just couldn't keep them in the house anymore. I was cleaning every other day and it still smelled like rabbits!

I was planning on laying a wire 'trap' over the holes. It would be the same wire that I use for my cages, that way the hay would stay on top and can just be collected before flushing the system. Do you think that will help?

As far as getting someplace to rent to put them in, that would be wonderful but I live in the city and have no clue on where to being to look. Plus I would want to be able to check on them whenver I wanted without having to drive at least 30 minutes.



Rachel

 

[lelanatty]

That looks awesome! I have no experience with these, but it looks like it would beat the pans that I have now.

I am not sure that it would be a good idea for an indoor environment though, because since you have to rinse them out, things could splash and make an even bigger mess.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

No real comments on the "Flush/Clean". If you can make it work for you then you're okay. If you use plastic garbage bags just as a liner, why not buy a roll of plastic instead--seems like it should be less expensive that way. Also, we have a pan in all our hutches that works as a potty and resting area--that gets cleaned daily and the pans beneath the hutches only need to be changed once a month or spot cleaned thus using way less bedding.

 

[rcohen1982]

Nancy McClelland wrote:

No real comments on the "Flush/Clean". If you can make it work for you then you're okay. If you use plastic garbage bags just as a liner, why not buy a roll of plastic instead--seems like it should be less expensive that way. Also, we have a pan in all our hutches that works as a potty and resting area--that gets cleaned daily and the pans beneath the hutches only need to be changed once a month or spot cleaned thus using way less bedding.

What size cages and for what breed? That sounds like a wonderful idea, but I am afraid they won't have enough room to play and do binkies.



Rachel

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

Like someone else mentioned I would really look into alternatives. If you're saying it has a bit of an odor in your house, thats not healthy on the rabbits respitory system. If you can expand your cages to 24x24 and add the litter pan, that will help. Or even like someone said to help you afford it better, get rolls of plastic, and even the cheap 3 dollar 25 pound bags of kitty litter to sprinkle all over the tray will probably help cut a bit of the odor.

can you rent a small house with your own yard, instead of where you are (i'm picturing an apartment building is why they're not outside)

 

[rcohen1982]

AndersonsRabbits wrote:

Like someone else mentioned I would really look into alternatives. If you're saying it has a bit of an odor in your house, thats not healthy on the rabbits respitory system. If you can expand your cages to 24x24 and add the litter pan, that will help. Or even like someone said to help you afford it better, get rolls of plastic, and even the cheap 3 dollar 25 pound bags of kitty litter to sprinkle all over the tray will probably help cut a bit of the odor.

can you rent a small house with your own yard, instead of where you are (i'm picturing an apartment building is why they're not outside)

Yes, we live in an apartment, with the hopes of around March or May moving into a trailer or rent a house. I think that I may continue with what I am doing. I have had several people, including my apartment manager say that they can't smell anything, but I am afraid people can it bothers me. I am the type of person that has all kinds of candles and fragrance sprays around my house to make it smell good (even when I didn't have rabbits) I have tried litter before, but that made more of a mess than it was worth and didn't seem to mask any smell. I think the system is a great idea, hoowever it may be more of a pain for me. I am just trying to find different options for what I am looking for. As far as the plastic goes I actually wrap the whole tray in the trash bag and then turn the bag inside out when taking it off so all the droppings is in the bag, gets tied up and thrown out.

Rachel

 

[Flash Gordon]

i have 9 bunnies in my house but they are all fixed..my house smells of hay..but if i do skip a day or two cleaning their poop boxes it can get a little raunchy smelling in my home...i could not imagine having that many unfixed rabbits...
ur trying to cover up something that either needs to be neutralized or sucked out of the apt...covering up the smell wont get rid of the dangers in it...when i have walked into a rabbitry that wasnt ventilated it burned my eyes ...
id check on either something that will neutralize the acidity in their urine when it drops into the pan....the only thing that i know that neutralizes is baking soda..but im not recomending it and i dont think it will work on smell just the fumes....
next thing u gotta do is ventilate...id put a small box fan in a window and face it outward ..that will help alot..but it wont help u on ur utility bill...or if u have an exhaust fan already in ur apt and it was near where the bunnies are housed ..maybe set up something like whats over ur stove a vented hood doohicky...geez i dont know how to explain it..i know it seems difficult ..but i had a a/c unit i needed to use in my garage when i worked in there but i didnt wanna cut a huge hole in the wall to install it .so we made an exhaust contraption that fit right in the little window of the garage and to the back of the a/c unit .it works excellent..and its long so i can move the a/c unit around the garage on a cart....
also the pine ur adding is prob gonna add to the fumes ..u think its smelling better in ur apt..but what ur breathing in is still not good for you..or the buns.
i just think u gotta think dif about how to get rid of the odor...dont cover up..neutralize or remove by exhaust.
good luck and keep us posted cuz im always trying to find dif ways to have a poopload of animals in my home..safely.