Space Monkey
Well-Known Member
This is regarding her hay eating habits and pooping.
When we first got her we had the typical generic small hay rack that she would have to eat out of through the cage wires. This wasn't going well so we put hay directly in her litter box in a large pile off to one side. This was okay-ish but she would quickly stop eating it as it became soiled. Then we tried a glass dish full of hay in her litter box to keep it from getting peed on. This quickly failed as she she sat in it to poop. Then we got a a wooden hay manger to go above her litter box in the cage. This works great! However as she spends time in her pen area outside of the cage during the day, she doesn't like to go inside of the cage (which is always open for access with a ramp) to eat hay or poop. She does just fine with it at night when she's locked up in the cage to keep her safe while we sleep though. So we added a second litter box in her pen area with a pile of hay in it off to one side. She uses it to potty during the day just fine, but again she quickly stops eating hay out of it as it becomes spoiled. So I put just a small pile in the corner of the litter box for her to casually munch while she poops, and I put a big handful on a plate in the pen. She does great with this and eats it right up and doesn't poop in the hay on the plate.
What started as one litter box with a hay rack in the cage has turned into:
One litter box in the cage
A hay manger overlooking the litter box
One litter box in the pen with a small pile of hay
And a plate of hay in the pen
She definitely required a lot of different configurations to get her preferences down just right but it's worth it.
When we first got her we had the typical generic small hay rack that she would have to eat out of through the cage wires. This wasn't going well so we put hay directly in her litter box in a large pile off to one side. This was okay-ish but she would quickly stop eating it as it became soiled. Then we tried a glass dish full of hay in her litter box to keep it from getting peed on. This quickly failed as she she sat in it to poop. Then we got a a wooden hay manger to go above her litter box in the cage. This works great! However as she spends time in her pen area outside of the cage during the day, she doesn't like to go inside of the cage (which is always open for access with a ramp) to eat hay or poop. She does just fine with it at night when she's locked up in the cage to keep her safe while we sleep though. So we added a second litter box in her pen area with a pile of hay in it off to one side. She uses it to potty during the day just fine, but again she quickly stops eating hay out of it as it becomes spoiled. So I put just a small pile in the corner of the litter box for her to casually munch while she poops, and I put a big handful on a plate in the pen. She does great with this and eats it right up and doesn't poop in the hay on the plate.
What started as one litter box with a hay rack in the cage has turned into:
One litter box in the cage
A hay manger overlooking the litter box
One litter box in the pen with a small pile of hay
And a plate of hay in the pen
She definitely required a lot of different configurations to get her preferences down just right but it's worth it.