A few questions about caging?

[MCatCar]

Helllo! Some of you are probably following my other thread, where I am trying to convince my mom to let me get a small rabbit! I have a few questions about bedding and all.



What do you put in your litterpan?

What do you use on the floor of your cage?

How often do you feed veggies?

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I use wood stove pellets in the litter box. I also have a wire screen over top so they don't eat it and it makes cleaning easier. I scoop out the dirty litter every other day and do a complete clean at least once a week per box. Some boxes need to be changed more often that others.

I have blankets in the rest of the cage. My rabbits rarely pee out of the litter box, so the blankets don't need to be washed too often.

I give veggies every other day. It is a large plate that has lettuce, cilantro, parsley, bok choy and sometimes something else.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

These questions will probably differ to the type of cage you get for your rabbit. Are you looking at a wire-floor, wood floor, or a plastic floor?

From your first question about the drop pans, I'm assuming your thinking about a wire floor. With my drop pans, I put a layer of kiln dried shavings in the bottom - although I may be adding a layer of newspaper over the top, that way I can betterly seperate the urine in the shavings, from the pooh which goes straight to a bucket for manure/fertilizer. In litter boxes, you might use the same thing you use in the drop pans, or you might use wood pellets (I actually prefer wood pellets in my litter boxes, but at this time, I have none, so I am using shavings.)

On the floor of my wire cages, I use EZ Mats, which can be purchased at your local farm store, or via online rabbitry suppliers like Bass Equipment, KW Cages, and several others. You can also place a chunk of wood in the cage that takes up maybe 1/3 of the floorspace. That way, pooh and urine will still go into the drop pan, but your rabbit will have a place to get off the wire.

I don't feed veggies very often. My rabbits get them about once or so a month, and it's more of a treat, not a necessity in their diet. But, I have 10+ rabbits, and purchasing enough veggies to feed them all would be costly, and that's why I don't feed them veggies that often. They do get grass almost weekly, as well as dandelions and dandelion greens. So they do have some greens in their diets, just not a lot and not all too often.

Emily

 

[jcottonl02]

BlueSkyAcresRabbitry wrote:

These questions will probably differ to the type of cage you get for your rabbit. Are you looking at a wire-floor, wood floor, or a plastic floor?

From your first question about the drop pans, I'm assuming your thinking about a wire floor. With my drop pans, I put a layer of kiln dried shavings in the bottom - although I may be adding a layer of newspaper over the top, that way I can betterly seperate the urine in the shavings, from the pooh which goes straight to a bucket for manure/fertilizer. In litter boxes, you might use the same thing you use in the drop pans, or you might use wood pellets (I actually prefer wood pellets in my litter boxes, but at this time, I have none, so I am using shavings.)

On the floor of my wire cages, I use EZ Mats, which can be purchased at your local farm store, or via online rabbitry suppliers like Bass Equipment, KW Cages, and several others. You can also place a chunk of wood in the cage that takes up maybe 1/3 of the floorspace. That way, pooh and urine will still go into the drop pan, but your rabbit will have a place to get off the wire.

I don't feed veggies very often. My rabbits get them about once or so a month, and it's more of a treat, not a necessity in their diet. But, I have 10+ rabbits, and purchasing enough veggies to feed them all would be costly, and that's why I don't feed them veggies that often. They do get grass almost weekly, as well as dandelions and dandelion greens. So they do have some greens in their diets, just not a lot and not all too often.

Emily

That sounds all good to me :nod

My buns have a large converted shed, 11ft by 5ft, with levels, hidey holes etc., which my Dad built for them .

They get good handful of veggies every day (they are totally fine with them, but some rabbits may get the runs if you give them too many). Usually 3 different varieties, eg. carrots, bok choy, romaine lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, parsley, basil, mint etc. They also get the occasional chunk of fruit as treats eg. apple, little bit of banana (be careful with banana), strawberry etc.
You can find a 'Safe Fruits and Veggies' list on here somewhere in the Library.

 

[MCatCar]

It will be a plastic bottom, and they will have a litterbox.

 

[Luluznewz]

I use something called "yesterdays news" litter. I buy the bag that is made for cats. Its the exact same thing as the small animal litter but in a bigger bag and less expensive. It is just made out of recycled paper so it is safe for rabbits.

If you have a solid plastic cage you dont actually really have to have anything on the floor. However, I find my rabbit didnt have enough traction. I bought a roll of plasticy paper that is used to line shelves. If you google "shelf liner" you will see what I mean. I like to use those because you can just throw them away after a few months when they get old.

My rabbit is very well litter trained though, so if yours ends up not being as reliable news paper might work too.

I feed my rabbit about a cup every other day. She is a picky eater though so thats about all she will eat. I think some people feed veggies every day.

 

[bengal77]

I use Yesterday's News in the litter pan with a fluorescent lighting grid cover. I change it every morning. The bottom of my cage is covered with a sheet of coroplast. Lily actually likes laying directly on it. When I tried putting towels in there for traction she pulled them all out. So it's just coroplast (plastic). She's gotten used to it and now has no problem hopping on it or up and down with her levels. She gets 3/8ths cup of pellets a day and 2-3 cups of leafy green veggies and herbs like parsley and basil and mint.

 

[CiaraPatricia]

I use kiln dried pine shavings in the litter trays. It seems to work well, very absorbant and little smell. Though my rabbits are outdoors so there isn't much smell anyway, with all the fresh air. My female is good at using the litter tray, but my male sometimes goes outside of it, but that's probably because he isn't neutered. I use small cat litter trays, and I empty them everyday because they're small. My female rabbit is bigger and eats more (she has a litter of babies) so she poops more, so she needs her cleaned everyday. The male could get his cleaned every second day really, or even every third, but I clean it every day because he sits in the litter tray and I don't want him getting dirty or getting urine scald.

They're in an outdoor hutch, so it's a bit different but I have a layer of wood shavings on the floor of the main bit, and hay in the sleeping area. For an indoor cage you could use a few sheets of newspaper, but if the rabbit is good at using the litter tray then you could use a fleece blanket (be careful of other blankets or towels in case the rabbits rips them up and eats them or chokes themselves on loose bits).

And I usually feed them a small bit of veggies or fruit a day. I usually give them some grass and have now started giving them a few dandelions and dandelion leaves. I usually have some carrot peelings, or sweet potato peelings, broccoli stalks, or other other leftovers after dinner, so I divide them between my 2 rabbits and guinea pigs. Or if there are any veggies that are just starting to go a bit bad, but aren't rotten yet, then I'll give them to them.

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

Here is a picture. My litter box I use Horse stall bedding. I put a florescent light grating over the litter in the box so they can't dig it. I have the hay holder above the litter box. There food and water are on the self.

I don't put blankets cause the minute I do they both start peeing.

Storm can not handle Veggies so he get it as treats maybe once every two weeks.

Jessi get four meals a week. Her's consist of Romaine Lettuce, cilantro, Parsley and carrot tops. some times their is a fruit in there.

I buy the water crock that connects to the cage. So they can not throw their water bowls around and get water everywhere.