I’m sorry to hear you’re going through a tough time financially. changing cages daily means going through a LOT of litter. I generally only change mine every 5 days and my rabbits don’t seem to care. You might at least try only changing every other day to cut down on litter. A safe and cheap option is wood stove pellets – you can call around to big hardware kinds of stores (someplace that will sell fireplace kinds of supplies) to see if they have them. In our area a 40 pound box costs less than $6, last time I checked. They often are not available year round – many places only carry them in fall and winter – but you might still find some in stock.

I agree with gravehearted. I have two bunnies and change out their litterbox twice a week. But it’s probably different for you since you have four bunnies. Shopping at a feed store is much cheaper than shopping at a pet store.
I also put down newspapers or straw hay/oat hay before I put down the wood pellets. It helps to absorb the urine which extends the life of the litter.

Sorry to hear you’re having a hard time right now, I’m just now coming out of one so I know what you mean.

I picked up a bale of coastal hay from the feed store for $6 to use in my litter boxes. (4 buns of my own and one I’m babysitting for a while)

I also pick up a handful of those free advertising newspapers and put several layers in the litter boxes, then a handful of coastal on top. They like to sit in it and eat (eau), I keep a big box of the coastal in the room and every morning throw another handful in each so they have a clean layer to sit on and nibble during the day. The boxes usually go 4-5 days before I need to dump them and redo.

This is my third month on the bale and I’m just now about to finish it up.
Good luck, Kathy

I use the stove pellets and they are cheap.  $8 for 40 pounds. I change the litter box every day.  It’s great stuff and there is never any kind of odor. I just put a thin layer down and I probably go through a 40 lb bag in 1-1/2 months.

In addition to the stove pellets (which I have used and are a great option) they also sell a pelleted wood product for horse stalls at many feed stores.  This works well for bunny litter boxes too.  You can get a 40 pound bag for $8 or so.  These absorb well, and smell good too.  Just be sure that the only ingredients are wood products.  In a pinch, plain old baled straw is an option too, but this would have to be changed every day since it has no inherent odor fighting abilities.  A huge bale of straw is like $12 around here, very cheap.

Also, if you find wood stove pellets, do not get the ones marked as ‘Deluxe’ or ‘Hotter Burning’.  These contain hydrocarbon accelerants, which are bad for bunny to breathe in.  The label should say if anything extra has been added.  Good Luck!

osprey – thanks for telling us about the dangers of the deluxe / hotter burning kind, i didn’t realize they had more than the basic ones.