keeping paws clean in litter box

[killahthebun]

Hi! I’ve never posted before because I’ve always been able to find the answer to my problem somewhere on here, but this one’s got me stumped!

My lovely rabbit has a very pretty white coat, but her paws are always discolored, and often mucky and gross. I started with a corner litterbox with paper bedding, but found it not to be absorbent enough, and her paws would get stained (and track wet prints!) from urine. I switched to a larger litterbox with a plastic grate as she grew, but it’s no longer working very well. Her poops sit on top of the grate and don’t fall through the holes because the grate top is designed for a rabbit with smaller poops. A few months ago it was fine, but she’s gotten a little bigger and the poops have too. It’s solved the pee-foot issue, but now we’ve got poop-foot.(litterbox I have: https://www.amazon.com/IRIS-Rabbit-…litter+box)

My bunny Killah is a large lady, hitting 6 lbs. I suspect she is a Rex mix or standard Rex, meaning she could still have a few more pounds to gain. The litterbox I have now is quite large, and I have struggled to find a bigger box. I am hesitant to switch to cat boxes with pellet based litter or paper litter because she will continue to get poop and pee on her paws. 

I have seen litter boxes with wire grates, which I think would allow her poops to fall through but again I am hesitant to use a wire grate for the obvious sore hocks related reasons.(https://www.amazon.com/Ware-Manufac…litter+box)

How do other bunny parents solve this problem? What litter boxes do you use for your large bunnies? 

[Jazlyn]

I wouldn’t say either of my rabbits are particularly large, but I picked up short plastic containers that you normally store food in (I cannot think of the name right now) and I use aspen wood chips. My rabbits have never had those problems as long as I use these things. I also have a corner litter box but my rabbits prefer that one as a bed rather than a little box and pee outside of it instead.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Hi KTB !! And welcome.

A double litter tray works well. I have big buns and no access to a ready purchased one so i made mine.
I bought 2 rectangular storage containers and drilled appropriate sized holes in the top tray. I made two little feet to put in the bottom tray so there was a couple of inches between the bottoms of the boxes and i put wood pellets in the bottom one and straw in the top one.
The pee falls through and yes the poops stay in the top one but the straw prevents my buns’ feet from staining…

Hope that helps.

[Author]

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