Good and non Messy way to serve hay to Bunnies.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

What ways do all of you guys serve your Bunny’s hay? I want to find a way that hay does not get all on the ground. Thanks to anyone that answers.

P.S. all the smilys on this website are so cute!

 so cute…

[LittlePuffyTail]

Hmmm, I’d like to know this too. It seems like I’ve tried EVERYTHING and they still manage to make a huge mess. My rabbit room looks like a hayloft and I have to declog my vacuum hose every time I vacuum in there! Olivia is the worst because she is in a kennel and likes to throw it all out of the cage during binkies.

[Firsttimer]

Yes life would be so much easier if the hay would just stay in one place.  Suggestions on how to keep it tidy would be great.

[Beka27]

 

oh, the great hay question.  many a curse word has been uttered over my vacuum cleaner.  i hate to put hay in the litterbox once littertraining is done, b/c i just feel like it wastes so much.  what i’ve been doing now is using a one dollar plastic storage thing from wal-mart.  it has holes all over it, it’s about 6 inches tall.  i cut two pieces of scrap cardboard and pushed them into the bottom and sides (you can see the white on the side of the box at the bottom), this holds most of the hay in.  i looped a black ziptie loosely thru the back and i use a leftover dog clip from the xpen to hold it to the bars.  i position it at an angle so they can get to the hay easily.

the only con to this is that i’ve noticed they’ve been dropping a few poops as they sit in front of the box munching, but i don’t care…  i clean up in there everyday anyways…

some of it spills out the front, but i use a handvac to sweep it up now.  the handvac can be unclogged much easier (since i can get my whole hand in there if i need to).

this was funny… the hay box was half-empty, i hadn’t filled it back up yet.  i walked in and Meadow was sitting inside the box, completely smooshed, but still trying to eat hay from between her feet.

 

***an important note of caution: i got one of those hanging hay balls when it was just Meadow and i ended up having to take it down.  it kept the hay confined, but it was so hard for her to eat the hay, that she was barely having any.  keeping hay cleaned up is not worth it if they won’t eat.  i took the ball down, popped off the top and just used it as a little rolling hay holder.  it was actually not as messy as you’d think, b/c it would always roll back up.

[Sarita]

That’s a neat idea Beka and gosh look at those sweet bunny faces! I have not been successful in doing anything but the litter box approach with my rabbits. I’ve tried various other things and no success with eating – it is wasteful though and I wish I could find something better. I bought a neat hay rack from SaveABunny and I love the way it looks but my rabbits ignore it – I’ve tried it on a few different ones.

At the sanctuary they attach these shower caddies from Lowes to the cages and they work pretty good too – it’s still messy and some rabbits still don’t eat alot of hay but I’ve tried something like that too and it didn’t work for me either but I think it’s a great idea.

[JK]

I’m so surprised your buns don’t like the hay rack from Save A Bunny.  I find them absolutely amazing because hardly any hay gets dumped out and it contains it all so well. I have it right behind a large litter box.  The unfortunate thing they have stopped making these racks for now!  

“

[Sarita]

I’m disappointed too Knowltons – it’s so nice too and attractive. I’m hanging onto it though just in case one of the rabbits will use it or another of my rabbit friends would want to give it a go.

[JK]

Why do you think your buns won’t use it? Maybe you have to “demonstrate” how to use it!! Every single bun at the rescue has one of these fancy things and uses it with gusto!

[reds2212]

My buns didn’t like it either. I think because it is the most expensive hay rack I could find (Spoiled)!. I like Beka’s idea though. I have the same cube and I think I might try it today. Thanks Beka!

[TARM]

I just put hay in a litter box for the girl bun (I’m gonna let the girls name her when they get home from their grandparent’s house on Friday), she has one box with litter, pellet bowl and greens and one with actual litter, and I have it in a willow basket for the bunny boys. They really don’t make that much of a mess…yet.

I struggled with the clogged vaccuum for about two weeks before I went out and got a cheap shop vac. $30 at Home Depot and I can suck up all the poop/hay/bedding/shredded paper I want. I’ve been sucking up EVERYTHING with it. I can’t believe I didn’t go that route sooner.

[Beka27]

^^^lol. T&Rmom… i’m imagining your daughter spills some water, “don’t worry honey!” suuuuck!

[TARM]

Oh, we already have a little green clean machine so we routinely suck up wet spills already…

[BeeElleEss]

Beka, I definitely am going to go to WalMart to purchase the bin that you have. Oddly enough I was looking at those last night as something to organize with, but I ended up not buying them (I think I’ll go back tomorrow). Right now I’m still in the litter training phase with both of my buns, but Rupert is most likely as litter trained as he’ll ever be, so I’d like to get something to put his hay in. Like many of you said, I feel that by putting the hay in the litter box, a lot of it goes to waste…and I agree. It is useful though for litter training, but the wasted hay is kind of a let down some days.

[Beka27]

be aware that a determined bunny (Max!) can tip it over on its side. that is why i moved it so it’s sandwiched between the two litterboxes. they can rock it side to side but it doesn’t completely flip. i like it because i can unclip it to go refill or dump the leftover hay.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Darn…I was hoping with the title of this that someone had found the *perfect* non-messy way to serve hay!!! LOL

I seriously want one of those hay racks from save a bunny-those look great!!

[Sarita]

Knowltons I’m not sure I could demonstrate to them how to use it – any ideas :~)

[MarkBun]

Put a raisin or papaya treat into the hay rack, just barely under some of the hay.

