The Economic Bunny

Love your rabbit
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
hanamuffins

hanamuffins

Active Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
25
Reaction score
2
Location
NULL
As everyone here knows, I'm sure, bunnies are not cheap pets when taken care of correctly. I was wondering if there were some ways for me to cut back my budget, and if any of you have some ideas.

I have 3 buns, and right now they are having 2 meals a day of romaine, parsley, green pepper, and carrot (as recommended by my vet), Oxbow pellets once a day, Oxbow timothy hay, and I use Carefree litter (I think that's what it's called, that cottony stuff) in their litter boxes.

I do not want to sacrifice quality for lower price, so I imagine I will continue getting Oxbow products unless someone believes something else is equally as good. But I do wonder mostly if I can change their veggies to something cheaper, or do something differently with the litter box.

Thank you!
 
In my experience, my bun has a HUGE litter box-- far too big for him. When I attempted to change him to a more manageable size, I not only found that he was unhappy (spoiled!), but that I had to change the litter box sooooo much more often. I know that larger litter boxes require more litter, but I swear I'm using far less litter than I did with that smaller litter box. So that might be something to experiment with.

I also know that a lot of people grow their own "bunny gardens", where they have natural herbs growing that they give to their buns. If you did that, that could probably cut down some costs on greens and definitely wouldn't sacrifice quality.
 
You could use shredded paper if you have a source. As for veggies, you could try something cheaper. Mine like lots of things and my local supermarket is vietnamese and they have bok choy and pak choy at 68c a bunch so it works out quite cheap. I also get things on special. Anything they've got too much of they'll mark down in price.
 
We grow our own veggies! It is a lot cheaper than buying them. What I also do is go to Farmers Markets, usually cheaper as well! I also use the left over veggies from my own meals for my Buns :D

Switching to Wood Pellets made a WONDER of difference in my Bunny bills... I was spending SO much on litter.... I also stopped using bedding in my indoor cages. I use children's puzzle play mats as flooring, doesn't cost much and easy to clean! For my outdoor Bunny, I use wood shavings from a horse shop. A lot cheaper than buying it from a pet store.
 
If you have a feed store near you that carries grass hay, you could try getting a bale of hay from them if it is good quality. It's A LOT cheaper. You usually end up paying $5-15 for a 50 lb bale. You just want to make sure of the quality and that it has never gotten wet and moldy.
 
Switch to wood pellets for the litter (just not cedar), or shredded paper / cardboard. Pellets come in a huge bag but are usually only available in fall/winter (they are for heating) that costs 4$ and lasts 4-6 months. When you use them, only put an inch or so in the litter pan - that stuff expands!

Get hay by the bale, intended for horses. As long as it's not alfalfa hay, and it's green and smells nice, it's good! You can get small bales here for 5$. If you know other people in the area you could share a bale.

Forage your own greens like clover, dandelion, lambs quarters and wild plantain - just make sure the area is free of pesticides.

Grow your own rabbit food in your yard / balcony. Leafy greens are easy to grow even in shady areas.

Cut back on pellets - maybe. Depends how much you're giving them, but if you're giving them a lot you could give them less.

Are you wasting hay? Look for alternate ways of feeding hay that will reduce waste.

Are you running the AC for them in the summer? Move the hutch to a basement (while you're not home), put a bottle of frozen water in the cage, etc - so you can reduce your AC costs.

Make your own toys. My rabbits love chewing softcover books which are cheap from used book stores (I try to pick out some that are already damaged). Plastic cookie trays. Empty papertowel rolls.

Make your own bedding instead of using commercial bedding. Go to the fabric store and get some fleece on clearance. and cut in the size of the hutch floor. I use this, I prefer it to anything else as I am paranoid they will eat it. Actually 1/2 the time I don't even use anything on the bottom of the cage. My rabbit did have sore hocks once though so keep an eye if you change bedding.

Use sponges and towels for cleaning instead of paper towel...

Can't think of anything else right now...
 
Last edited:
Yeah ditch the oxbow litter. You can use close to 100 other things that are just as good and MUCH cheaper for a rabbit to pee all over :) Plus that stuff is more processed then most of the things you can use. Try wood or paper pellets. Aspen shavings. Shredded news paper. etc...

You don't need oxbow hay, just good quality horse hay... $10 for a massive bale will last you a long time! Once you know what to look for, you will be able to pick out hay that's better then what oxbow is selling you.

Lessen the pepper and carrot. Un-necessary high sugar items. Try cilantro usually under $1 for a huge bundle (68 cents for me). Leafy green veggies are often cheaper, and healthier. Green leaf lettuce, red leafe, romaine, most herbs so parsley, cilantro, dill, sage, oregano, etc (most herbs like sage and oregano you can plant a plant even inside and keep that thing growing forever and just give them a few leaves here and there, other herbs like dill and cilantro youll need to grow a much larger patch to grow at home) Box choy, kale, ... honestly the list goes on, limit some high calcium ones like spinach and kale, and not too much bok choy as it is a type of cabbage, but look up any safe veggie list and youll have tons to choose from and alternate through. Theres a few in the Bunny 101 section of the forum.
 
I feed walmart brand pellets, the Small World Rabbit Food. Its not a bad food, my rabbit does better on it than she did on Sherwood forest. And I refuse to spend money on Oxbow. I spend like $5-6 on a 10 lb bag of food, but you get get like a 25 lb bag for $8-10.

I use tractor supply companies pine pellets, for horse stalls. I pay $5 for a 40 lb bag that lasts me about 3 months, and I clean the litter boxes(2) every other day, completely dumping them.
You could get the wood stove pellets, but I've actually never seen them and like someone said I could imagine they would only be available during the winter months and some of them have accelerants in them, so you have to watch out for that.

