Another flooring questions

[mia]

Have an senior/elder bun who needs soft flooring. However, his friend is a much younger girl who loves to dig and rip things.

My default flooring is flannel on top of something or other. The girl completely destroys it so I’ve been laying scored cardboard on top since I have tons of packing boxes. This saves the flannel a little bit and it’s better for the girl to chew and rip. It doesn’t help with my older bun though. There’s a cuddle pod and other soft items but was wondering if anyone has flooring suggestions that works for the two.

[Wick & Fable]

The main thing is wanting something soft that doesn’t slip around. A lot of owners will put a towel, fleece, blankets, etc. directly on top of slippery floors, so it is not helpful for traction/padding, in addition to making it an easy target for digging up and chewing. A couple options come to mind:

1. A larger rug that covers a big area so it’s not easy to move around and you can block off some of the edges as needed (though usually when a rug is large enough, rabbits will be more entertained by whats on the rug surface instead of the edges).
2. Cotton throw rugs that are generally fine for ingestion, can be washed in the washing machine, and is also soft and can be put in different areas, depending on the senior rabbit’s preferences.
3. Fleece on top of somewhat firm memory foam— the fleece naturally clings onto the foam, so it is not easy to dig up: https://youtu.be/IzXXmQmgCFg
   1. I bought large rolls of foam and large rolls of fleece to cover some area for Wick for one of his past enclosure home-bases

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[mia]

The flannel actually covers the entire area but young bun digs everywhere; every single one is literally in tatters regardless of how thick it was. And, it’s not just edges but everywhere. I actually threw in old tshirt and they both ignore it! No digging or trying to sit on it… very strange.

I LOVE your flooring thing. Seems very plush. Your bun doesn’t have accidents to worry about pee in foam?

[Wick & Fable]

The fleece on top is antipill, so the pee just sort of sits on top and you can wipe it away. And if anything, you can just throw the fleece in the washing machine for a quick wash. It takes a while in my experience for the pee to permanently seep into the foam.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[DanaNM]

For my senior I used sheepette, a medical type of faux shearling, on top of washable pee pads (which was a past suggestion from Wick&Fable!).  It gives good traction and any pee goes straight through to the pee pads so bun stays dry. I got a couple large pieces and was and rotate once a week or so (more often towards the end of his life when his incontinence got worse). I liked that it gave him much better traction than fleece or flannel.

They do chew it a bit… but my buns tend to rip it up and not eat it so I don’t worry too much about it.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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