Our daughter is 10 and raises rabbits. We used to use kitty litter in their cages, but when our warren got to 16 rabbits, I was easily spending $30 a month on stuff for the rabbits to eliminate on. Another breeder introduced me to using birch shavings in the under-trays instead. It smells nice and instead of claying up our compost bin, we now have something that breaks down easily. We even use it raw in our flower garden, and our flowers have never looked better!
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Can I use Scoop Away cat litter as bunny litter? I have a Netherland dwarf bunny. brattykitty
I use scoopaway for my 3 year old English Lop house bunny. No problems, whatsoever.
He also likes to share mini wheats with me for breakfast. Good fiber for both of us.
Jackie
WHY would you want to do that? Use the droppings in your garden. You will be amazed at the results!!!! This is great for veggies and flowers. My neighbor also uses our droppings, and both our gardens produce very large flowers and veggies.
If you have a compost, you can add them to that as well. If you have a rabbit, you have the best natural fertilizer around.
Laura in NH
And, to add to DDSS2000"s post....rabbit droppings can be put straight into your garden.... Not like chicken, sheep or cattle manure which has to sit for years before "mellow" enough to put on your garden. (We use to raise rabbits....wonderful experience for the kids!!) I can imagine that your Netherland Dwarf bunny must be soooo cute!! What treats do you feed it? We would give ours a little, little piece of banana as a special treat. He just loved it!! Don't give them too much, cause they will eat the whole banana if they could.
Please don't use clay cat litter for your rabbit. It can harm your bunny. Many use the litter successfully but it is still risky. Also don't use pine shavings.
Here is an excerpt from the house rabbit society about these litters. (tinyurl.com/
* clumping litters will clump inside the rabbit's digestive and respiratory tracts (the latter if they manage to make enough dust to breathe) causing serious problems and often leading to death
* pine and cedar shavings emit gases that cause liver damage when breathed by the bunny
Further down on the web page above it talks about good litters for rabbits. Ones made from newspaper like Yesterday's News or CareFresh are good. I use compressed sawdust pellets made for fireplaces. It is absorbent, controls oder, doesn't get on everything and it is cheap.
Again, please don't use cat litter for rabbits. It can be toxic.
coolchinchilla
I had a litter trained rabbit and it really is nicer than changing the papers in a cage. The main thing when choosing litter is to get a natural clay litter with low dust and little or no perfume. The rabbits do munch on it so keep it as natural as possible.
I use Yesterday's News and that is the best stuff in the world! It dumps right out..never clumps and is very safe for bunnies..recommended by my vet. It is biodegradable newspaper bits.
Yesterday's News or Care Fresh for litter, never clumping, clay, or aromatic wood shavings. Why risk it if it's proven to be harmful. Ask your vet. :)
Or how about the economic route and use Hay and shredded newspaper! You already have that on hand bc bunnies need hay in their diets everyday and there is always newspapers about in everyone's home. I use hay and newspaper for my two house bunnies.
Bunny owners educate yourselve! http://www.rabbit.org is everything you need to know about proper care for rabbits.
Hi I just got new bunnies(2) they are both babies(I don't know how old) and are very very smart. I think one is a lop eared fuzzy lot and another probably is a dwarf.Anyways My question is can baby bunnies learn how to be trained and what to use. Many websites I have been to have said that newspaper shreddings are good so I willl start with them. And also my bunnies have stayed with me for (1 has stayed for 2 weeks and another has probably stayed for 1 week or less.
I found a stray bunny that came into my garage begining of this year. and since I never raised a bunny before, when I found out that bunny can be litter trained I was faced with the same question.
what makes a good littler box? i'm new to this and am confused right now because my bunny currently is using her food bowl for a lot of waste, even though she has a grated cage so her waste just falls away from her. she does most of her bathroom-visits away from her food but likes to "perch" on it and pee into the food. very bad for everyone involved! any ideas on how to make this a previous problem?
Hmm...There is some interesting information on this website.
to Ashley
maybe your problem is that your bunny wants to have a proper litter box. grated bottom is for your convenience not your bunny's, they are actually harsh on their feet. place a small basic cat litter box or similar plastic one on the corner where your bunny have been using as a urinal (where the food bowl is now) line it with a newspaper and fill it about 2 inches with a shredded newspaper and place some soiled foods and droppings. Since bunnies like to eat while they poop, place a hay box right in front of the litter box or you can even place some hay inside the litter box on the front end. This should take care of your problem. Just be patient since if your bunny is young, it might take a little bit longer.
to Ashley Hoeprich
maybe your problem is that your bunny wants to have a proper litter box. grated bottom is for your convenience not your bunniy's, they are actually harsh on their feet. place a small basic cat litter box or similar plastic one on the corner where your bunny have been using as a urinal(where the food bowl is now) line it with a newspaper and fill it about 2 inches with a shredded newspaper and place some soiled foods and droppings. since bunnies like to eat while they poop place a hay box right in front of the litter box or you can even place some hay inside the litter box on the front end. this should take care of your problem. just be patient since if your bunny is young it might take a little bit longer.
i think you should use a box for your rabbit or keep one near it.
