Bedding and salt lick help!

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alysha23

alysha23

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Joined
Jul 25, 2012
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Location
Lebanon, Pennsylvania, USA
I just got a lionhead bunny a couple days ago and was told to use pine wood shavings as bedding. I am not going to try and litter train her so she would be using the pine wood shavings for bedding and to go to the bathroom. Any suggestions or ideas on the wood pine shavings? My rabbit cage is very simple one side is a hutch the other side has wire. I have been covering the hutch side with atleast an inch or two of pine shavings and then the food, water and toys go in the other side. Any help would be greatly appreaciated as I am knew to the Lionhead bunnies.
Also, she licks everyone like crazy when we hold her and I have heard mixed things about salt lick/mineral licks. Any ideas on those?

Thank you so much for you time!
 
Hi and welcome! Rabbits really don't need salt licks in their diet as they get all of their minerals and such from a good quality pellet, vegetables, and lots of hay (which is important for digestion and wearing down teeth).

Pine shavings are actually not the best idea for bedding--they're known to cause liver problems in rabbits due to the natural chemicals they contain (which is the strong odor you smell when you open the bag). There is also suspicion they could cause some cancer, which is not proven.

If you're not going to litter train her and want to keep using bedding, I would go for aspen shavings and straw. If she's always licking things, you could give her a soft toy "friend." My rabbit has a stuffed dog he's always "grooming." But if she's going to be outside, make sure anything you choose is something you're comfortable leaving her alone with so she can't accidentally ingest something while you're not watching her.
 
Congrats on the new bun! I have a lionhead too :) Make sure you start brushing her right away to reduce hair balls!

I've always used bedding (I use Carefresh, but wood shavings in your case) in the litter box and either a fleece blanket or newspaper in the bottom of the cage. That way they don't confuse the whole cage as one giant litter box!

I wouldn't use Pine shavings for health reasons...you can use Aspen instead.

Don't bother with the salt lick. She may just be so excited to get attention that she's giving everyone kisses!
 
I too agree with the above. In my opinion, rabbits fed a quality pellet get the salt and minerals they need from the pellet and don't need a salt lick.
I would skip the pine shavings and use either kiln dried pine or something else (but definitely not cedar) since pine shavings can be irritating. In my experience unless it's really cold, rabbits don't really need bedding, just a solid surface to rest on. I'm not sure why you're not trying littertraining but it's really quite easy and much cleaner in my opinion.
 
I gave my rabbits salt licks in the beginning because I didn't know better. It hung out in their house for over a year with not a nibble before I threw it away because it was getting old and crusty. Don't waste your money.

I agree that litter training is easy and helps keep their environment cleaner, which can help prevent disease issues.
 
Is the rabbit a baby? Maybe that's why no litter box training yet. Otherwise, I can't imagine having a rabbit for 5-10+ years & not training it. Or maybe the rabbit is already elderly & it seems too late.

You just start with a cat litter box with non-clay, non-clumping litter & when the bunny goes, put the result into the box, so she'll figure it out.
 
My bunny was kept in a pen filled with a mixture of aspen bedding and Carefresh, and when I brought her home I set her in a pen on a tile floor with a litter pan filled with Yesterday's News litter (recycled newspaper) and she immediately knew to pee there. She has never peed outside of that box, and only makes occasional poops outside of it. Bunnies are very smart :) (oh yeah, and there's no chance that she was previously litter trained because she was 8-9 weeks old when I brought her home)

I'm glad to see some mention of salt/mineral licks here. I was curious myself since I had them for my rat years ago, but I've also noticed from a lot of reading here that just because a pet store offers an item for small animals and include a picture of a rabbit, it doesn't mean it's necessary. I'm glad she'll get all the minerals she needs from her current diet and I don't need one more thing cluttering her crate floor :)
 
I bought salt licks in the beginning because I thought they needed them! They never touched them.. after about 2 weeks I tossed them. Learned on here they arent needed if you're feeding good pellets.

Why dont you want to litter train? It really isnt that hard and there really isnt much "training" involved. You see what corner your bun pees/poops in the most but a litter box there and VOILA!

Good luck!
 
Thanks all for the information. She is just a baby. I really do not have a reason for not litter training her, I just thought it would be difficult plus I was going off of what I was told when I bought her. That she uses pine shavings for bedding and a vegetable mix for food which includes pellets. I guess I can always give litter training a try I just never tried litter training with any of my bunnies to be honest. Any ideas as to what to get and how to go about training her?

I was also told and I just wanted to verify this that her litter/bedding should be changed almost every day or every other day and that her pen should be cleaned with a mixture of water/vinegar atleast once a week. Can anyone tell me how accurate this is?

Thanks for all the information it was very informative.
 
alysha23 wrote:
Thanks all for the information. She is just a baby. I really do not have a reason for not litter training her, I just thought it would be difficult plus I was going off of what I was told when I bought her. That she uses pine shavings for bedding and a vegetable mix for food which includes pellets. I guess I can always give litter training a try I just never tried litter training with any of my bunnies to be honest. Any ideas as to what to get and how to go about training her?

