JeffS
Well-Known Member
For about 16 hours I tried a new feeding arrangement for Riley and Pancake. Normally their litter box has yesterday's news covered by hay. They end up eating the choice morsels and kicking the less tasty bits under them where it becomes more litter. The litter box fills with hay before the litter is all used up and needs replacing. (If I put less in it gets stinky too fast because the poop takes over for the litter.)
In the interest of efficiency I've always wanted an arrangement where they stand on a grid and the food is held in place. This way their poop and pee goes directly to the litter, they don't stand in the litter, and their food doesn't become litter.
Yesterday evening I made a setup with some left over nic panels and some spacers. One grid they would stand on and it was held up off the litter by the spacers. Another grid was diagonal in the front of their cage with the hay behind it. I cut a large hole in the middle of this one so they wouldn't have any trouble reaching all the hay. Some hay got on the grid for sitting on, which I figure was OK because nic grids aren't really small enough for bunny feet.
Pancake seemed to do OK, but Riley... it was too much! He tried it for a bit then wouldn't go back in. He looked sooooo sad. I decided to leave it over night to see if maybe he got hungry enough to use it. No way! I went to see them this morning and I could tell his tummy was empty. He wanted lots of affection and Pancake was trying really hard to make him feel better. I lured him into the litter/feed box with a few pellets and he ate them, but also he pooped out more cecals than I'd ever seen at once before.
I took out the grids and the litter box is back to normal now. Riley finally sat and ate! I guess the poor guy couldn't handle it.
He seems okay for now. I'm just curious what other people's experiences have been if they've changed their rabbits eating and pooping facilities.
In the interest of efficiency I've always wanted an arrangement where they stand on a grid and the food is held in place. This way their poop and pee goes directly to the litter, they don't stand in the litter, and their food doesn't become litter.
Yesterday evening I made a setup with some left over nic panels and some spacers. One grid they would stand on and it was held up off the litter by the spacers. Another grid was diagonal in the front of their cage with the hay behind it. I cut a large hole in the middle of this one so they wouldn't have any trouble reaching all the hay. Some hay got on the grid for sitting on, which I figure was OK because nic grids aren't really small enough for bunny feet.
Pancake seemed to do OK, but Riley... it was too much! He tried it for a bit then wouldn't go back in. He looked sooooo sad. I decided to leave it over night to see if maybe he got hungry enough to use it. No way! I went to see them this morning and I could tell his tummy was empty. He wanted lots of affection and Pancake was trying really hard to make him feel better. I lured him into the litter/feed box with a few pellets and he ate them, but also he pooped out more cecals than I'd ever seen at once before.
I took out the grids and the litter box is back to normal now. Riley finally sat and ate! I guess the poor guy couldn't handle it.
He seems okay for now. I'm just curious what other people's experiences have been if they've changed their rabbits eating and pooping facilities.
