What kind of bedding?

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sammi

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Dec 26, 2004
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Location
, Ontario, Canada
Hi! Just a quick question here, What do you guysuse in the cage, bedding (wood chips etc...) or no bedding, or ablanket...? I have noticed in some bunny pictures here that somebunnies don't have the typical bedding stuff.

Is it easier to litter train if there is or isn't bedding in the cage, or does it not matter?

Lulu is doingok with the litter training, She goes pee in thelitter box but poops just about everywhere else in the cage, includingher bed...Any ideas? She sometimes pees when she's earting too...I wasjust wondering if she would be a little less crazy with the pooping ifthere was less bedding stuff. Also, just looking for opinions, is it agood idea to arrange her food so she basically has to sit in her litterbox to eat it? That way, at least everything would stay in that areaduring munching time.

When she's out and about, or when someone is holding her she doesn'tpee or poop at all unless she does some huge binky and a little poopflies out! So I know she's catching on...I just want to make sure ofall this stuff.

Thanks!

:p~SAMMI~ :p


 
Hi,

I use shavings in the main compartment and shavings with hay on top in the sleeping compartment.

My hutches are all wooden though, with a wire front: a lot of theAmerican cages seem to be wire based, which I've never seen in the UK.Shavings wouldn't work in those...

Lindsey ;)
 
One main thing NOT to do is use CEDAR.... it's deadly to rabbits.

I use woody pet in the litterbox and then just have resting pads on thefloors of the cage. Bo also has a little rubbermaid shelf binthat has a low side. He has a piece of fleece material inthere......

Some rabbits can't have materials like that cause they eatit. Bo doesn't .... he might lick it, but he knows it's hisblankie :) He shreads cardboard very well tho LOL!
 
If she is peeing in the litter box, be pleased with that. It is the rare bun that will deposit all its poops in the litter box.

Young buns tend to deposit more poops around because, I believe, theydon't have as much contol as older buns, they are more excited andcurious about their environment, they have more of a "need" toestablish and mark their territories, etc. It has been my experience,by and large, that the depositing of poops outside the cage becomesless as the bun ages and becomes more comfortable with its surroundings.

None of our buns ever deposited ALL their poops in the litter box, butmost will contain most poops in the cage, hence my use of a wire floor,which permit the poops to fall through to the newspaper lined traybelow. It is an easy task to replace the paper or simply "pour" thepoops off the paper into the trash and continue to use the same paper.

Yes, Lindsey, wood floors are more prevalent and traditional in the UK,whereas wire is more commonly found in the USA. I'd find wood floorsmore problematical because they invariably will become soiled,requiring some amount of effort to clean, and a soiled woood floor alsotends to provide for dirty bunny bottoms as well.

The 1/2" x 1/2" wire hardware cloth I use for flooring precludes dirtybottoms and permits the poops to fall through, yet the weave is smallenough to prevent sore hocks.

Sammi, the efficacy of using wire floors over bedding, which I alwaysconsidered a bit unsanitary,was driven home to me recently when I readthe results of study in which rabbits were given the choice of sittingon wire or bedding at varying temperature ranges. Given the choice, atall temperature ranges in the study (no outside winter temps), themajority of rabbits preferred the wire floor over bedding.

The study was done for laboratory rabbits, and not pets, but I doubt that factor would skew the results any differently.

Please don't be confused by the avatar block and my signature below.The Missus and I are visting Carolyn for the New Year Holiday and it ismuch more simple to type under her "block" than to attempt to login onmy own.

Buck
 
Carolyn, that is very interesting there was astudy about that! Bo has a wire second floor and it hasresting pads over it.

He also has his "bed" as I mentioned.

He will spend time in both areas. He likes to "roost" up on his second level a lot :)

OOPS! I see that it was BUCK posting now ! LOL Sorry Buck :)

 
Carolyn wrote:
Given the choice, at all temperature ranges in the study (nooutside winter temps), the majority of rabbits preferred the wire floorover bedding.


Buck
Click to expand...


Hi Buck at Carolyn's -- hope you are having an awesome new year!

I find that study interesting. When we had rabbits indoors,they normally preferred to lay on the heating register grates ratherthan the carpeting.

Pam
 
Well given that I have both outdoor bunnies incold winter temperatures, I find that they like the wire better, too.They seem to enjoy sitting on the wire most of the days, but when itdrops to very cold temperatures, they'd rather sit on the wood plankscovering up the wire, and when it get extremely cold, they'd prefer tobe huddled in their boxes and straw.
 
Yes, it does seem to be the better solution; tohave the wire bottom cage, but unfortuneately I have a wire cage with aplastic bottom and I can't see myself buying a new one any time soon.

A question to those who have the wire-bottomed cages: Do you still put a litter box in the corner, for training purposes?

Since I have a plastic-bottom in my cage, would it be better to foregothe bedding (I have been using aspen wood, I hope that one is ok, Myimpression has been that it is) and put resting mats about the bottominstead, with the litter box in the corner?

Sorry about all the questions! I'm sure I'll have more too...Thanks to everyone for their thoughts.

By the way, Happy new year!!

~Sammi~
 


Hi Sammi,

Yes, I place a litterbox on the wire floor of my cages. I prefer thecorner-style litterboxes, as most rabbits prefer to pee in a corner.

When I used plastic cages as you described, I constructed a woodenframe to fit inside the plastic bottom and attached 1/2" x 1/2" wire -hardware cloth - to the frame. The wire floor, therefore, is above thenewspaper-covered plastic floor of the cage bottom permitting the poopsto pass through. It worked well and eliminated the need for the rabbitto sit in any soiled bedding.

Buck in Tucker Town

 
Thanks Buck! You've been a great help! I wasactually just looking at the cage message thread, and the wheel-aroundheart-shape side door cage that you whipped up was very cool. Itdefinitely got me to thinking of the rabbit palace that I shall one daybuild.

~Sammi~
 
You know, I've thought about putting a litter boxin their outside cages, and I'm still thinking about it because latelythe pee freezes before it can all drip down and it causes the poop tonot fall through the wire. At least the plastic litter boxes are easilycleaned, even when it's all frozen on.
 
I've not had to deal with that problem as it doesnot get quite as cold here in NJ as it doeswhere youare. Nevertheless, your solution to the problem is a cleverone depending upon the type of litter you use, I suppose.

Buck
 
I think a litter box with sufficient litter in itshould do me well. The frozen pee just sits there and accumulates untilit's warm enough that it slowly melts in the spring. I don't like itsitting there and it's harder than heck to clean! So maybe I'll try thelitter boxes, a good absorbant litter should suit my needs quite well.
 
MyBunnyBoys wrote:
I think a litter box with sufficient litter in it should dome well. The frozen pee just sits there and accumulates until it's warmenough that it slowly melts in the spring. I don't like it sittingthere and it's harder than heck to clean! So maybe I'll try the litterboxes, a good absorbant litter should suit my needs quite well.
Click to expand...
One word comes to mind..."WoodyPet"!

...or is that two words?

Jim


 
You would think that WoodyPet would be readilyavailable to me, right? Wrong. It's made in a neighboring province butI've never seen it here! Not to mention my dad insists I finish usingthe bag of pine shavings first.
 
MyBunnyBoys wrote:
You would think that WoodyPet would be readily available tome, right? Wrong. It's made in a neighboring province but I've neverseen it here! Not to mention my dad insists I finish using the bag ofpine shavings first.
Click to expand...
I bet davejr from WoodyPet could help find you a distributor. You might want to PM him for some assist.

Jim


 
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