Litter trays

[Katie94]

Hi all,

I have decided to take the plunge and try adding litter pellets back in to my trays. I gave up with litter a while ago as my bunnies repeatedly dug in the tray and it made the mess 100x worse! Over the past few months the digging has stopped so I want to try again, I’ve gone for wood pellets. I’m hoping pellets will be more cost effective as I have just used news paper previously which required fully changing every day/ two days and wasn’t very pleasant to clean. So my question is anyone know if the pellets I picked will be good and how often do you fully empty and refresh your trays? I was thinking I could remove soiled litter daily and then fully refresh the whole thing once a week.

 

[Blue eyes]

Those pellets look just fine. You don't need to take out soiled litter daily. That would just be counterproductive as the pellets are intended to break down when wet with urine. That is what contains the odor.
I have found the easiest way to maintain pellet litter is to top it with hay twice per day. With two rabbits (and a large enough box) it will probably need to be changed twice per week. (It will last a full week if only one rabbit is using it.)
The following page has more detail on how to get the most out of the pellets and some trouble-shooting as well:
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/odor-free-home.html

 

[Hannahsigurdson]

I would must make sure that the pellets do not cause a lot of dust, because this can cause sinus infections. I line my litter pans with dog / cat training pads. I find that this makes for a really easy clean up, and helps absorb some of the liquid. My #1 litter however is carefresh bedding in the color white. I find that it holds the odor really well, and I like the white because you can watch the color of the urine to make sure there are no issues. I changed my litter every other day. If you do not change it that often, you can risk getting maggots or growth in the feces. Since rabbits eat their own poop, this can be a problem. Hope this helps!

 

[Scarlette]

The pellets look suitable for rabbits, but there is cheaper brands of pellets you can use. Most of the 'cheaper' brands of pellets are not made for rabbits but is an great and cheaper alternative. Your local hardware stores might hold wood pellets. It doesn't matter which kind of wood they use for pellets because of the process they go through, most wood pellets are made with a combination of woods. For how often you should clean your litter box, once a day is pretty common, so is once in 2 days. It really depends on how big your litter box, and what size of rabbit you have. If your litter box smells, its time to clean your litter box.

 

[Blue eyes]

I would must make sure that the pellets do not cause a lot of dust, because this can cause sinus infections. I line my litter pans with dog / cat training pads. I find that this makes for a really easy clean up, and helps absorb some of the liquid. My #1 litter however is carefresh bedding in the color white. I find that it holds the odor really well, and I like the white because you can watch the color of the urine to make sure there are no issues. I changed my litter every other day. If you do not change it that often, you can risk getting maggots or growth in the feces. Since rabbits eat their own poop, this can be a problem. Hope this helps!

Wood pellets do not create dust. They are compressed wood that crumbles into a spongy consistency, not dusty. There is a danger of using puppy training pads if bunny decides to chew it and ingest the padding or plastic.

Rabbits only eat their own cecal poos, not fecal poos. Those fecals are eaten directly from their body, not from the litter box.

 

[JBun]

Certain spots in my rabbits litter box, tend to get wet quicker. So those spots I scoop out as needed(about every 2 days), then usually the whole litter box will then need dumping at 7-10 days, but this is with old rabbits that have now decided they don't have to consistently use the litter box. I have a soft screen covering the litter, so every day or two I sweep off the soiled hay and poop, but that's because it's a low sided litter box now for my old rabbits. I used to wait about 3 days before cleaning out the soiled hay and poop.

 

[Hannahsigurdson]

Wood pellets do not create dust. They are compressed wood that crumbles into a spongy consistency, not dusty. There is a danger of using puppy training pads if bunny decides to chew it and ingest the padding or plastic.

Rabbits only eat their own cecal poos, not fecal poos. Those fecals are eaten directly from their body, not from the litter box.

I personally have not ever had problems with the training pads, and have seen other owners that use them often. However, I can see how that can be an issue. My bunny did eat fecal poo as well as the cecotropes.I would also occasionally find him eating at the wrong end of the litter box. That is just my personal experience. My vet at the time also told me that bunnies commonly get infections due to bacteria in their litter box when in there too long. Also, the bag does say “low dust”. I don’t have a lot of experience with wood pellets though. Just carefresh bedding.

 

[Katie94]

Yes I can verify the pellets are not dusty, they did however have a very noticeable smell is this normal for all wood pellets? The front says natural pine fragrance which I assumed meant nothing extra was added they do smell how I would imagine wood pellets to smell just seemed very strong! It could be that I’ve just opened the bag which made it seem worse. I think my bunnies were a bit put off by the smell though.

 

[Preitler]

I would just use the cheapest wood stove pellets you can find. Mine don't smell at all, and actually advertising a smell on the package would keep me from buying those.

I have the litter box under the hay rack, and they waste a lot of hay, I roll up that layer of hay every week and scoop out the spots of soaked pellets, and replace everthing about every 3 weeks.

I'm in the lucky position that I can just dump all that in my little wood, so the notion of creating more plastic waste if there are good and cheap ways to avoid it strikes as somewhat odd.

 

[NYAngela]

Hi all,

I have decided to take the plunge and try adding litter pellets back in to my trays. I gave up with litter a while ago as my bunnies repeatedly dug in the tray and it made the mess 100x worse! Over the past few months the digging has stopped so I want to try again, I’ve gone for wood pellets. I’m hoping pellets will be more cost effective as I have just used news paper previously which required fully changing every day/ two days and wasn’t very pleasant to clean. So my question is anyone know if the pellets I picked will be good and how often do you fully empty and refresh your trays? I was thinking I could remove soiled litter daily and then fully refresh the whole thing once a week.View attachment 53329

I use kiln dried compressed pine as well. I change it every 3 days. I suppose I could scoop out the more soiled areas and use for a few more days (maybe I’ll try that bcse many of the pellets are completely dry at 3 days) Not sure what you pay for those, I pay $8-$10 for a 40lb bag that lasts 6 months (maybe I can stretch it longer now) I live in NYC so no stores keep these in stock but I can ship to store and pick up. I searched for “Equine Pellets” as they are typically used for horses! Im sure there are many the brand I can get here is America’s Choice

 

[Blue eyes]

I personally have not ever had problems with the training pads, and have seen other owners that use them often. However, I can see how that can be an issue. My bunny did eat fecal poo as well as the cecotropes.I would also occasionally find him eating at the wrong end of the litter box. That is just my personal experience. My vet at the time also told me that bunnies commonly get infections due to bacteria in their litter box when in there too long. Also, the bag does say “low dust”. I don’t have a lot of experience with wood pellets though. Just carefresh bedding.

Unless the litter box is sitting there for weeks, it's not going to be an issue -- not if maintained as described (with twice daily additions of hay). It is certainly not "common" for rabbits to get infections from bacteria in their litter box. It would be more common for rabbits to chew those puppy pads and risk a blockage.

Nothing wrong with using Carefresh. I found it considerably more pricey, and considerably more messy (and tends to get tracked everywhere). But if someone likes it, it's perfectly safe.