litterbox vs wire bottom (indoor)

Converting a dog crate to a rabbit cage for a large long haired rabbit. In terms of hygiene, smell, cleaning, and easy of care what are the pros and cons of a litter box vs wire bottom for an indoor rabbit.

It would be easier for me to leave it flat bottom however I could take apart the crate and try to alter it to be a wire bottom with a pan beneath it. Bear in mind it is a very large heavy crate so not building a stand would be a plus

I would think it would be easier to litter train it and use a litter pan, that is what I preferred when I had any indoors. I never had any issue with training them, they all took to it well

Litterbox

My adult indoor rabbits have them and it is much easier to clean, and replace, a litterbox than wire flooring

I do have an indoor maternity cage that has both a wire floor and a litter box as kits are not as reliable about using a litterbox but it needs a through scrubbing after each litter

I should add that this is an angora rabbit and is currently kept by the breeder on wire- they said it was more sanitary- but they are also kept in a barn

I littered trained my rabbit easily when I got his indoor cage. I have a flat bottom cage so litter training was the only easy option beside filling the cage with bedding. That can be a pain if you want a nice sized cage and you would need maybe 2 -3 bags of bedding to fill it weekly. Very expensive. All of my sisters ( Little Fluffy Bunnies) rabbitry rabbits are on wire floors. They are the easiest cage to clean and I fully recommend them. Litter box training can be hard or easy. It's either stick a box in the corner and ta-da or supervision, treats, and much much more hard work. The best option out of the two is wire floor as they are easier to clean ( just give cool tiles or something to provide a flat surface to prevent sore hocks). But I switched from easy to hard, because I was obsessed with having and indoor bunny. Let us know which one you choose and please send some pics of your rabbit!!

olafthebunny":clvmn3vn said:

I littered trained my rabbit easily when I got his indoor cage. I have a flat bottom cage so litter training was the only easy option beside filling the cage with bedding. That can be a pain if you want a nice sized cage and you would need maybe 2 -3 bags of bedding to fill it weekly. Very expensive. All of my sisters ( Little Fluffy Bunnies) rabbitry rabbits are on wire floors. They are the easiest cage to clean and I fully recommend them. Litter box training can be hard or easy. It's either stick a box in the corner and ta-da or supervision, treats, and much much more hard work. The best option out of the two is wire floor as they are easier to clean ( just give cool tiles or something to provide a flat surface to prevent sore hocks). But I switched from easy to hard, because I was obsessed with having and indoor bunny. Let us know which one you choose and please send some pics of your rabbit!!

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I like the idea of cheap and not needing to build a stand ie littterbox method. I'm converting a huge dog crate 30x48x36, but I also like ease of care and not worrying about the bun getting messy and cleaning everyday. That being said, sweeping out a few bunny berries doesnt actually seem like it would take much effort. I mean I have to walk the dogs everyday regardless of rain, snow, blizzard, that's way more work and 2x a day or more.

I had an idea that if I could build a stand and do a wire bottom I could add some plastic sheeting and have all the waste slide into a gutter with horse bedding pellets and change that once a wk then spot clean the wire as needed. BUT the crate is MASSIVE I am not sure I have the skills to build a stand for something that big and heavy. (I might ask around and see if I have any handy friends)

Otherwise I can rig the crate so I do have a wire floor and a large pan but I dont want to go broke on litter. So I have options I am just trying to figure out the best one

Do you have any problems with urine scalding or berries getting stuck in your bunny's fur

Edit: I just found this https://fmicrofarm.wordpress.com/2012/0 ... -tutorial/ I wonder if PVC will take the weight? I'm not super handy but I can work with PVC- they even cut it at the store if I ask. Opinions?