PLEASE HELP! need to get litter today and need an opinion

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 19sd replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 11 months ago by Azerane.

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- 03/07/2016 at 1:02 PM
  Ellie&Alexa
  Participant
  50 posts
  https://www.menards.com/main/heatin…ernal-mcom
  
  Has anyone bought this litter from Menards? I know wood pellets are ok if they don’t have sedar or like the shavings kind. Is it obsorbant? (doesn’t let the pee go to the bottom of pan) and does it help with the smell? I don’t want it smelling awefull in their room when I go in there. And it is CHEAP. or I’d get Yesterdays News.
  
  PLEASE HELP! all out of litter .
  
  Thanks,
  Heather
- 03/07/2016 at 3:25 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17030 posts
  You can use any type of hardwood stove pellets that doesn’t have an accelerant. It’s absorbant and swells and becomes sawdust when the bun pees on it. I think it helps with smell. I only use woodstove pellets with my buns ever since I tried it the first time. Brands always vary here, the type you’ve found sounds good.
- 03/07/2016 at 3:34 PM
  Ellie&Alexa
  Participant
  50 posts
  sawdust? isn’t it harmful for them to inhale it? I thought it is pellet form? easy on their paws? soft?
- 03/07/2016 at 4:05 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17030 posts
  It only crumbles into sawdust when they pee on it. I scoop out the peed-on spots daily. They can’t breath it in as it’s wet. It’s made of compressed sawdust.
  I only have litter in the litter-boxes, the pellets are very hard so it’s not good to use as bedding.
- 03/07/2016 at 4:24 PM
  Ellie&Alexa
  Participant
  50 posts
  is it ok for them to step on to go to the bathroom in the litter box? do they like it? I want to use it as litter. and hope it is easy clean up and pee clumps so I can scoop out when needed and just add some more to it. also scoop out the poop.
- 03/07/2016 at 4:25 PM
  Ellie&Alexa
  Participant
  50 posts
  I mainly don’t want their room to be smelly so I thought wood pellets helps with the smell. and I want them to use their litter box. they are in training mode right now. I have them in a x-pen.
- 03/07/2016 at 5:18 PM
  MoxieMeadows
  Participant
  5375 posts
  It’s fine if they walk on them. Another good option is pine horse stall pellets.
- 03/08/2016 at 7:46 AM
  Ellie&Alexa
  Participant
  50 posts
  So i put the wood pellets in their litter boxes after cleaning them all out. They started eating them. What do i do about that?
- 03/08/2016 at 10:06 AM
  Ellie&Alexa
  Participant
  50 posts
  http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcos…al-bedding
  
  I’m thinking of trying out this bedding. can be used in a litter box also right? it worked for them before I bought the wood pellets. But I didn’t buy this brand. I didn’t look at the odor control before..i think. I want there to be no odor and last longer so I don’t need to clean the litter box as much. maybe just be able to scoop some out and add a little bit at a time so the litter will last longer. it is not cheap lol
  
  I am lost. I need help . I’m new to bunny parenting
- 03/08/2016 at 1:31 PM
  tobyluv
  Participant
  3312 posts
  I have never used Carefresh by itself, but a lot of people do use that litter for their rabbits. I use a layer of Carefresh Natural as a topper to Aspen Supreme litter pellets because I wanted something softer under my bunnies’ feet. Carefresh now contains some kind of odor block, it may be added baking soda, but I’m not sure. I clean out the wet litter from litter boxes every day, it’s usually just in one corner, along with a concentration of poop. I spray a little vinegar/water/ dish detergent mixture in that area and wipe it dry. I don’t add new litter every day, I just move some dry litter over to the space where I scooped out the dirty litter. Then every few days I will add new litter, and on a regular basis, I dump out the whole contents, wash the litter box and refill it with all new litter.
  
