How often to replace with fresh pellets/hay

[Tea]

Hey guys,

I just got a new bunny and was wondering if anyone can tell me how often one should replace the pellets (oxbow young rabbit feed) and hay for fresher ones. I currently have the hay sitting on top of the litter as I found that a bent CnC cube was really messy because they’re not all long pieces of hay (oxbow alfalfa).

Thanks for your advice!

Jon

[Deleted User]

Hey Jon! I can only tell you what I do with my bunny Henry – I find as you both get to know each other, you will work out (eventually) what works best for you both, and it took me ages to work Henry out, ha ha hah ha…..
With Henry’s pellets (at the baby bunny time – Oxbow young rabbit food), I put 1/4 cup into his bowl and when it got low, I took out what was in his dish, put another 1/4 cup in and placed the older pellets on top in his bowl – till your bunny is 6 months (and change to adult rabbit food) you should feed your bun UNlimited pellets. Once Henry turned 6 months old he only got the 1/4 cup daily, so once the bowl was empty he got no more till the next morning, and have since reduced that even further to 1/8 of a cup cause I had the most terrible time getting Henry to eat his hay.
With Henry’s hay – again UNlimited (regardless of age), cause I had a hard time getting him to eat it (Oxbow – and I tried EVERY variety) and I didn’t want to waste it, I filled his cane bowl with hay and as it got low (not empty), I take the older stuff out, put fresh hay in and put the older stuff on top.
So, if your home to keep an eye on it like I am – that’s how I did it. If your not home to keep an eye on it, I would suggest the same principle applies, but in larger amounts to make sure your bun doesn’t get left with no food (especially hay, but restrict the pellets once (Tea?) is 6 months old).
Also, remember you can introduce veggies at around 3 months of age – one at a time in a small amount (and check for upset tummy). Henry has his hay topped up whenever it gets low (not empty). Pellets (like cereal for us humans) for breakfast and veggies (while I am making dinner) for his dinner. This works for us, and Henry.
When we have our Saturday night takeaway and if Henry’s veggies aren’t served up at dinner ‘time’ – he lets us know! Lol! So it’s a routine that has worked for us, and Henry.
The reason why I don’t put a large amount out at any one time is purely cause I am home and I can – I worry about freshness. But it really works out to be once daily, especially now that I have got to know him and know ‘how much’.
Good luck Jon – wishing you and your bunny all the best. Cheers.

[Tea]

Thanks for the wonderful advice!right now I put everything in his litter box so bowl of water, pellets, and a hay rack (which i’m trying to make it less messy) he seems to poop a lot at one time (like 10-20) but doesn’t pee much although he constantly drinks water ‘

Right now I have I believe more than a half a cup of pellets because I mixed it with what the breeder gave me (I forgot to ask what the pellets were exactly) so I guess by the end of the week I’ll throw it out and begin to add less. I change the waterbowl atleast twice a day and spot clean the litter box more than 3times daily because of how much he poops haha.

Again thanks for the help! I just wasn’t sure if I was supposed to throw the entire bowl of feed out at the end of the week or something.

[Deleted User]

I wouldn’t put everything (food and water) in Teddy’s litterbox – just his ‘hay’. It’s true (even though my Henry doesn’t) bunnies like to munch while they poop. I’d put Teddy’s pellets and water in his house/cage, and you could put another hay dispenser there too – so 2 lots of hay.
Whatever you got from the breeder just keep mixing it with the new pellets till it’s all gone if that’s what you have been doing and Teddy is eating it all? If the water is clean, not covered in bunny fluff (again, like my Henry’s), and is never empty, I think changing the water over morning and night is spot on, but I would only clean the litter box once a day, it helps for your Teddy to know it’s the toilet.
I think (as long as Teddy doesn’t run out of hay or water) once a day to clear out his old food (uneaten pellets, and veg when you introduce them). I don’t feed my pets food that has been exposed for a couple of days. Hope this helps you….

PS – Sorry Jon, I’m not the best BBer to help you out – my Henry is free range 24/7 and he is a bit of a weirdo bunny, lol! So am offering you suggestions based on my bit of bunny knowledge. Anything I got wrong or could be done better, hopefully someone will come along and correct me (please, ha ha ha), but who knows, maybe I got it right??? Cheers Jon and Teddy.

Edit to ADD – Bunnies poop a LOT!

[Sarita]

I rarely replace pellets for fresh one unless they are wet or something – really there is not need too because once the bag is open, the “freshness” with pellets if probably gone. My rabbit Bobby rarely ever finishes off all the pellets I put in his bowl anyway.

[Deleted User]

Thank you Sarita! (I can sleep tonight…. ) lol!

[Usagi1618]

I remove the pellets and replace the hay when they have eaten them all. I don’t think there really is a “freshness” factor. My bunnies are fine

[Tea]

Oh ok thanks. so is it fine to i.e.: put the pellet and water bowls on one side and the litter box with just the hay rack? I’m trying to litter train him right now (even though I put fleece blanket on top of the plastic bottom – I know i’m a softy x]). This litter training process is hard, no matter how much poop I show him and put in the box and tissues of soaked pee, he keeps doing it ! Hopefully it’s because he is young and not neutered.

[JackRabbit]

I like AH’s advice. 
Also, I believe someone posted on another thread about mixing in some
new hay with the “day old” hay and fluffing it up — as far as the
bunny is concerned it all becomes fresh hay again.

I’m not home during the day to freshen up water bowls so
mine use bottles (rinsed and refilled every night).  My three have hay racks at their litterboxes,
pellets are served outside the litterbox, and water bottles are hung at the
litterboxes (only because the litter catches any drips).  Kieko lives in a separate room from my bonded
pair and she does have a water bowl as well as a bottle — bottle at the
litterbox and bowl in the same area where pellets and salad are served. (I feel
like a waitress after writing this!)

