Is fleece bedding ok?

CiaraPatricia · May 2, 2010

Hi

In a few weeks I'll be setting up my bunny shed, can't wait. The bunnies are litter trained, but Leon is not 100% reliable to use it. And I'll have a baby bun too, so I think it'll take a while for her to get used to it. And I don't want them wrecking the shed floor. I also don't want to put down linoleum since my rabbits can't walk on it at all (when they're inside) and freak out, lol.

I was thinking of using fleece in a similar way to how people have it for guinea pigs. I think they put down newspaper, then towels, then fleece on top. The fleece stays dry easily and the towels absorb the pee, so it's not soaked into the wooden floor. And you just sweep up any poops every day and then wash the fleece and towels once a week.

Do you think this would be good for rabbits or would they just chew up the fleece? Fleece is meant to be less chewable than towels, or something, but I'm sure they'd just dig up the fleece and get to the towels! Maybe I can leave out the towels though.

I know that people make rabbit cosies and beds and stuff out of fleece too. Or should I just see if my bunnies chew it, since every bun is different?

I might also try vet bed, because I'm getting some for my dogs and I'll have some spare.

Thanks for any advice and if people have experience of doing this

irishbunny · May 2, 2010

I would think unless you had some way of pinning it to the floor they would dig at it and bunch it up. Also by running they would bunch it up as well. It would be difficult to just sweep it everyday as well because when you try to sweep the fleece would move. So you would probably have to pick it up and shake it out daily if they are pooping and peeing all over it. It might work though if they are litter trained.

CiaraPatricia · May 2, 2010

Yeah that's what I was thinking too. I think I might try it just because Evie is litter trained completely, so for her at least.

I guess I could try to hold it down with ceramic bowls, litter trays and rocks, in the corners. That would stop it moving when they ran hopefully. They could still bunch it up if they wanted though

I could nail it down but then I'd still have to take it up to wash it, for the ones that weren't litter trained. It might be a bit of a hassle . . .

The only other thing I can think of is lino, so maybe if I can find a non-slippy type!

elrohwen · May 2, 2010

I would put something water proof under the fleece, like lino, rather than newspaper and towels which would just be a lot of bedding to change. Otherwise, fleece works great. It does bunch up and get moved around, but I find my bunnies don't mind (even the one who is terrified of the bare cage floor will walk on the floor when the fleece is bunched up). Some of them do eat it, so you'll have to watch, but it's much safer for them to ingest fleece than towels, since towels have long strings.

CiaraPatricia · May 2, 2010

Thanks

I think I will definitely try it so. I might try putting plastic sheeting down, and then towels, and then fleece (the water goes through the fleece and is absorbed by the towels). Cos I don't want any to get through to the wooden floor of the shed.

I also saw on guinea pigs websites that they clib the fleece onto the sides of the cage, using bulldog clips or something, so I think I'll try that too.

Well I can do that at two sides (the other two sides will be the shed walls) and then I'll put the litter tray or something at the other side to hold it down a bit.