  Rabbits will nibble on their litter, which is one reason why you have to be so careful about what you use. You can’t use clumping litter, clay litter, corn cob litter, or pine or cedar shavings, but there are several rabbit safe litters out there.
- 03/08/2016 at 1:45 PM
  Ellie&Alexa
  Participant
  50 posts
  yeah, I saw them chewing the wood pellets in the mouth. tried to get it out. I’m scared it is harmful. and a screen won’t be big enough and I could put a screen over the pellets I guess and carefresh on top but then it’ll get all wet from pee. I need to know a good idea on what to do for their litter box’s. it was only one day. maybe they stopped eating on the pellets.
- 03/08/2016 at 2:47 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17030 posts
  If they eat a large amount of pellets it’s of course bad, if they have a nibble it’s ok. Buns can eat wood, chew toys are made of wood. Maybe they just had a taste out of curiosity?
- 03/08/2016 at 2:53 PM
  Ellie&Alexa
  Participant
  50 posts
  yeah. when I get home i’ll have to see if it looks like they have been eating them all day or what. or just watch them. see if they went potty in their litter boxes. they are in their x pen. been a week . still some poops outside of it.
- 03/08/2016 at 6:51 PM
  Ellie&Alexa
  Participant
  50 posts
  When do I stop litter training them? It’s been a week. There’s still a few poops outside the litter box
- 03/13/2016 at 2:30 PM
  LittlePuffyTail
  Moderator
  18092 posts
  Most bunnies still leave the occasional “oops” poop. Mine do.
- 03/13/2016 at 7:01 PM
  cinnybun2015
  Participant
  570 posts
  Bunnies sometimes drop a few poops accidentally- “oops” poops like LPT said. They’ll be about fully littertrained when they don’t pee anywhere but their litterbox and the majority of their poop is in the litterbox as well. That’s just my standard for the buns I’ve had.
- 03/13/2016 at 9:14 PM
  Ellie&Alexa
  Participant
  50 posts
  They only pee in their litter box now but still have poops outside the box.
- 03/14/2016 at 6:26 PM
  cinnybun2015
  Participant
  570 posts
  Some buns leave a few poops around their litterbox. If you think they’re okay, then they’re probably litter trained- after all, you know them best! By the way, I was reading your first post all the way through, and I like to use Fresh News. (It’s like Yesterday’s News, except for rabbits and ferrets.)
- 04/03/2016 at 11:03 PM
  flemishwhite
  Participant
  195 posts
  As for litter, we’re lucky. We actually have a feed and grain store that sells hay for horse owners. We line the litter boxes with newspaper and then cover up the paper with a thick layer of oat hay. They like to eat the oat kernels and the oat straw.
  
  About litter box habits. My bunny champion was my last rabbit, Bunny. She was a house rabbit with only one litter box in the house, in our bedroom. No matter where she was in the house, she would run to her litter box to do her business. She liked to go outside, and often when we shooed her back in the house….she’d run for the litter box…It seems she would not even pee or poop outside either.
  
  As for litter box habits….the NUMBER 1 goal is to have them always pee in the litter box. It’s, of course, just not tolerable for them to pee on the carpets, etc. However, do keep in mind that they will want to mark, at least initially. Our first bunny, was obviously peeing in her litter box, but she would also leave a tablespoon of pee here and there. With mostly hardwood floors and leather furniture, it wasn’t much of a problem….happily she stopped this behaviour after about 4 to 6 weeks. Our two now Flemish babies have also been pee marking, but it seems they have stopped (thank goodness!). They have been now neutered so I think that helps stop the marking behavior.
  
  Our previous rabbit, Bunny, got 99% of her poops in the litter box, or within a two foot radius of the box! There were no accidental poop drops anywhere else. Our present rabbits, get most of their poops in the boxes (we have multiple boxes for them), but there are some occassional single poops laying here or there. I don’t regard bunny poop as being particularly dirty. They are hard, dry pellets and there’s no fecal odor to them. Also, their primary gut bacteria is a bacteria that changes cellulose to glucose, so getting this bacteria on your fingers is not going to cause you any harm.
- 04/03/2016 at 11:48 PM
  Azerane
  Moderator
  4691 posts
  Posted By Ellie&Alexa on 3/07/2016 4:24 PM
  
  is it ok for them to step on to go to the bathroom in the litter box? do they like it? I want to use it as litter. and hope it is easy clean up and pee clumps so I can scoop out when needed and just add some more to it. also scoop out the poop.
  
  In regards to pee clumping to be able to scoop it out, a clumping litter should never, ever be used for rabbits. As you’ve seen first hand they can sometimes have a tendency to nibble on their litter, and ingesting clumping litter is very dangerous as it can not only be toxic, but causes blockages in the digestive tract.
  
  As for them eating the wood pellets, if they’ve just had a nibble or two to see what it’s all about, that’s fine. The first time I tried wood pellets with Bandit he nibbled on a couple but never after the first day or two. Wood pellets can last a long time in the box, I know a bunny owner who cleans her trays weekly, and just tops them up with hay daily (often the old hay covers the wet litter and the new hay goes to the side). She may spot clean in between. My routine was to scoop out 90% of poops and all wet pee spots daily, and just top up the missing litter. At the end of the week I’d wash out the box completely. Most rabbits will pee in only one corner of the box so scooping it should be easy. For me personally, I’ve tried paper bedding, wood shavings, and compressed paper pellets. The wood pellets work the best for how long they last and odor control for me.
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