Easy to clean cage features?

[MyJuneAngel]

I could use some advice. We have 3 rabbits. I'm not up on all of the breeds, but these are large rabbits. They easily outweigh our fat house cats and are there isn't a lot of difference between them and our Westie in size (our Westie is smaller than most Westies, but not unusually so). Our rabbits are housed in two NIC cages. One is 4x2x3 and the other is 2x3x3. We have two females in one cage and their brother (from a different litter) in the cage next to them. The females were litter mates who formed a close bond as tiny little kits and have been together since.

I feel like their cage sizes are sufficient. Our struggle is in keeping the cages clean. This is the chore of my 12 year old daughter but her dad and I often have to help because we have some dirty bunnies. We haven't been able to put anything soft into their cages at all. They have small gauge wire over the shelves. We tried putting tiles on the shelves and they would saturate them with urine so we gave up on that. The girls are cleaner than the boy for sure (he is scheduled to be neutered on Friday) but they still have their own messes. Thumper, our make, is ridiculous. He sprays everywhere, likes to go behind the litter box instead of in it, and never leaves litter (we use horse bedding pellets) or hay inside his box either. We made it so that he couldn't move his litter box to go behind it so now he gets up on the second level and from there will urinate down into the corner that he likes to use (his litter box is in this corner, he just prefers not to go in it for some reason). My daughter has trouble keeping up with cleaning and before we know it we have a pile of mushy rabbit feces and urine that has attracted flies and is horrible. As it is, we had to put a huge rubber mat under their cages and partly up the wall behind them as well as a piece of melamine behind the cage to keep the spray from ruining the walls. Granted, we do have our male next to two females. When we set their cages up this way he was just a baby, having not yet hit puberty, and we didn't really think it through.

Does anyone have any tips for building NIC cages that are easy to clean? We find it hard to access the corners of the cages and still have shelves and various levels for them to play in. I did see a NIC cage on Pinterest that had a door that was two panels wide and folded back. This may be an option but it still means climbing under shelves to clean up messes. I was convinced we'd take the additional levels out but now they have started using them so I hate to take them away.

We have a stack of leftover NIC panels that we can use to make changes to the current cages. I also found a whole set of panels at a local thrift store yesterday. The guy running the register didn't know what they were and just threw them in free with our purchase. I'm not opposed to making other modifications too if needed. I just can't figure out how to keep these guys clean!!

Here is a quick picture of the current cage situation. As you can see, it is very basic. I'd love to do more with the set up but not until we can get the cleaning situation under control. Even the girls' cage (right) is hard to keep up with.

 

[jesasminirex]

Well first it would be easier to keep a tray under the cages it will then collect all of the poop and pee. It looks like there is fur places and it will be easier to just take a soft brush to it and get all of it's extra (molting) fur. I hope this helps!

 

[jesasminirex]

The rabbits can get sores from sitting in their own pee and poop so it keeps them safer as well!

 

[PaGal]

Your buns need to be litter trained. This is easier to do with buns that are neutered/spayed especially when you have a mix of males/females.

It may help if you at least move the buns away from each other, keeping the male further away from the females. This is what I have done and as long as my male can't get very near the females he does not spray. Although this may not work with all buns.

What I have done to litter train two females at over a year old and a male at ten weeks old:

Provide a large enough litter box for your bun to completely fit into. Hang a hay rack above the litter box or place hay in a corner of the litter box. Buns tend to potty while munching so you want them to be forced into getting all of the way in the litter box to munch their hay. With larger buns or buns that spray or dig their litter , you may have to look for something other than a litter box to use as a litter box. For my females that do dig and will spray at times and share a cage I have used a large plastic storage box with part of one side cut shorter for easy access for the buns. My male has the same set up but with a smaller storage box.

Their hay racks are two different plastic containers I have found that do the job. They hang inside the litter box and are easy to install and to remove when I clean their litter boxes.

You may want to keep your buns confined until they start picking up the litter training. This may include blocking access to more than one level. Once the buns are litter trained you can slowly and by small amounts increase their space. Some buns may need more than one litter box for larger spaces. A bun is considered litter trained when it pees only in the litter box as it's rare to find a bun that won't drop at least some poos out of the litter box.

