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Forum DIET & CARE Tips to reduce cost of rabbits

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    • FloppyBunny
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        I’m not sure if this will help anyone, but I’ve been seeing lately that most people spend around $80 per rabbit, per month. Feel free to comment on how much you spend, but if it truly costs that much, here are my tips to spend less:

        1) See if you have a feed store or farmer’s-type store. They often sell rabbit pellets. Usually they have better ingredients than a lot of pet store food, and my rabbits actually prefer it. I buy a 25lb bag for $20 and it lasts me almost a year for one 8lb rabbit, compared to the 2lbs for $20 I used to pay in pet stores.

        2) Vegetables are a bit trickier, but if you can plant things, that’s great, if not, sometimes you can get vegetables that would be thrown out from the grocery store for free. I’ve only done this once since I grow my own, but at one store they had huge bins of vegetables that were still good, but their rules said they had to be thrown because they were there for like 2 days. Maybe not every store does this, but it’s worth asking.

        3) For hay, check Kijiji or Craigslist for farmers that sell their hay. You can usually buy a bale of hay (quite heavy, maybe 50lbs) for $4. It should last quite a while.

        4) For litter, I just use the hay. They don’t eat the dirty hay, only a bit from the side they don’t poop on.

        I hope this helps someone. With my 8lbs rabbit (I only just got my girl), I spent about $4 a month. I would be really interested in knowing how much it costs you guys per month (and the number of rabbits you have).


      • skysblue
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          My my my~ I spend a fortune every month on 1 rabbit.
          Are all horse quality safe? e.g. Orchard / fescue mix. All the bales are too far away from me, like an hour to 2 drive, And it’s so much- i’m afraid my rabbit won’t eat it and it get all wasted. She doesn’t like it if its too yellow and coarse.


        • Robert
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            If you have a tractor supply nearby I suggest going there, they sell 50 pound bales for $18

            I also grow my own veggies…Alot of it


          • NoMane
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              My bunny won’t pee on hay. She actually won’t even eat hay in her litter box. Just has to be litter.

              1) Use Yesterday’s News instead of the marketed small pet paper pellets. The 30lb unscented bag is about 17$ and lasts me 2-3 months for a 4lb rabbit in a corner litter pan.

              2) Rural King and TSC sell bales of hay for about 4$, if you are like me and have no place to put a 50lb bale from a farmer yet can’t keep doing the 1lb bag of hay for 5$. Poke some holes in a tote and enjoy your savings.

              3) Join pet store loyalty programs. They often do 5-10$ off for every $100 you spend and offer exclusive sales.

              4) Look for coupons before you do any shopping trip, and coordinate your shopping trips for weekends when sales are best.(General rule, I actually travel to pet stores for my job as a dog food representative)

              5) Do the most shopping you can for your bun OUTSIDE the pet store. A $15 litter pan at Petco was found at walmart for $4 and they were nearly identical. Her water crock is a low, black hexagonal bowl I found at a thrift store and is impossible to flip or dump.

              6) People sell dog crates and x-pens on craigslist for nothing. Check first before buying new. I use a large dog crate attached to an x-pen… total cost = 35$

              7) Center your own meals around the veg’s you use for the bun. I make a giant tub of salad for the humans for $3 maximum, and pull from that to give to the bunny. The bottoms of the lettuce that don’t make good in salad are stored in the fridge and given to the bun too. Vegetable scraps are great. I very rarely buy veggies specially for the bunny. It also is a great excuse to incorporate healthy eating into your own diet!

              8) Horse aisle for treats. Giant bag of hay blocks = cheap and healthy. Check ingredients for corn or anything else offensive.

              9) Use the boxes you get from shipping to make cardboard castles, also the paper used to package is a favorite of my bunny. She is entertained forever by ripping paper.

              10) Speaking of entertainment, to keep my bunny entertained we tied a string that goes across the x-pen and has things dangling from it. Mini pie tins, toilet paper rolls, cat toys, etc. She has zero attention span but yet is not bored of it.

              11) Buy dried/freeze fried fruit in the dollar store, not the pet store. 3oz bag of papaya treats = $6 at Petsmart… 8oz bag of dried papaya = $1 at Dollar Tree.

              I really spend… maybe $20-30 a month specially on her. If even that. A bag of $15 food, $4 for hay and 1/3 of the 17lb bag of litter.

              ETA: Cost does not account for vet bills, extra treats and toys, spoiling, etc. So the $80 a month thing in the long run doesn’t surprise me. 


            • tobyluv
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                The least expensive litter will be the wood stove pellets (plain – no accellerants) or the horse stall pellets. They come in 40 pound bags for $5 or $6. You can’t beat that. Here is one brand of horse stall pellets at Tractor Supply http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/equine-fresh-pine-pellet-stall-bedding-40-lb?cm_vc=-10005. Another brand is called Equine Pine, which you could probably find at feed stores.