Litter training takes patience and understanding.  Bunnies just do what comes natural when the
urge hits, especially intact bunnies, but your bun will learn!  Don’t expect absolute perfection on the poops
though because you will still get the occasional “present”.

Here’s one of the hay feeders my husband made for our
buns.  The hay in the litterbox is from
me crawling into the cage and making a mess filling the feeder.

[Tea]

oooh that is a nice looking feeder! I bent my cube into a U shape and stuck the hay in, but he seems to be able to find the bent part where the paint is flaking so I have another problem on my hands. Should I be leaving no bedding when litter training? It seems so harsh ! Maybe ill mix some new hay along with it haha. I think he’s in a nibbling phase or something always nibbling on everything. Sorry if this topic sorta changed its way to litter training and other behaviours.

Thanks everyone !

[JackRabbit]

I know some x-pens and dog crates (Midwest brand) have non-toxic coatings but I doubt the paint on NIC cubes is safe in large amounts. Make sure he has safe things to chew on (ex. willow sticks, seagrass or timothy hay twists). You can also stuff hay in toilet paper rolls. Bunnies are nibblers so they need to have something safe to nibble on when they’re not nibbling on hay. Gotta keep those constantly growing teeth worn down!

For the litterbox, you can put hay on top of the litter or just have hay in the hay rack. I’m guessing he can get the hay out of the bent NIC grid pretty easily so he may take care of putting hay on top of the litter himself! (that’s OK!) You only want litter in the litterbox so he learns where to “go”. Just takes time, patience, and understanding . . . and having the “poop goes in the potty” talk doesn’t hurt! Marlee would just sit intently and stare at me when we had the “poop” talk and the “pee pee goes in the potty” talk — it was so cute, like she was listening and understanding every word!

[Tea]

Should I put the water bowls and pellet bowls in the box as well? or just the hay. Thanks and sorry for so many questions!!

[JackRabbit]

I would leave all bowls outside the litterbox. Water bowls quickly get litter in them if inside the litterbox. We tried the pellet bowl inside the litterbox at first –night can go either way but you’d have to make sure you have a very large litterbox or you will end up with poop in the pellet bowl. With Kieko, we have to put her pellet bowl near the litterbox because she won’t eat a bite unless at least her rear end is inside the litterbox! Such a tidy bunny!

[Tea]

Ok Well right now I’m trying to see if I can litter train with my current setup: water, food bowls on the opposite side of the cage and litter box w/ hay rack on the other. I left the cage bare with the plastic bottom in hopes that he will realize that the litter box is a little comfier, but I saw him sleep on it last night so.. I’m not sure if that is the correct behaviour.

When I Woke up, the cage had poop everywhere still no matter how many times I show him and drop the poo pellets into the box.
I know that a plastic bottom cage isn’t ideal but my room can only fit that size currently. I will modify and move the nic cage into my university housing when he gets bigger!!!

[manic_muncher]

I just wanna add… even though there will be improvement, you will likely have the poop everywhere explosions until he is neutered. Bumpy was the same way, and still marks his area with random poos. He only does it in his penned off area, never around the house, so I can live with that bit of cleanup. Bare plastic everywhere else seems harsh, I remember feeling bad at the thought of it, but I learned quickly that he actually preferred laying on bare floor. So THAT really encouraged him to go in his litterbox. I now have a medium-sized under-the-bed storage tote as his litterbox. The sides are about 6 inches tall, so he doesn’t accidentally kick out litter when hopping out, and I put the hay right in the box, since he prefers to do everything in the same area.

I also started off with the pellet bowl in the box. But I switched him from a bowl to a cat treat ball that dispensed pellets as he rolled the ball around. I also limited his pellet intake. I know babies should have unlimited pellets, but I couldn’t just leave him a bowl of pellets, he’d eat them constantly and nothing else. So I fed him his daily amount of pellets throughout the day (and used as treats so he would like me more!) and just made sure he had plenty of hay at all times.

He’s a year old now, and still prefers the bare floor over everything else.

[JackRabbit]

The bare floor is how Marlee learned. You can try putting a grass mat in there (he will likely chew it –was Ok) or a piece of fleece (may pee on it). All of mine have a grass mat with fleece on top but all are litterbox trained (you wouldnt know it at times with the poops!). BTW, usually a pile of poops is “I used the bathroom” and random poops (even when everywhere) is more marking or “just fell out”.

You’re doing fine. It just takes time and neutering helps alot.

My Moshi prefers sleeping on cool surfaces most if the time too. So, what Manic said here too!

[Tea]

I know what you guys mean! I feel so mean for leaving only bare plastic on the bottom ( University room to small to fit my bigger nic pen), but I let him out often. After tonight I’m going to wake up and see which side he likes to pee on. I think that most of the poop that he does ( a lot of it) on the plastic bottom is while walking. Hopefully he will be litter trained decently enough and then I’ll give him the fleece back. He seems to like to sort of slip and then sleep laying down.

I have a plastic canvas on top of the litter box because he seems to think that yesterday’s news is still food ( no matter how many times he eats it), I’m not sure if that will cause any problems during the training. Also he’s too small right now for me to properly look at his tail and know when he is about to do his business.

I feel so cruel taking away the cloth! But hopefully he’ll learn soon. I had to put the food bowl back into the litter box because I woke up yesterday and found a lot around the bowl.

Thanks for the advice and positive comments !

[manic_muncher]

Don’t feel bad, remember.. rabbits are walking plushies!

[JackRabbit]

That’s funny MM! I never thought of it that way but you’re right.

[Author]

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