Anytime a bun pees outside of the litter box, soak some urine up with a paper towel and place this in the litter box. Any poo outside of the litter box pick up and place in the litter box. Clean any surfaces that have been soiled with a mix of water/vinegar. This will completely remove the smell so a bun will not return to soil that spot based on smell.

My male trained super easy and quick. The girls took two weeks. There are times they will pee outside of the litter box but never do they pee outside of their cage. And they don't do that too often. When training them since they were older I did clean the cage frequently on a daily basis. When cleaning their litter box I would wait a few days in between cleaning it and would just hose it out until they were litter trained so that their smell would remain in the litter box.

If your buns are particularly messy with spraying while in a litter box or digging their litter, than I would cut a circle big enough for them to jump in and out of the litter box through. I wish I would have thought of that when I first got the girls their litter box although since being litter trained and getting free time outside of the cage on a regular basis they rarely dig in the litter box.

 

[JBun]

The simple fact is, that unneutered male rabbits are usually messy stinky little guys. It's in their nature to want to mark their territory and attract female buns. Sometimes you can minimize this by changing the set up for your bun, such as where the litter box is placed and sometimes the size of litter box too. Also like mentioned, moving the cage away from female buns can make a difference too.

But usually for pet rabbits, the best solution is getting them neutered/spayed. Many times this alone will correct the spraying and smelly urine, and often improves litter habits greatly. Though in a few cases it may just minimize the behavior if it has gone on for years. There is some risk involved with getting a rabbit spayed or neutered though, as there is with any surgery. But finding a good rabbit vet will minimize this. If you did get them all spayed and neutered, you may even be able to bond them into a trio, depending on how your girls get on with the male.

If you aren't wanting to neuter at this point you can try a few things to see if it helps. Try either moving your males cage further away from the females or place a solid barrier between them so he can't see them at all. You may also need to remove the shelves for now until litter habits have improved. Also ensure litter boxes are big enough. You want a litter box big enough that your bun can lay down in it comfortably. For two buns, it needs to be big enough for both to be able to lay down. And like Pagal mentioned, putting your buns hay either in a corner of the litter box or a hay rack above it, can also help keep peeing and pooping messes more contained.
http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/litter-box-training/litterbox-setup-success-0

If you do take the shelves out, when your buns are better about using the litter box and you are ready to put the shelves back in, using a more open arrangement with the shelves can make it easier to reach in and clean up. Something like this with the shelving along the sides and back, and more open in the center.

 

[MyJuneAngel]

I did mention in my original post that the male is set to be neutered on Friday. Honestly, it was never a matter of being unwilling, it was the fact that our vet refuses to do it before they are a year old and last summer he was not yet a year old. I work for a school district and the school year is just crazy so it wasn't something we were able to accomplish. Now that I'm off for the summer it is a lot easier. The girls have to be taken to a different vet as ours does not spay female rabbits. I managed to find one but we haven't been able to have it done yet. Time constraints and all... Hopefully I can have them both done in August, before heading back to work. I want to be able to watch them for a few days after. I worry. One of our females has had surgery before (had a leg amputated) and she did amazingly well, but I still worry.

I would say the girls are litter trained. We never find urine outside of their box. The mess along the front that looks like it may be from urine is from their water bottle leaking. That was human error. We take the cage outside every month or so and use the power washer to completely clean it. I'd rather not have to (thus asking for suggestions) but it has worked so far. Hopefully getting Thumper fixed will make a difference. He is horribly messy and very blatant about it too. He doesn't care. Funny thing is, when they are out of their cages they will go back in the cages to use the potty. The male does the same thing. He might not hit the litter box, but he doesn't go outside of the cage at least. Hunny, our 3-legged bunny, has learned that she can knock the food dispenser out and climb through the hole. We find her all over the house, including upstairs. Good thing our dogs, cats, and rabbits all get along well!

