Hay, everywhere.

[redenvelope]

I adopted two buns earlier this summer and I was told they were about two or three months old. Now that they’re reaching that six month mark, I’ve been trying to transition from alfalfa to timothy. I used a hanging hay ball that worked exceptionally well with the twisty alfalfa hay, but timothy hay falls right through.  Next, I tried putting it in a corner of their litterbox, but they dig and kick it around, then eat it. I’m worried they’re getting excrement on the hay and I can’t accept that as sanitary. Next, I tried a DIY solution with a six in. by six in. box with one side cut out, attached to the outside of the cage (similar to http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind…=Small+Pet, just more square). Boy, did I think I was crafty.  I didn’t know what Penelope had in store for me – she waited until I was asleep, then used her paws to dig/scratch the hay through the NIC cubes, sending hay everywhere! Has any had experience with something like this and successfully fixed it? 

[Deleted User]

I often thought of myself as crafty and my rabbits proved me an idiot. I guess, hay digging is much fun for a bun. I don’t think it would be a good idea to make their hay access any smaller than the NIC grid squares. I know it’s messy but I’m pretty sure your rabbits are doing this as part of puberty.
I understand your sanitary concerns but I wouldn’t worry about it, it is a phase, is my guess.
You could suspend their hay above them attached to a cage wall high enough, like in a roll of chicken wire (make sure no sharp ends sticking out) but it might decrease their consumption of it.

[Alicia]

I have a hay ball, it’s a jumbo treat ball…I just stuff it so full of hay that it holds some of it in and then some sticks out.  I hang it right above the litter box so that as he pulls some out any excess just falls right into the litter box.

[Carolyn]

I tried those hay bins from pet smart, but because the hay bin hooks are on the side and not at the bottom hay fell all over the floor, I had my Father in law make me a wooden hay bin wth an opening in the middle  for the rabbits to get the hay out and  I hung it above thier litter boxes, it seems to fix the issue.

[katie, max & penny]

as gross as it seems to us, bunnies eat hay and poop at the same time so a lot of their hay gets soiled. they know the difference, though, and won’t eat the dirty hay. my litter boxes have a thick layer of hay on top and the bunnies jump in to munch or poo, or both.

don’t worry about it, bc they know the difference between the yucky pee hay and hay that they can eat.

[QueenThumper]

I put the hay ball in a corner away from the litter box, but still above ground. She likes to pull the hay out of it, and some of it does fall out but she ends up eating it later when she’s grown tired of pulling it out of the ball. She usually ends up eating all or most of the hay that comes out of the ball, so there’s never really any mess. I just dump whatever is left during my monthly cage cleaning.

[Beka27]

My viewpoint of hay racks/holders/bins is that they need to be very, very accessible to the bunny. Since hay consumption is so important to their health, you want to make sure that they don’t feel restricted at all. It’s better to have to clean up some stray hay and know that they are getting enough. You might try a hay box suspended over the litterbox, where they can sit and poop, but not actually get into the box.

[NickiM]

 same problem ive tried a bunch of hayracks and it is frustrating but I have one that holds about 50 percent of the hay in and its better then none. I do not know of a solution to this problem yet

[redenvelope]

Thanks for all of the responses. They’re scheduled for speutering in the next couple of months, so hopefully that’ll calm it down. I’ll just get a hand-vac. I’d rather have them healthy than neat and tidy.

[SirThumpsey]

Queen Thumper- If you only have to clean your buns cage once a month, you are very lucky. I have to clean my buns cage atleast once a week or horrible smells will emanate from the cage…

But anyway. I have given up on trying to keep the hay in a nice little pile. Halo loves to dig (especially when I’m trying to sleep!) so it just ends up everywhere. Luckily the floor in their room is tiled because then the hay is easily sweeped up. When I let them out to play I put something down so they won’t slip and potentially injure themselves.

[Sarita]

I honestly don’t think you can have a super clean house with a rabbit. I vacuum every morning and every night my rabbit’s areas. I honestly think that is the only solution. And it’s not necessarily that the rabbits aren’t clean – it is the hay or the uneaten veggies or the stray poops here and there.

[QueenThumper]

Oops I meant weekly! >.< I clean Thumper's cage weekly.

Well if you ever do decide to get a hay ball or rack, it’s possible to put them closer to the ground as well. The hay ball I bought can actually be set up three ways: along the cage wall, it can stand alone on the ground, or it can be detached from the stand so the bunnies can roll it around at will. Even with the hay ball on the wall, Thumper still manages to get her cage dirty by knocking over her food bowl when she’s feeling huffy.

[redenvelope]

Did you get it from petsmart? If we’re thinking of the same thing, I bought two. They love how accessible the hay is, with minimal mess for me! As for food dishes, I’ve learned to wire-tie them to the cage walls. Penelope, in all of her teenage angst, loves the dirty dorm room look.

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