wire grates on the litter pans… bad for paws?

[Ruffles&Daisy]

I have one of those corner litter pans with a removable wire grate on top.  I took it off, but then Ruffles would lay in it.  It sort of made me wonder about him laying in his own urine (I put litter on the side he uses and hay on the other side).  I don’t want him to get urine burn or whatever it’s called.  So I put the grate on it.  But now I’m wondering if his paws can get stuck in it or if it would hurt his feet.  I thought about covering the whole thing with hay, but I thought that might confuse him and his litter habits (He’s getting better, but not perfect). 

So I guess my questions are:  Will the grate hurt his feet?  Should I cover it with hay?  Should I take it off and let him lay in his litter despite the fact that I worry about the urine burn thing? 

[Floppy]

covering it with hay shouldnt confuse the bun. My bf uses the reg litterbox thats rectangular and puts in
a layer of newspaper with yesterdays news and hay on top for our other bun Lola…I however use the
corner litter box with the wire on top- I don’t put hay on top and they’ve used that kind for awhile with
no probs.

[SnuggleBunny]

my bunny always lays in her litter box. and relaxes and all, she’s seen the vet and i’ve mentioned it to them and they’ve never said anything to discourage it, so i think its probably okay, i would just suggest getting some kind of really absorbant litter substance so she’s not just laying in literally a puddle, ya know? my bonnie’s litter box is news paper and hay and she lays in there and eats and relaxes.

and i’ve heard wire grates aren’t good for their feet period, so i’m not sure about that one, but as long as your bun’s feet aren’t small and you’re not noticing them getting stuck, i think that should be okay too? becuase its not the bottom of the cage, just the litterbox, where your bun does its business and moves on with its little life, unless its a prolonged visitor to the box

[Sarita]

Urine scald is normally caused from rabbit incontinence due to a medical urinary problem. I suppose sitting in a dirty litter box could be a problem too but it would have to be a very filthy box.

What type of grate are you talking about? There are cat litter boxes with plastic grates and those are fine.

[Ruffles&Daisy]

It’s not a cat box, it’s one for a small animal, like a ferret or rabbit. Ok, well since I’ve been using the newspaper pellets, I think I’m going to take the grate off and just let him lay in it. I clean his box every other day pretty much, so it’s pretty clean. I just noticed his little foot going through the grate and I don’t want him to get injured. Thanks!

[JK]

I would actually put a layer of hay over the litter.  They like to eat and poop/pee at the same time.  I have a hay rack directly in front of the litter box so I put a layer of hay for the very reason of keeping Edson’s feet dry.  They supposedly do not eat hay that has pee on it.  It works great.  I also change the litter box daily.  The rescue uses grates for some of the buns but they are plastic.

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