How do you keep your hay mess contained?

[A & B]

I struggle with keeping the hay off of the floor and I've noticed that in a lot of the pictures posted on the forum there's not a single piece of hay on the floor. I know the obvious answer is to sweep daily but I usually don't have time for that. Would hay racks be a good idea because I wouldn't have to refill hay multiple times a day? Or is this something I'll have to deal with? It doesn't bother me but my mom can't stand it. Hay gets stuck to our socks and then tracked out into the living room and it (understandably) makes my mom mad. Any tips are appreciated!

I've attached some pictures showing the mess. It usually looks worse but I cleaned some of it up last night.

Edit: the blue things in the pictures are from the small rug I use during grooming. The bunnies chew the blue things off while I'm grooming them and because they don't actually eat the pieces I allow it.

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

Hayrack like 101 rabbits has.

 

[Blue eyes]

I see hay on the floor, but you can show a photo that shows where it is coming from? The whole setup?

 

[A & B]

Sure. Tomorrow is cleaning day which is why the pens are disasters.

 

[Blue eyes]

So are the first photos inside their cage/area? Or is it outside their area? Sorry, I'm confused on the photos. Are they free roaming right outside their cage?

 

[zuppa]

Some great ideas there I see in your photos thanks for that. Just got another large dog crate myself going to play around with designing new habitat over the weekend

 

[A & B]

Blue eyes: The first pictures are of the area outside the pens. They both are given 12 hours of playtime and Evie uses totes/containers as stairs to get up and down from her pen. I'm sorry the pictures are confusing. The pens are stacked on top of each other.

Poopy Poo: The pens are 6 feet by 4 feet. The bottom pen (Bugs's) has chicken wire wrapped around it because the bunnies aren't bonded. There is pine wood in between the pens that make sure she can't get into his pen and I made them with x-pens. There is also two tables that hold the whole thing together. I think they look kind of sloppy but if you were to take your time they would look much nicer. Regardless, they work for the bunnies and me.

 

[Preitler]

What I see there is a pretty clean floor, what's the problem again?
One of the few advantages of living alone is that I can define the level of "clean enough", thanks for pointing that out, I'm prone to forget.

Hay racks, well, they sure help with wasting hay, but mine still pull out a lot, right into their litter box and beyond. Maybe a rough, brush type door mat where they leave the cage might be worth a try.

 

[A & B]

I personally don't think it's that bad but my mom hates it. The hay gets stuck to feet and socks and then tracked out to the living room. I put hay into paper bags and let the bunnies shred them but last night I watched Bugs actually push the hay out of his pen and onto the floor. He was pushing the hay out as if he was kneading a blanket. If that's where the mess is coming from, it won't be that difficult to use my mini broom and dustpan and just sweep that spot before it gets dragged all over my room.

 

[Butterscotch]

Can you put cardboard between the pen and the chicken wire to help keep it contained? That works for my buns right now. This is an older pic so our setup has changed but you can see how I put cardboard between the cages and the play pen. This did a great job of keeping the hay inside the play pens.

 

[Imogen Glass]

For my rabbits I put their litter tray closer to the wall rather than closer to the outside as that helps to keep the mess contained in their pen. I also have this plastic board type material around the outside of the pen (only at the back where the litter trays are) as that helps to keep the mess contained, it’s attached with cable ties. Let me know if you want me to include a picture of my set up.

 

[A & B]

I don't know how I never thought about using cardboard! I used cardboard with my hamster years ago to keep all of the bedding inside and it worked great.

I have the litter boxes where they are because it's easier to top their hay. I can throw Evie's over the side and I can put the tote next to Bugs's litter box and toss it in that way. I don't like climbing into their pens because the chicken wire is known to rip wholes in my clothes. If possible, I'd love to see your set up!

 

[Alliefan]

I was dealing with hay and shavings everywhere for awhile but not anymore. I switched to pellet litter which saved the day for me. I put her hat in her litter box that has sides on it and ... no mess. She's free roaming though and only uses her cage ad the litter box. I'm moving soon and I have a guy building her a new crate. He's going to put an add'l board around the bottom to ensure hay/pellets stay in.

 

[FinnegansMom]

If you look to the left corner I made a litter box/hay feeder combo out of a couple of pieces of wood. It usually stays in the the feeder but I spilled hay when I was putting new hay in and didn't clean it up yet. The last picture is what we had when he first came home. I made a hanging cardboard feeder with three holes cut out and hung it on the pen. I've also used a hanging basket but that didn't work well.

 

[Imogen Glass]

I didn’t even think about you having to climb in, I guess that’s because mine have an open top. Most of the wood things in there me and my mum made besides the bed we got that from ikea in the kids section and they love it. We also have a marble slab in front of their litter trays because in the summer they got really hot and putting ice on it helped to cool them down. We have a conservatory opposite their cage so it was hard to keep that area cool. But I left it there because marmalade(the orange one) likes to lie on it and it helps to keep their trays in place as they used to pull it out. I switched to having a hay rack on the floor in the middle because the racks we used to have wasted a lot of hay as they were quite high but they still pull hay into their litter trays (which need cleaning out). We also used to have news paper on the floor but we recently saved up for a roll of Lino so it’s now easy just to wipe it down and clean the litter trays, they normally have a couple small squares of blankets but they are currently in the wash. I guess it’s just finding out what works best for you and your rabbits Ive had two of mine for a year now and one for 1/2 a year as me and my mum went to the pet shop for hay and came home with a rabbit instead it was actually easier than I thought to bond them once they were all fixed as the one we adopted was a boy.

 

[Butterscotch]

But I left it there because marmalade(the orange one) likes to lie on it and it helps to keep their trays in place as they used to pull it out.

I wish I had named my fawn colored bunny Marmalade! Oh how cute!! I love that name. Sorry.....off topic.

 

[Imogen Glass]

I wish I had named my fawn colored bunny Marmalade! Oh how cute!! I love that name. Sorry.....off topic.

Hahah my brown one is called cinnamon and the grey one is dobrik

 

[Alliefan]

I see that most people have blankets down for their bunnies. When I did that Ashes just used those to pee on so I was washing blankets every day. The minute I removed those she started ONLY using her litter box. I do have a very thick cozy cat bed on the other side of my bedroom for her but she prefers to lay on the floor.

 

[Imogen Glass]

I usually buy fleeces and cut them into small squares and only put one or 2 in as if I put too many in sometimes they pee on them.

 

[Leo the Lop]

I see that most people have blankets down for their bunnies. When I did that Ashes just used those to pee on so I was washing blankets every day. The minute I removed those she started ONLY using her litter box. I do have a very thick cozy cat bed on the other side of my bedroom for her but she prefers to lay on the floor.

Same here, I’ve tried putting blankets and soft furniture for him to lounge on but he just pees on them Without them he only goes in the litter box.