BTW, I believe Save A Bunny has found a new source for the racks but I don’t think that they’ll start ‘producing’ them until November.

In addition, the House Rabbit Society in Richmond, CA had a couple of them for sale too.

[Battie]

I hope there is a perfect solution! I figure my bun is just messy. I have a cheap plastic hay rack, the kind that attaches on the outside of the cage. Quincy manages to spill tons of it as he eats. What’s worse is that he won’t eat off the floor until he gets truly desperate, so if he’s been extra messy the rack will be empty long before I get home, and he acts like I’ve been starving him!

[Binkles]

Okay, HERE’S my solution!

Towards the end of my time with Binkles, I sort of accidentally found out that if you get a *long* cardboard box (about 2 1/2 feet or so) with sides of about 6 inches and an open top and put hay *in one end of it*, the vast majority of the hay actually stays in.

The bun has the option of either hopping into the box and eating the hay, or chewing a hole in a corner of it in order to make an entryway. (Binkles chose this option. ) Just make sure that if your bun chews themselves an entryway, make sure that the hay is at the opposite end of the box -THIS is why it needs to be long!!

In other words -it’s a hay trough!

Inevitably, SOME hay does manage to escape. But in my experience, faaaaar less than anything else I’ve ever tried -and like you guys, I’ve tried everything..

Of course, this solution would only come in handy for those of us with free-ranging buns. =/

Perhaps this method can be perfected somehow. I didn’t really have time to perfect it with Binkles. I’m thinking that maybe a (safe) plastic box of around the same dimensions could be used somehow if you cut an entryway in one end?

 

[wendyzski]

I set up this rack when I first got Pepper. 

It’s a cardboard box zip-tied to the outside of a NIC condo, above the litterbox.

Now that we’re free-range, I made a similar thing from a couple of NIC grids and a large crate – it has a little niche for her litterbox, and teh box is on the outside.  Works pretty well.

[MimzMum]

Awes, You guys all have such cute buns….(erm, that didn’t come out quite right *blush* )

I have given up on the neat hay quest. It’s impossible. Other than keeping the hay in plastic bins to catch overflow while it’s being stored, I just put the hay on the floor of the sleep pen or the xpen. Put it anywhere else and it gets totally ignored. Mimzy particularly likes his RIGHT next to where he sleeps so he can just lean over and stick some in his mouth without getting up….

…Come to think of it, that’s about how I roll too… 0_o;

[bunnytowne]

hmm thats a good idea. the box thing stuck to the side of the cage and the plastic thing from dollar store. cool. the place where I have problems is in their cage.  Then also carrying it over to them. I put it in a litterbox and disperse it to the cages and litterboxes. It still falls on the floor. yeah shop vac is great. I keep having to unclog it from time to time. Mostly with the girls in the bathroom.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Ok I looked at the save a bunny hay rack and I decided to make something slightly similar, I then saw a tissue box and I tought hey, that would make a good hay despenser. It was a tissue box like a box with a hole that isut of part of the top and side (not the traditional tissue box).

Well I did not want to use a real tissue box (too inky) so I made somethimg that looks like one out of a non inky box. I am trying it out and just wanted to put my idea out there. Also you could attacl the bok yo the side of the cage…

[MimzMum]

My bunnies really enjoy playing with and eating hay in either an old Snapple box or the tissue boxes, but I am unsure of whether those are good for them to chew on because of the inks. I think we all surmised that Snapple uses safe color on their products, but yeah, I’d be careful with Kleenex.

Speaking of which; how many of you have bunnies who will attack paper towels or tissues? And if so, do these things harm the bun if it manages to ingest minute quantities of them?

[OllieBunnysMamma]

I have a hollow log that I bought for Ollie to run through and chew.. (it’s bunnyliciously edible)… and originally was disapointed to find out that he had no interest in chewing or running through it…..

 

SOOOO long in short I started stuffing his hay inside it. Now he actually uses it to play digging the hay out, and also chews the log now. Yay…. great success and very tidy!

[Beka27]

Posted By MimzMum on 08/03/2008 5:43 PM
Speaking of which; how many of you have bunnies who will attack paper towels or tissues? And if so, do these things harm the bun if it manages to ingest minute quantities of them?

that’s Meadow.  when we were still using the Marchioro cage, i would bring a bunch of paper towels in with me to pick up and scrub down the plastic floor.  i’d have to break one off for Meadow, or else she’d grab the rest of mine and run off with them.  i’d let her play with one sheet while i cleaned, she’d get a few chew holes in it, but not an alarming amount, and then i’d throw it away when i was done cleaning up.  it kept her occupied for five minutes so i could clean up without getting my behind bitten…

[skunklionshow]

I have a hay ball above the litter box.  I had to take the bell off of it b/c Jess found that to be very annoying.  When I stuff it up I leave plenty of hay poking out all around.  It has helped keep the hay more tidy in/near their litterbox.  I also have a wicker hay bin on the food shelf.  I got this from BB.  I have it attached to the side of the condo w/ a zip tie.  I get Binky hay.  As you may know, you can take it apart in sheet like pieces (sorry I don’t know how else to describe it).  If I put the hay “sheet” in the condo, they get hay everywhere!  If I rip it apart, it doesn’t get as wild.  It’s kind of weird, but I’ve found that they have their hay party routine/ requirements.  My Leo definately prefers to pull hay pieces out of any hay holder.  He does this just to do it, he’s not a big hay eater!  Wacky Wabbits!!!!

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