Cutting out wood chippings?

[GlennTheLionhead]

Hello! I am a relatively new bunny owner, I have a 16 week old lion head called Glenn and I’ve had him for about 2 months now. He has settled in great and is always happy binkying around and flopping as happy bunnys do he is a house bunny and also pretty much free roams, he stays in my spare room and has learnt how to use the stairs that lead to the lounge so I usually let him roam between the lounge and ‘his’ room as he pleases when I’m in the house to keep an eye on him. At night time I put him in his cage as I wouldn’t want him roaming around when I’m sleeping for his own safety. In his cage I use wood chippings and hay as bedding, the only problem is it seems to get everywhere!! I was wondering how essential it is to have this in his cage? I don’t want to use all hay in his cage either incase he pees and poops on it, it will make it difficult for me to maintain the cage daily, I will still use hay for feed and the part of the cage he sleeps in, but was wondering what other free roam & house bunny owners do? Anything you use to pad the cage with and just general tips on how you house your bunny whilst also keeping your home tidy? I’ve seen pictures of people using blankets in cages with a separate box full of hay. Any tips and ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Luna]

Hi! Glenn is adorable . Is he litter trained? Luna is litter trained so there is carefresh bedding in her litter box, but her cage has a flat plastic bottom and it isn’t lined with anything. I used to put a small blanket in the cage, but she always pushed it aside so her fleece lays outside of her cage now.

[sarahthegemini]

I use wood pellets in their litter trays and just give them blankets and what not to lay on. They don’t have cages at all tho, when they did I just left it bare to avoid confusion between that and the litter tray.

Glenn is adorable

Edit: I never used blankets when they had cages simply because before they were spayed and neutered, they liked peeing on fleece.

[GlennTheLionhead]

Aww thanks! Luna looks like a little sweetie herself! He’s littler trained to an extent, he knows not to go anywhere other than his cage but uses anywhere in his cage rather than the litter box I got him :/ but he’s too young to be nuetured so I’m hoping that will help! I didn’t even know there were other products available for litter so that helps! It’s good to know other people don’t use wood chipping, I’ll be very glad to get rid them haha! Thanks for your help.

Oops I thought the replies posted individually! You’ll have to forgive me I’m new to binkybunny lol! This reply was in response to Luna and my second reply was in response to Sarahthegemini

[GlennTheLionhead]

Ahh okay thanks, definitely going to try out wood pellets or carefresh, I’ll be very glad to get rid of the chippings then, good to know other people have done that too! It might even help him use his litter tray rather than just anywhere in his cage! What did they sleep on when they had a cage?
Also how do you find having them completely cage free? I can tell Glenn dislikes going in his cage at night and have thought about getting rid of it completely but I’m just worried of what he might get up to when I’m asleep, maybe it’s something I should do when he’s a couple years old and less mischievous.
Thanks a bunch for your help! Your two look adorable cuddled up aswell

[Luna]

If I were able to choose, I’d go with wood pellets instead of carefresh because the pellets are so much cheaper and they work just as well. Luna uses carefresh because she kept trying to eat the wood pellets.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By GlennTheLionhead on 6/14/2017 6:30 AM

Ahh okay thanks, definitely going to try out wood pellets or carefresh, I’ll be very glad to get rid of the chippings then, good to know other people have done that too! It might even help him use his litter tray rather than just anywhere in his cage! What did they sleep on when they had a cage?
Also how do you find having them completely cage free? I can tell Glenn dislikes going in his cage at night and have thought about getting rid of it completely but I’m just worried of what he might get up to when I’m asleep, maybe it’s something I should do when he’s a couple years old and less mischievous.
Thanks a bunch for your help! Your two look adorable cuddled up aswell

Oh I’m sure it will help – for the first week or so I used bedding all over their cage and as soon as I switched to just putting it in their litter trays, they instantly started peeing exclusively in the litter boxes Whilst they still had a cage they liked sleeping on the bare plastic or the carpet as I had a pen attached with no flooring. 

I originally put the buns in their pens at night but after a while I felt comfortable letting them roam overnight – the night I had Buttercup spayed, she was confined in a small fenced off area and I slept downstairs with her so I decided to let Peanut free roam the rest of the downstairs because I knew if he got into any trouble I’d wake up. Then when he was neutered, I let Buttercup free roam because again, I slept downstairs. After a few nights,  I felt comfortable leaving them. Of course at this point they were still separated so once they were bonded and therefore able to free roam together,  I checked on them a few times throughout the night for the first week but they were fine As long as it’s safe and bunny proofed there should be no problems. My two were spayed and neutered at 4 months so they’ve been free roam 24/7 since then. They’re mischievous but not particularly naughty.

[GlennTheLionhead]

Thanks to both of you for all the tips! I’ve picked Glenn up some wood pellets for litter and blankets to line his cage with so hopefully it helps to stop the mess and helps him to use his litter try exclusively

[Slush]

hello. im new to bunny companionship and binky as well, for slush i use shavings as bedding.. he doesnt use his hidey bit of his cage it would seem, where he sleeps he just lies on the plastic of the cage, wood pellets for the litter and i have a blanket for outside of his cage as he seems to enjoy chewing and digging…

it does get everywhere but i bought a hay/pellet feeder from amazon and took the grid out and just put hay in it… theres some mess but not as much. obviously there will be some mess as things drop everywhere and as welearn i am sure we will find ways for there to be less mess

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By GlennTheLionhead on 6/14/2017 3:50 PM

Thanks to both of you for all the tips! I’ve picked Glenn up some wood pellets for litter and blankets to line his cage with so hopefully it helps to stop the mess and helps him to use his litter try exclusively

Good luck 

[Author]

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