              • LittlePuffyTail
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                  I think I’m going to try the wood stove or horse stall pellets. Gonna check my feed store (we don’t have Tractor Supply here). I’ve always used YN but with Sterling being so big, he goes through sooo much of it. He has a cat size litter box I pretty much have to change every day. My grocery store sells it for $9 a small bag. Our Walmart only has the scented kind so that’s a no go. I hate to switch since I really like YN but big bunny = a lot more $ on litter.


                • JosipTheBunny
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                    I would say I spend very little. I get wood shavings/pellets for free at the local wood-cutting place (I don’t know how it is called).
                    For food: lots of hay I get from mom’s big garden, also the veggies. Some of the veggies and hay I buy. Since I don’t feed him pellets no money is spent on them.

                    I would say I spend less than 5€ a month for food in spring/summer (in the winter will probably be more – around 15€, because there is less veggies in the garden).

                    I didn’t count the initial things in here like a cage, water bowl (2€), toilet (4€), nail clipper (2€), brush (1.5€) and a leash (7€), some toys/feeding toys (10€ together). I got the bunny and the cage from a breeder for 50€ (for both).

                    Most of the toys, sleeping and hiding houses I make myself from different boxes, toilet paper rolls, wooden things that I find in my parents house (lots of things that no one uses) etc. Josip also really likes my footstool


                  • noodlebeer
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                      I’ve only had my Gus for a bit over 2 months, but I think I’ve settled into a routine for cost, now (start up is always the most expensive thing, aside from vet bills of course!)
                      Hay – $16 for a small bale, 1 a month (it’s not in his litter tray so it doesn’t get wasted)
                      Veg – maybe $25 a month; I don’t like any of the veg he does (except spinach, but he doesn’t get much of that) so we can’t really share to save cost!
                      Litter – one $9 bag lasts a few weeks
                      Pellets – $5 a month


                    • FloppyBunny
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                        It seems like the costs vary a lot between all of us. You have some great tips NoMane. When I first got my rabbit, I hadn’t thought of using a dog cage, and bought the biggest rabbit cage (which of course is way too small) for $120, when I was later able to get one 3 times the size for $50.

                        About the wood pellets, I’ve read that they aren’t a great idea since most are made with pine which can cause liver problems in rabbits.


                      • tobyluv
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                          @FloppyBunny – Pine pellets are fine. It is the pine and cedar shavings that you should not use. The compressed pine pellets do not have the dangerous aromatic oils that the shavings have, so they are safe to use.


                        • Vienna Blue in France
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                            LPT – can you get shredded paper? recycle office paper or something – I haven’t bought litter since.. well eveer..!! LOL

                            I’ve always have shredded paper (shredded like spaghetti, so cut only one way when going into shredding machine) rather than tiny confetti bits when you have a two-way shredder. Brill, cheap (free), easy to handle and recycled… win win


                          • kraine
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                              My setup is pretty darn cheap!

                              Hay: $8 per bale, 40lb of hay, you’ll never run out. I looked online for a local farm selling hay and it’s super cheap. I took 3 flakes of timothy and she gave it to me for free. Has lasted 3 months already and it’s not gone.

                              Pellets: $30 per large bag. I buy oxbow off the internet – it is kinda pricey, but I buy the bulk 25lb bag. my bun is still young and gets unlimited pellets, the bag lasts a few months. I know it’ll be cheaper and last much longer when he’s on a restricted adult diet!

                              Veggies: I spend about $10 per month on greens for him – kale, turnip greens, collard greens, etc. All very cheap greens at a dollar per lb. and then I just share my own veggies, carrots, tomato, broccoli, etc.

                              Bedding: WOOD PELLETS. $6 per 40lb bag… I don’t know why everyone doesn’t do this! It’s amazing absorbency, holds pee really well, and is cheap as hell. Lasts a long time and is so cheap.

                              As for toys and such, I am opportunistic and repurpose things to be bunny toys.. phone books, mail, boxes. I put mashed banana in ice cubes and that occupies him for hours on hot days.I switch out his toys frequently so he doesn’t get tired of them. building things out of cardboard is fun.


                            • MiNinoJack
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                                How does everyone keep their greens? I find that mine in the fridge go bad fairly quickly. I keep them in the bags I put them in from the store and I often wonder if they don’t get to breathe properly. I am throwing a lot of it out because my bun doesn’t go through it all quickly enough.