NO CAT LITTER NO NO NO NO CAT LITTER
clay cat litter and clumping cat litters are bad bad bad
i use carefresh (i would use the white carefresh for sensitive buns) and it works great and makes wonderful compost
if you still have any questions, please read the first line a couple more times
I know not to use pine, paper ( she will eat it ) aspen etc. I am trying corn cob but i know if she its it i can give her respiratory problems (which she is eating right now.. :( ) So what do i use?
I too use Yesterday's News. It works great the only problem is I have two bunnies, and the litter goes very fast so now we are switching to newspaper.
My rabbits are outdoor rabbits, one lop and one rex, I use hay or straw then I know it is safe. I learned the hard way after using shavings, I lost a rabbit recently. Be careful.
This is for Ashley Hoeprich, my rabbit was also going in her food bowl, and just like you I have a grated cage for her as well. I solved my problem by raising the food bowl to the point where she can't jump into it any more. I haven't had a problem with her since.
Use newspaper.very easy to clean up and easy to use.a very helpful way to clean a litter box.
Hi, I am new to the rabbit ownership.I am going to be litter training my bunny. My question is should I use newspaper for the cage and something different for the litter box or vise versa? What is cheap and best for them other than newspaper? Is apen bedding ok?
Use newspaper in the litter box and in a corner of the cage where your bunny lies down. But never use cat litter or pine bedding. This messes with the bunny's nose and can make him sneeze. I would just recommend newspaper. I mean its cheap and easy to clean up.
Cat litter is great just make sure they can't get to it and eat it!
I let my bunny free throughout the house, it would go in the cat litter, but bunnies like to sit in the cat litter..i noticed it had a red eye..seems its eyes got infected and weeping..i put it in an enclosureto keepit from the cat litter but it was too late...its nose dried out til it was all scabbed and when it falls off it scabs over again..shes coughing constantly and even got hemroids..her privates are sticking out a bit and i have to moisturise.. if i didnt take her away shed have died..i took her to the vet and did use antibiotics and eyedrops but theres nothing that can be done about dust in her lungs..her constant cough..dried up nose, hemmroids or anything else..so go on use cat litter.
I wouldnt even use dust free kind..Clay is drying, too drying for bunnies.
Im only using hay or bunny pellets at this point..
Can I use cat litter for a rabbit?
By nancy court from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Yes, as long as it is the "old-fashioned" clay litter. I would be leery of scents, etc. Rabbits sometimes pass partially digested food, which they re-ingest and re-digest; so I would be fearful of chemicals in the scents, etc.
I am not sure about the clumping litter?
My friend used regular cat litter for her rabbit and it worked really well. Don't use the clumping or scented litter.
Feline Pine clumping is a finely ground up pine similar to what the rabbit pine curls already are and the rabbit one is much cheaper to use.
I would stick to the regular clay litter and it would not hurt to call your vet and ask the tech who answers the phone. I have called many times just to ask general questions and the staff often are very helpful and it costs nothing. =) Plus they often have many pets of their own and are willing to share experience with you.
Please DO NOT use clay litter. It contains a lot of dust, and with their mouths and noses so close to the ground, they will inhale it. Yesterday's News is the litter recommended by the House Rabbit Society. You can find it in the the cat litter aisle. It is made from recycled newspapers.
I am looking for suggestions for what kind of litter we should for our rabbits. We were thinking organic litter. What kind should we get for a kitty box? How do we train them to use it? Please help!
By Mika Mori from Melbourne
I would use aspen wood chips. They absorb odors. Rabbits are known to eat their own wastes on occasions, so if you had the bunny going in litter and he were to eat a dropping with a few litter pebbles attached to it, they could really mess up his intestines and tummy. Especially avoid the 'special litter' that clumps. If a rabbit were to swallow some of those, they could clump in his stomach! D:
We use the litter made from newspaper. Absorbs really well, doesn't stick to their feet, and won't hurt them if they eat a bit of it.
As for training, we just kept picking up the "presents" and putting them in the litter box. They got the idea really quickly.