I was also told and I just wanted to verify this that her litter/bedding should be changed almost every day or every other day and that her pen should be cleaned with a mixture of water/vinegar atleast once a week. Can anyone tell me how accurate this is?

Thanks for all the information it was very informative.
Click to expand...

The healthiest pellets are plain pellets with no "extras" in it. Fresh veggies shouldn't be introduced until at least 12 weeks of age - some say later. Do you know how many weeks old she is? Is she getting hay too? I didn't see that mentioned, but she should have unlimited hay. Remember, if you switch her pellets, do so gradually by mixing the old with the new.

If she's close to the age of being able to be spayed, you may want to wait til then to litter train her. Spayed buns train quite easily. Since my bunnies have come already fixed, I've not tried to train a young bunny. I'm sure there are others on here who have. But the bunny can lose that training when her hormones kick in. But don't worry, she'll train easily after she's spayed.

With my litter trained buns, I use wood pellets for litter, topped with hay. I change it every 4 days. It never gets to the point of smelling. If you can smell it, it's time to change it. When I change the litter, I sweep out the cage of stray hay and fur. It's such an easy clean up with litter-trained bunnies!
 
She is around 6 weeks old. She isn't getting hay because we were told not yet. If she should be getting hay can you tell me if there is a specific kind she should be getting? I am trying to post pictures of her but I have to figure it out first.

Again thanks for all the help....this information is very helpful and I never had a lionhead before and I'd like her to live for a very long time.
 
17549_261749_100000001.jpg
17549_261749_090000000.jpg

I figured out how to post pictures.....Above is Bella!
 
alysha23 wrote:
She is around 6 weeks old. She isn't getting hay because we were told not yet. If she should be getting hay can you tell me if there is a specific kind she should be getting? I am trying to post pictures of her but I have to figure it out first.

Again thanks for all the help....this information is very helpful and I never had a lionhead before and I'd like her to live for a very long time.
Click to expand...

from http://rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html#basics
What quantities of food should I feed babies and "teenagers"?
  • Birth to 3 weeks--mother's milk
  • 3 to 4 weeks--mother's milk, nibbles of alfalfa and pellets
  • 4 to 7 weeks--mother's milk, access to alfalfa and pellets
  • 7 weeks to 7 months--unlimited pellets, unlimited hay (plus see 12 weeks below)
  • 12 weeks--introduce vegetables (one at a time, quantities under 1/2 oz.)

She is just adorable! As you can see, at this age she should have access to alfalfa hay.

It looks likeI have to post the rest of the quote from rabbit.org in a separate post...
For some reason it was erasing the 2nd part about 12 weeks to 7 months.


 
alysha23 wrote:
Thanks all for the information. She is just a baby. I really do not have a reason for not litter training her, I just thought it would be difficult plus I was going off of what I was told when I bought her. That she uses pine shavings for bedding and a vegetable mix for food which includes pellets. I guess I can always give litter training a try I just never tried litter training with any of my bunnies to be honest. Any ideas as to what to get and how to go about training her?

I was also told and I just wanted to verify this that her litter/bedding should be changed almost every day or every other day and that her pen should be cleaned with a mixture of water/vinegar atleast once a week. Can anyone tell me how accurate this is?

Thanks for all the information it was very informative.
Click to expand...

Just about everything you were told is wrong, so I'm glad you found RO.

Besides the pine shavings being potentially deadly, she really shouldn't have veggies at this time, as they usually produce runny poop. If her poop remains solid, it's ok to continue with a little, BUT let us know what veggies you're giving.

The main part of the diet should be unlimited hay and unlimited alfalfa [not timothy] pellets. Hay is necessary to keep the digestive process moving alone and alfalfa pellets are needed for growing rabbits. Usually veggies are introduced slowly at about 3 months & the transition to timothy pellets at 6 months or so. If you can get it, alfalfa hay would be good for awhile, but isn't that important to have it rather than timothy the way it's important with pellets.

The cleaning guidelines sound right, but you'll be throwing out a lot if you don't get a large cat litter box with high sides. Just put it in a corner where she 'goes' & put the contents into the box. Keep doing that until it works.
 
PART 2 FROM ABOVE...


What quantities of food should I feed young adults? (7 months to 1 year)

  • introduce timothy hay, grass hay, and oat hays, decrease alfalfa
  • decrease pellets to 1/2 cup per 6 lbs. body weight
  • increase daily vegetables gradually
  • fruit daily ration no more than 1 oz. to 2 oz. per 6 lbs. body weight (because of calories)
 
And that mesh on her floor isn't good for her feet. Put something like plastic needlepoint canvas on top.

And do let us know what veggies she's currently having. I'd cut out all but the most easily digested.
 
LakeCondo wrote:
And that mesh on her floor isn't good for her feet. Put something like plastic needlepoint canvas on top.

And do let us know what veggies she's currently having. I'd cut out all but the most easily digested.
Click to expand...

oh, my, yes. It looks like her little feet could get caught in those large holes in the floor.

If you don't have needlepoint canvas, try a piece of tile or cardboard or an old towel (if she doesn't try to eat it). Something to make it more solid until you figure out a more permanent solution.
 
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