                              • Alyssa
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                                  mines a baby under 6 months

                                  hay- I use the small green excess from my horses (I don’t buy), and spend $8 for alfalfa hay
                                  food- 1 bag for 2 months, $13
                                  toys- $10 a month, depends if I want to spoil him.
                                  veg- $10 for couple kale, parsley, and romaine lettuce (depends how big the batch)
                                  bedding- $25 for 3 months

                                  I work at a petstore, so I get some discount, and always kept at feed stores since I have horses. He will probably getting into quality feed store pellets once he’s grown.


                                • Azerane
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                                    Posted By MiNinoJack on 6/15/2016 4:07 PM

                                    How does everyone keep their greens? I find that mine in the fridge go bad fairly quickly. I keep them in the bags I put them in from the store and I often wonder if they don’t get to breathe properly. I am throwing a lot of it out because my bun doesn’t go through it all quickly enough.

                                    It’s quite possible that they need to breathe more. I’ve seen some people who take their greens out the bag and wrap them in paper towel before either just putting them back in the fridge or in a container in the fridge. The paper towel would absorb excess moisture which tends to spoil veg in a container and turn it rotten. If your veg is just going very limp and wilting but not actually going rotten, you can just soak it in a bowl of water for a couple of hours which will make it crisp again. Me personally, some veg I could keep in a fridge in bags, others I kept out on the counter in a glass or container of water. I kept lettuce, basil and coriander on the kitchen bench that way. Just enough to cover the base of the herb stalks, and if you buy the lettuce with the roots still attached it keeps great (just refresh the water daily).

                                    In terms of my costs.

                                    Litter: 15kg wood pellets every 2-3 months for $22. (Can’t buy wood stove pellets in stores here, and horse stall pellets are quite uncommon and expensive).

                                    Pellets: 2kg Burgess Excel every 3 months for $28

                                    Hay: Whole bale, $12 every 5-6 months. Keeps green and fresh if you keep it in the dark, and in a ventilated container.

                                    Veggies: Can’t recall but grew a lot of my own, maybe $4 a week.

                                    I didn’t really spend on toys as I usually made my own.

                                    So as a monthly cost that is 8.80 + 9.30 + 2.4 + 16 = $36.5 every month.

                                    Add onto that a monthly aside for vet bills, treats or toys if you bought those as well and it could easily be equal to $80.


                                  • Boing
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                                      My costs used to be very high (~$250/ month in hay alone). Then I discovered a feed store! Pet store hay prices have always vexed me, because I was aware of the agricultural price, just had trouble finding someone willing to sell 1 bale. Cincinnati and Daisy eat tons of hay. I bought a 50lb bale less than a month ago. They are already half way through it. Hay consumption seems seasonal, though I haven’t figured out the pattern yet.

                                      Litter is expensive, but only because Cincinnati drinks too much water. The vet doesn’t know why. His latest fecal sample (last weekend) came back negative for parasites. This means that he goes through tons of litter. They thought it might be due to the parasites he used to have. In every other way he is healthy.

                                      Not cost related, but a few weeks ago I switched their litter boxes. I love the new Van Ness high sides corner cat pan!!! Hay doesn’t get kicked out. No one accidentally urinates over the side. I can tell it was accidental, because it immediately stopped with their new boxes. They may be triangular, but they are huge. I would recommend them to anyone. There is far less sweeping even, because everything stays in the box. The time I spend on chores is a fraction of what I used to. I am getting some extras soon, in case these wear out or are discontinued. They are life changing! Cincinnati and Daisy each have a pink one.


                                    • lexi
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                                        I think my cost are about $30 a month for two bunnies, an English Angora and a Holland lop (I’m not sure about litter costs, but I’m guessing $10).

                                        I buy Oxbow pellets, Small pet select timothy hay, and yesterday’s news on Amazon Prime. Believe it or not, the pellets and hay are about half the price per pound they are in store. The litter is $5 cheaper. Plus I don’t have to leave the house. For veggies, I usually do the scraps from my own meals. They get less veggies than most buns because Burt is an angora and Kip is a (seemingly) perpetually molting Holland Lop and both get extra hay because of the hair.

                                        I probably spend $150 each year on toys and hidey holes and stuff like that because bunnies like to ruin things and I’m an enabler.


                                      • Steph927
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                                          Wow I need to look at cheaper sources lol but I also have 4 rabbits

                                          I buy most of my stuff through Amazon. Way cheaper than the store plus Im an hour from any store.

                                          Hay is about $30/month
                                          Pellets $60/month. 4 more months they will get cut back to adult amounts.
                                          Bedding $40/month
                                          Veggies its hard to say because I buy the same for us.

                                          But June – October I have zero bedding and veggy cost because they are outside in their large run and I can grow veggies in the garden.

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                                      Forum DIET & CARE Tips to reduce cost of rabbits