Vinyl in hutches

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Jenson

Jenson

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A friend who I sold one of my rabbits to has told me she's stopped using wood shavings and has put vinyl flooring in the hutches instead. She says it's much easier to clean, and it must save an awful lot of money.

We have just had new flooring put down in the kitchen and I have lots of it left over, so I'm wondering whether to switch to using that. I'm worried about it not being very comfy, the rabbits slipping and of course chewing it, but my friend says she's had no problems at all.

Does anyone here use it? I would like to hear your thoughts on it.


Jenson
 
I use pegboard for the flooring in our buns' cages. I'm not sure how easy it is to find in the UK, but it's something I find quite inexpensively at home improvement/hardware stores. Not to mention, if they're anything like the stores here, they'll cut it in-store for free. :D

Edited to add: Check out some of the threads here:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11792&forum_id=17
 
Nope...I haven't had a single problem. Not to mention, not only would they have to be quite long to have that happen...but my girls' nails don't get a chance to get that long. :)

So, no worries! :)

As long as you trim your buns' claws, it shouldn't ever happen. :)
 
Just be careful if the vinyl is the only surface they will be on. That is a pretty hard surface and makes sore hocks a possibilty.
 
clarzoo wrote:
Just be careful if the vinyl is the only surface they will be on. That is a pretty hard surface and makes sore hocks a possibilty.
Click to expand...

Ah ha, good thinking! That would certianly be a worry for me as we all know how easily Rexes get sore hocks.

If I did use it I would give them a blanket I think. And of course they'd still have a bed full of hay.
 
For the Checkered Giant doe that I take care of for my friend, who has severe problems with sore hocks, I've started making her a fleece and pine shavings pillow. I've been usingthe fleece folded a few layers thick in the back third of her cage. But it just didn't seem like enough. So the other day I started putting a 2-3" thick layer of kiln-dried pine shavings between a folded layer of the fleece, then fold the edges under so the shaving don't come out. The doe loves her pillow!! It has really helped her feet, too, as it has a lot of give to it- but since she does have actual sores that I am treating I didn't want her sitting right on shavings because they get into her wound. To clean, all I do is unfold, dump the shavings. She's a dirty doe- so I keep two pieces of fleece- one in the cage,one being cleaned in case she forgets her litter habits and pees on the fleece.
 
Those are great ideas. I was planning on giving them a tray full of hay as well as a corner litter box.

clarzoo that pillow sounds great, I think my Mulch would appreciate something like that! :)

I have just finished putting it down on the floor of Bella's shed. It looks much better and cleaner and she doesn't slip on it at all. She even did a DBF on it so I guess it's not uncomfortable. She can push her ball around easier on it too, which she's having great fun doing! She seems to have forgotten she is litter trained now though.:X
 
I have NIC cages for both my girls. Both are three levels high and have vinly flooring.

In Belle's cage, there's cardboard for the second and third level. And in Maggie's cage, there's cardboard just on the third. Belle loves to sit there and shred the cardboard, it's like Christmas for her. She doesn't care that she now has a huge spacious cage, she just likes the cardboard.

I wouldn't recommend cardboard for the shelves unless you know that they're not going to digest it and that they're potty trained.

One problem with vinly is that it can cause sore hocks. So I did put a blanket in there for both my girls. Also, larger breeds may not feel stable enough on vinly because it is semi-slippery.

Maggie's cage has vinly left over from the kitchen, which doesn't seem to slippery for her, but she's just below 2 pounds so she's rather on the small side. And Belle has this amazing piece of vinly that we got for free, and it'snot slippery at all. I love it, and she does too.
 
Also watch for any chewing and ingesting. I would just make sure she can't get at the edges and eat it. I imagine it's great to clean.

Also the pegboard - there is masonite (which is what I used a while back), which is just as good as the pegboard without the holes in it if anyone is nervous about that.

Nadia
 
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