Opinions on resting mats

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AmberRae

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I have a few rex buns that are on wire bottom cages. Their hocks can sometimes look a little pink and calloused. I check them regularly and notice one of my bucks today had a little blood on one of his hocks. Now that he has broken the skin I assume the rest of my rex could get the same way. My question is do any of you guys have success with the resting mats? Will the buns know to rest on them? I gave him a solid mat this morning and he has been laying on it all day. Do you guys think I should try the mats or just put my rex in solid bottom cages? I hate the thought of the extra cleaning but also do not want my buns feet to hurt or worse turn into sores. This is the first time it has become an issue because they usually spend a lot more time on the ground but that is not an option lately with breeding and lots of rain.
 
The resting mats worked for my velveteen lops, but severe sore hocks can have a genetic factor, and in that case resting mats won't help as much.
 
Okay, I think I will try the mats. They definitely are not severe. I looked at his feet after resting on the rubber mat today and they didn't even look pink anymore and you would have never known there was blood this morning.
 
Each of my cages have a solid resting area. Just a plank shoved in the corner of the cage, a large piece of hard wood bark (they love to nibble on those) or my built-in offset floors.

You can see my offset floors in one of Pipo's pics http://kimitsukouseki.wixsite.com/bunbun-stories/pipo?lightbox=dataItem-j17mkvkk2 Planks that are angled with space between em for the droppings to roll out. They stay pretty clean.

Anyways, mats aren't rly needed, just a solid resting area big enough for the bunny to sit at bare minimum. Wood is fine as far as I can tell.
 
That's a great idea Kimitsu! I really didn't want to do the plastic just in case they wanted to eat it. I will definitely try the wood. My husband can make them for all the bun cages.
 
If your rabbits are civil enough to not make a mess of themselves (unlike my vlops were ;) ) then the best cheap mat I've found is tiles. Mismatched tiles or sample tiles are pretty easy to find cheap ones of, and not only are they near indestructible (by rabbits at least), they stay cool in the summer.
 
i tried tiles and i ended up with gross, smelly rabbits that peed in THAT corner (even if i moved the tile) and then sat in it. wonderful.

i use resting mats and they work fine for my rexes, but i have to cover the entire cage floor with them, otherwise they will still get callouses. all my other rabbits have one panel each but to be honest i never seen the purposefully stand on them. they're probably mostly just there for my peace of mind.

a breeder i've bought from before actually went and bought the smallest plastic lattice you can find and cut them to fit his cage, and honestly i think i am going to steal that idea. i can get like three entire cages full from one $30 piece of lattice where $30 only buys me like 4 resting mat panels on bunnyrabbit :x
 
Shazza,
I do like the sound of using the lattice since it would be inexpensive. Did you ever have a problem with your rabbits eating the plastic? I don't mind if the chew it, as long as they don't ingest it.
 
if they have eaten it, it didn't cause them any problems. SOMEONE chewed on one of the mats a little and took a chunk out, but everyone's still kicking so they either didn't ingest it or they just chewed it so finely it just passed on through. i try to give them a cardboard box or wooden block or something else to chew on when they need to so they seem to leave the mats alone
 
I have Rex and all my cages have resting mats.
I don't use solid ones, They get too messy.
I use 4'x8' plastic lattice panels that you can get at home depot, Lowes, etc
They come in brown, white and green.
lattice panel.png
I cut them on the table saw into 21"x12" pieces.
I use the indents on the edge as a guide & get someone to hold the edge of the panel for me as I cut.
I initially did 12"x12" but they got chewed up faster and the larges sizes last a lot longer.
Periodically I swap out the boards for clean ones and pressure wash the stains.
 
I don't like resting mats as my rabbits (when I used them) did one of two things for the most part (about 80% of them)

1. work hard to rip them off the floor and then toss them about the cage.

2. pooped and peed on them getting them really icky, really fast.

I sold them all about three months after I purchased them.

Talked with long term breeder, who said the best offense is a good defense.. breed against it. He told me frequently "you can get anything you want in rabbits, just breed for it. Want healthy animals.. breed for it. Want snotty attitude rabbits.. breed for it. Want bomb proof rabbits.. breed for. ALWAYS ALWAYS breed for it and CULL HARD." I took his words to heart. :) (well okay... for the most part. when I didn't.... it's always bitten me in the butt).
 
I use resting mats in all my cages and covered the entire cage floor. The majority of the waste falls through to my pans and the rest is easily wiped up. So far my rabbits have left the mats alone, but I also give several parrot toys. If your rabbit pulls the mats up, zip tie them to the cage floor.
 
Thanks April for the zip tie suggestion. I will probably need to do that knowing my rabbits. I can't cull them for it. I don't look at it as a negative trait that they can't spend 24 hours a day on wire. I don't mind catering to their sore feet. I actually feel bad that I haven't fixed it sooner. I saw them getting a calloused but didn't think it was bothering them. I have put some temporary mats in for them until I get something permanent and they are clinging to them so I think their litte feet were sore. Rexes and velveteens are new for me so I am still learning. Any new rex additions will get a resting mat first thing.
After a lot of thought I think I am going to go with the lattice and make it the size of their whole cage.
 
NOTE: well bred rex can live on wire flooring. They can be prone to sore feet/hocks...but you can breed against it. When I had rex, they had wire floors and didn't get sore hocks...except one line which I removed from my herd.
 
I have no doubt that you are right ladysown. It is just not a trait that I look at as negative so I don't hold it against them and wouldn't cull for it. The resting mats are a better alternative for me. Honestly me spending more time making sure they are out of their cage more is ultimately how I will fix this issue. For now though they need something to rest there feet on. <br /><br /> -- Sun Jun 18, 2017 4:32 pm -- <br /><br /> I decided to go with the plastic lattice. It is working very well and I was able to make a mat 30" x 24" for $5. The rabbits seem to love them, even the ones that were not showing any signs of sore feet. So far they are not pulling them up or chewing on them. Thanks so much for all the suggestions :)
 

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Some places I have read that unclipped nails can also cause the rabbit to put more weight on his hocks causing sore hocks. But mostly I think it has to do with the rabbit not having the proper fur protection.

I love using tiles for the summer time. We put them in the freezer and they love rest on them. They are also a lot easier to clean than wood and they don't chew on them like plastic.
 
Good to know about the nails could contribute. I don't trim as often as I should. It might just be a coincidence but the 2 buns that looked the worst always have their nails longer than the other buns on trimming day. I will make sure I get them extra trimmed just in case that was a factor.
 
Another thing to watch is your rabbits weight.. Once in a while I will have a doe really heave with a large litter and her hocks can get touchy. Once the kits are born and weaned it goes away. My buck right now has a case and he is WAY to heavy. It just got away from me. He has a large towel he sits on till they heal and is on a mostly hay diet till he get back to something that resemble a healthy weight.
 
BlueHaven":1udpvx3i said:
Another thing to watch is your rabbits weight.. Once in a while I will have a doe really heave with a large litter and her hocks can get touchy. Once the kits are born and weaned it goes away. My buck right now has a case and he is WAY to heavy. It just got away from me. He has a large towel he sits on till they heal and is on a mostly hay diet till he get back to something that resemble a healthy weight.

I'm glad I'm not the only one..... those bucks are tricky.... always seem hungry then one day... bam, FAT... ;)
 
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