I would very much like to try to bond them into a trio. Based on their current behavior, I think it could work. When the male is out running the room he will go and lay next to the girls through the cage. They do the same. They are often found on the top levels laying next to one another through the cage too. When they were tiny, before he hit maturity, they played together all the time and there was never an issue. I just didn't want more babies! Babies were never the intention but that's how we got these three.

Jenny, can you tell me more about your cage there? I love the wood. Is that just a support? I will show this to my husband but he'll probably have questions I can't answer. LOL Do you have a door at the top for the upper level? That is one place I think we've gone wrong too. We can't get to the upper level. When we had just 2 squares high we had a top that opened and it was easy to reach them. Of course, that top being left open is how we ended up with babies in the first place. The cages were adjoined (unlike what we have now that just sit side by side) and my daughter forgot to latch the top. We found our two (we thought!!) males in the same cage the next morning. I was just happy they hadn't killed each other. Ha! Turns out the one we were so sure was a male was a female. Found that out when she started having babies.

 

[JBun]

Sorry, I missed that neutering bit I had similar issue with an unneutered male. He was great with the litter box(once I figured out the best placement for it), but my male also sprayed pee clear across the room. If your male is going to the litter box but still going outside it, there may be a few things contributing there. Some buns will lift their butts pretty high when peeing and end up peeing over the edge of the litter box. If he is doing this, you need a litter box with high sides to correct this. Another possibility if he isn't actually going into the litter box to pee but is doing it just outside it, is that some buns are particular about their litter. Some rabbits don't like the feel of certain litter on their feet, especially course pellet litter. Sometimes switching to a softer litter like aspen bedding will help. I just put a layer of hay over the pellet litter in my buns litter boxes, and that seems to work well.

I would think based on their current behavior, that you will probably be successful bonding them into a trio. Spaying/neutering can sometimes cause behavior changes that can affect this, but usually they just become more mellow and easier to bond. Depends on the rabbit though. I have two females that hardly mellowed at all after being spayed. But with your rabbits having always been around each other and used to each other, that will probably make it easier. You should go into the neutering spaying thing fully informed though. In most instances it helps improve and sometimes completely correct troublesome hormonal behavior, and makes bonding more possible without the hormones involved, but also doesn't guarantee a bond will work out. But you also need to be aware that in a few rare instances spaying/neutering can change a rabbits behavior for the worse. This isn't common, but it can happen. Also with getting your male neutered soon, you will need to wait at least 4-8 weeks before trying to bond. Most of the time the hormones have worn off by 4 weeks, but I've read of rare instances where males have remained fertile up to 6 weeks. So if you want to completely avoid any chance of babies, then you'll want to wait at least 6 weeks. Unless you get your girls spayed. Then it's just a matter of waiting for the hormones to fade enough so that he isn't pestering and irritating them too much.

I wish that was my cage It's just one that I really like. You can find the details about it on this link.
http://rabbitcondo.com/lara-and-harrels-deluxe-wide-rabbit-condo

One way to access a top level would be the top opening, or having a large enough door opening in the front. But then you also have to consider the cages stability and the shelves being supported. That's one of the things I like about the condo above, is that it has a large front opening and space for the owner to reach in to clean. I can't tell exactly, but I imagine the top level has access through the panels on the end.

 

[MyJuneAngel]

Thanks for the link to that! I will check it out.

I have heard that there are sometimes negative results to having them fixed. I know it can be true for dogs/cats as well so I am just hoping for the best.

I think our litter box may be an issue. I was just discussing this with my husband. We may have to go for something more like what we use for our cats. For them we use a storage tub with high sides. We've cut out a space for them to get in and out of it (and sanded it down to smooth out rough edges making it safe for them) and it works so much better than the traditional cat litter box we used to use. I bet Thumper needs something with higher sides. We used to have corner litter boxes with high backs on them but they were on the small side and they couldn't fit fully in them so we opted for large cat litter pans. Its definitely a process, finding what works!

 

[Azerane]

Some great suggestions so far, I just wanted to ask whether you are placing hay in the litter box as well? Rabbits like to eat while they go, so if you can hang a hay rack next to/above the litter box, or put hay at one end of the box, it might also help to encourage him to sit in there and go.