Floor Covering for rabbit pens

[Bill Jesse]

My four rabbits live in 3 large indoor pens at night and when the weather is bad. Otherwise they are outside. For years I have lined the floor of the pens with hay which is on newspaper which covers pine pellets. I change the hay and papers every day because they are soiled. I go through a lot of hay but that is not the problem.
I am looking for something I can use on the bottom instead of hay. Hay is dusty and messy and takes room to store when you buy two bales at a time. Unfortunately two of the four rabbits use the whole floor area as a litter box.
I have been searching for sea grass matts and have not had any luck even with the leads I got here. I truly wish I could find a better product than the hay.
The rabbits eat the hay and lots of it so there will always be a supply for that reason.

 

[Azerane]

There is the option of adding litter trays to the the pens, and putting the hay and pellets only in the litter tray. That way your floor stays clean and you don't have to use so much to line it.

Otherwise, there are other bedding materials, but I think they can be quite expensive. You could also use fleece blankets and then just throw them in the washing machine, as long as they're not ingesting any of it they're fine to use.

 

[Bill Jesse]

Thank you. I have used fleece in the past with success but I was constantly able to observe that bunny. These bunnies are in a bunny barn and locked up at night so I don't have my eye on them as much.
The two bonded bunnies use the whole floor area as a bathroom so it would mean using a lot of fleece and washing it daily. The other two are not toilet trained per se but do their business in basically the same spot.
Hay is okay but it is dusty and creates a mess on the barn floor. I try to keep it clean and its not really a big chore but if I could make that chore easier so much the better.

 

[foxhound]

Try a litter box with some wood pellet bedding in it.for the rest of the pen you can try finding some carpet that's "short haired" with little to nothing long enough for the rabbit to chew if it trust to. This way all the poop and pee goes in the easily changeable litter box and the rest if there's a mess can swept or vacuumed from the carpet/rug. Fleece to me I think is more chew able and gets messy if your rabbit is a digger

 

[Bill Jesse]

Good suggestion thank you. The trick is to get them to use a litter box!! Would you suggest the pine pellets be covered or left as is?
I have had success with fleece in the past and so far now with the newest rabbits. My late Sedgewick used to chew on towels and left all sorts of holes in them. I was naïve at the time and ever thought of blockage. He never ate hay and yet lived to 13 years of age.

 

[foxhound]

Yeah despite all odds some rabbits manage to live years even in situations like that or worse, not saying that its that bad tho. I guess its kind of how humans eat processed foods and unhealthy diets and still live till old age. The pine pellets can be left uncovered. At least that's how mine are, I feel they absorb enough to not be dusty and make a mess. And I haven't noticed my rabbits feet track any of it outside the litter box. I do know that rabbits sometimes poop while they eat so some people recommend placing a hay rack by the litter box. Any poop outside the box should be picked up as the rabbit watches, let the rabbit smell the poop in ur hand and then place it where you want it to go in the litter box. Here's what my setup looks. There's Velcro attaching the box to the cage so if the rabbit try to move it around it will stay in place and not spill.you can see how all her poop and pee is where it should be and the rest of her hutch is poop free

 

[Bill Jesse]

I would not say that my late rabbit lived in a bad situation. He had a whole room to himself and once in a while he would let me in. The towel was on the sofa.
I will experiment with the litter box arrangement. My rabbit's hutches are 4 feet long and although the rabbits do get outdoors to run for at least 6 hours every day when they are stuck indoors I want room for them to run.
An arrangement I saw which was perfect I think was a litter box as described with the pellets on the bottom and this person took one of those plastic grilles you see under fluorescent light fixtures and fit it into the box over the pellets. The rabbits would not touch the pellets and the waste would drop right through. She also had their food and water bowls in the box.
If I can figure how to post a photo I will.

 

[foxhound]

Please do, I'm trying to imagine how that looks.but the concept is simple. You pretty much replicate the bottom of a bird cage or like those lil small hamster cages they sell. Only reason why I'm worried about covering the pellets is the possibility of a lil rabbit nail, toe or foot were to get jammed or stuck in the "grill" part. Since the walls of my litter box are about 4 to 6 inches high there's no mess with the pellets nor does my rabbit attempt to chew at them

 

[Bill Jesse]

The grilles holes are about 1/2" square. I saw them at a sanctuary in Texas and the seem to be ideal.

 

[foxhound]

I sent you my email for the picture. I might do the switch to covering the pellets. That way I can use less and what is used can be mixed with soil for the garden. Might just be the best way to collect rabbit droppings and pee

 

[Bill Jesse]

I will be sending the pictures right after this. Hope it will work for you. I really need to try something as I change out 3 hutches each day and replace the newspaper and hay. I use a lot of newspaper and hay. Fortunately I can recycle the paper and a local gardener is happy to take the hay/pellets each week.
I have been using this method for 4 years now and its a lot of newspaper and hay!

 

[foxhound]

Where in the States are you located? I used to to that same way until I switched to litter box training.I would get Ny paper from staples where I work. Stores usually get a box full of adds that they don't always use. It wouldn't hurt to ask for a box of old expired adds at the end of the week.that way u take home a nice free box of hundreds of newspapers. I saw the picture and made perfect sense especially with the tapered grill.

 

[Bill Jesse]

I am in British Columbia Canada. I have no problem getting newspaper as it comes from the recycling boxes in nearby apartments and condos. And as I mentioned once it has been used it goes right into my recycling box.
I was calculating that the rabbits have been in those hutches for 4 years and I change the paper daily so I must have done it over 1200 times!! Its okay, they are worth it.
The hay is my biggest concern. I use it for bedding and two of the bunnies go to the bathroom all over the hutch and I do not like the thought of them eating that hay. Then there is storage. The bunny barn is only 8 feet square and for safety reasons I do not like keeping bales of hay in there.

 

[foxhound]

Why wouldn't it be safe for the hay bales? That's a lot of paper hahaha its a good thing that a lot of rabbit "trash" for a lack of better term, is recyclable. Have you used a hay rack before? Once you cover the floor you can try a hay rack so that the rabbits eat the hay in there and not the hay underneath them.ive recently began to work at a local small pet store and I manage to clean three hutches and four rat tanks fairly easy.also have to deal with reptiles. I've found that a litter box helps a lot when it comes to keeping the hutch clean

 

[Bill Jesse]

My concern about safety is fire. Their barn is a wooden structure and having hay lying about bothers me. I have a very large Rubbermaid container with a lid that will hold a half bale. That is in the barn. The balance is in the garage raised off the floor.
In summer it is easy enough to get fresh hay but that is sold out by February so I stockpile it in the garage. This year's hay is not yet cut but should be soon.
Found a hay rack but it was very poorly built. The covering over the wire was chipping off and it was too small. My bunnies go through a lot of hay daily. I must make an effort to get them into litter boxes.

 

[foxhound]

That effort will be all worth it.not only will their hay stay clean from the rest of the hutch but I'm sure u will save some money in doing so. Its also time saving to have them litter trained. This is what my hay rack looks like besides the boxes of hay I have through my room...I just now need to make one where her litter box is

 

[Bill Jesse]

The hay box is a great idea. I would need one the size of a football! They eat so much hay.
Checked for a light grille this morning but could not find any. But must work on the litter box idea right now. My other bunny used one all the time.