I also bought a 75 lb bale of hay for $6 last year. My bale got ruined and I stopped using it for the rabbit but still give it to my chickens to play in. But you can't beat that price for that weight. Its summer time now and they just cut the first cut in the south a few weeks ago, so depending on where you are, you should be able to get a pretty cheap good green bale. Any grass hay is fine, coastal, timothy, broome, bermuda...whatever you have around you. As long as its green, smells fresh, doesn't have mold on it or look like its gotten wet, or as long as it doesn't have too many weeds in it.

There are plenty of cheaper ways to do things. I think that if you get passed the brand names of things, you'll find your expenses go down dramatically. You just have to look at ingredients and the protein/fat/calcium percentages. Like I said, I just feed her walmart food and it isn't that bad and its not expensive and she's done well. She's not fat, her fur is super shiny and her poops are normal.
 
Oh yeah! Keep an eye out for discount produce. Many grocery stores have a discount rack for produce that isn't pretty anymore but is still fine to eat. You can also just ask them - you'd be amazed at how much food grocery stores throw away because it's not pretty anymore. I don't know if they'll give it to you (safety laws and such) but it's worth asking.

You might also invest in a garden plot if you don't have a yard. You could save a lot of money on food for the rabbit AND for yourself if you grow from seed.
 
A cheap, simple litter is to just buy a bale of straw and use a handful of it every time you clean out the litter box! I'm sure it will last you months, and they are really cheap, like $5! That's what I'm using.
 
You'd have better luck going to a farmers market to get the culled produce. A nation chain grocery store can't just give you the culled produce, its against the law to give outdated or bound for trash food away to people. But a farmers market would probably be more inclined to let you have the stuff that they're going to throw away.
When I worked at a produce stand, we gave certain people our culls for farms and whatever. Just tell them its for your rabbits and what you want and they could help you out.
 
I agree with everyone else, change the litter (I use carefresh and two small handfuls half fill my large litter tray (the other half is packed with hay) I use Timothy hay which is usually £3.50-£5 per 1kg and grow some of my own veg in a 4 their mini greenhouse (£15) I grow herbs most of as they are super easy to grow (mint is harder to kill then grow) require little attention yet are the moat expensive in shops! I grow kale, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, fennel, peppers, pansies, marigolds and mustard greens then tend to buy buy anything I can't pick at from the garden from the local grocery shop (I spend £3-£8 a week to feed 2 4lb rabbits) if I pick dandelion locally I spend even less if I can get hold of a bag full of fresh leaves!
 
It's a good idea to offer a variety of greens-- not just the same ones. I agree that the carrots aren't ideal for daily offering. This link here on RO will give you a big list of acceptable alternatives. You can just choose whatever is cheapest depending on time of year and availability.
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f40/quick-list-rabbit-safe-foods-library-copy-74122/

A bunny herb garden is also a good way to save money on greens.

I'll second what others have said:
I also use wood pellets for litter. For my 2 rabbits, a 40lb bag lasts about 2 months. I have to pay $7 for my bag of pellets.

Our hay bales also cost more (than those in Canada). I pay $24 for a large bale of timothy hay. It last me one year though and I use it very generously. I can't even imagine how much I save in hay alone.

I still feed Oxbow pellets, but since they only get 1/4 cup per day, it's not that much.
 
If you can't organise for the culled vegetables at the markets, if you go along towards the end of trading, there'll be a lot of things marked down to get rid of them so they don't have to transport them back, or throw them away. You'd probably be able to negotiate further on the "leftovers" and get them cheaply. Of course, it's a lottery as to what might not have been sold.

The woman I adopted my rabbits from used to get hay for free from the feed merchants. They'd let her pick up the spilled stuff.
 
Thanks everyone for such good ideas!! Maybe with all the money I'll save, I will be able to afford a fourth bun... :3
 
I use wood pellets for litter. In the summer i get them at a fireplace store. Its about the same price as lowes in the winter time. Lowe's is closer so i get them there in the winter. I too use walmart small world food. My bunnies are just fine on it but its measured out everyday. For hay depending on where you live you can get a bale from a farmer. I get a 40-50 lb bale for 5.00. Then i split it up in to lawn trash bags and store it. They love it. I found my hay guy on craigslist. Just be careful that its not too dusty or moldy. Tractor supply sells some bunny supplies cheaper. It took me some time to get past the name brands at the big name pet stores. I found ways to save a little dough.
 
Last edited:
whitelop said:
I feed walmart brand pellets, the Small World Rabbit Food. Its not a bad food, my rabbit does better on it than she did on Sherwood forest. And I refuse to spend money on Oxbow. I spend like $5-6 on a 10 lb bag of food, but you get get like a 25 lb bag for $8-10...
Click to expand...

The Small World Walmart pellets are actually made by Manna Pro. That is what sold me. I raise breed stock chickens and all of my hatchlings are started with Manna Pro. Good stuff. :twocents
 
Channahs said:
The Small World Walmart pellets are actually made by Manna Pro. That is what sold me. I raise breed stock chickens and all of my hatchlings are started with Manna Pro. Good stuff. :twocents
Click to expand...

Oh that's cool. Learn something new everyday. :clapping:
 
Channahs said:
The Small World Walmart pellets are actually made by Manna Pro. That is what sold me. I raise breed stock chickens and all of my hatchlings are started with Manna Pro. Good stuff. :twocents
Click to expand...

I didn't know that! I love Manna Pro for my chicks too!
Thanks for telling me that! My bun does really well on the Small World food, she's really shiny and she keeps a good weight on. Plus its CHEAP! haha.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top