most of us don’t use wire bottom cages at all so there is no need for a resting board. if we use a petstore cage, it’s a plastic bottom one, but i think the majority of us use either xpens or some type of do-it-yourself cage/condo/pen out of wire storage grids (NIC cubes).

since you do use a wire bottom cage, i’d actually recommend that you get a small piece of linoleum cut to fit the entire floor and cover up all the wire. once everything is covered, you can begin to litterbox train your bunny instead of him pottying into a tray underneath. if he has an accident, the linoleum can easily be wiped off. your clean-up will be much easier with a litterbox as well.

a big problem with wood in cages or wooden hutches is that if there is a pee accident, you will never be able to fully get that smell out of the wood. it might not be noticable to you, but the bunny will be able to smell it.

I just remade my cage with pegboard tied to the wire shelves. I splurged on a waterproof fabric-coated cat litter mat that was exactly the size to cut in half for the two shelves. On the middle shelf, to make for a softer landing, I tied an old towel under the mat. That way it’s soft but there is still a waterproof cover.

Ditto on the wire bottom. I think their are two reasons to change it up (either lay something over the whole bottom, or get a new one, or build your own or… )

1) It’s hard on their feet-even with a resting board. They can get ‘sore hocks’ from it. They’re convenient for breeders, as they clean many cages, so if poop falls through the bottom, that’s conveneint. But it’s no way to live, IMO

2) They won’t litter train on it, since they can go to the bathroom anywhere and not be standing in their toilet-it just falls through. When they have a flat bottom cage and a litter pan (the litter pan being the only part that holds litter, the rest should be bedding free) they quickly litter train which is fantastic for having them loose in the house!

You could easily pick up some signboard (coroplast) and cut it to fit the bottom of your cage-and voila! No wire bottom!

With my first bunny I bought a pet store cage that had a wire bottom- and I used a brand new cheap cutting board (hard plastic material) as a platform until I got some Coroplast (the plastic board that signs are commonly made out of, and that is commonly used in rabbit and guinea pig condos).  The nice thing about the cutting board was that is not porous and did not absorb the pee, and it does not scratch easily and create a surface that can be hard to clean.  So in addition to the other suggestions you can consider coroplast or a cutting board.

I covered about 75% of the cage bottom and left the “potty’ corner uncovered to be used as a litterbox.  It was nice in the regards that all pee and poo falls thru so their feet do not get stained, but it is a pain to clean since I would have to pull the 3 foot long tray out to clean it.

Julie

I found carpet remnants cut up into “floor mats” at one of the local dollar stores.  There were two “mats” per package, each package for a dollar.  I used four of those to cover the second floor of my bunny’s NIC cage, with rugs that I found on clearance at Target on top of that to give him a soft and solid surface.