I need Hay and Litter Advice!!!!

[jespy1]

Hey everyone!

So I just recently adopted a bunny from a shelter 3 days ago. Her name is Phoebe and I am loving having her around. I am a first time bunny owner so I am in a bit of trial and error when it comes to litters and hays. So far I have bought feline pine for litter and I absolutely hate the smell. I have found that she isnt wanting to use her litter box with those pellets. She gets in but I have yet to see any pee. She has however peed outside of her box during floor time. What type of litter do you use? I would like to use some with absolutely no smell at all. I find the scent of Feline Pine very overwhelming!

The other issue is hay. I am starting to notice that the house smells like hay and it is really bugging my husband. I have timothy hay right now. I know that there are other hays that are available. My question is to those of you that get these other hays, where do you buy them and what kind have you found has the least amount of smell and dust. I am finding that I am a bit allergic to the timothy hay. As a result I bought 2 air purifiers today to help with the odor and the dust!

Do any of you have suggestions on how to have a rabbit but not have the house smell of litter and hay! If so please comment!

[Bam]

Thank you for adopting a bunny!

Feline pine isn’t good for bunnies because of the heavy scent. The vapours can hurt their airways. Wise little girl Phoebe to try and avoid them!

I use hardwood stove pellets, they are for heating houses but works excellently as bunny litter. You want the type that has no accelerants added. The pricing is nice and the used litter can be composted.
Another alternative is Yesterday’s News, that’s paper pellets. Aspen shavings for cats is also good.

I buy my alternative hay from Oxbow. Botanical and, I think, meadow has some timothy in it, but orchard and oat hasn’t. I find orchard to be especially dust free.
Other types of hay are f ex fescue, rye grass (not related to the cereal rye) and Coastal (Bermuda grass). Those hays are often sold as horse-hays, but they are ok for bunnies. You want to avoid hay for cows, it can be of sub par quality (cows can eat lower quality hay because they process their food in their foregut. Bunnies and horses are hindgut fermenters and as such more sensitive).

[jespy1]

Bam,

Thank you so much for the reply! I will get rid of the Feline Pine today! I wondered if she was steering clear of it for a reason, and I dont blame her I hate the smell of it also.

I will also try to see if I can find some orchard hay or oat hay. I really want her to be happy in her environment and I know shes probably a little stressed due to the change.

When I went home today for lunch I realized she had peed on the fleece under her hidey house box. I am hoping we dont get into a habit of that. I really want her to use her litter box.

[Author]

Messages