What is the best litter box for house-rabbits ?

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HOWsMom

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I've seen many different litter and litter box set-ups, and I'm sure that it will come down to trial and error at least somewhat. But I'm looking for suggestions on what you - wonderful, experienced, rabbit-keepers - have found to have the most successful outcome.

Do the triangle, corner ones work best?
With or without a grate in them ?

Rectangle cat-litter box ?
With a hood ?
Without a hood ?

With the hay box shoved right next to it, so they can munch and poop ?

Away from a food source entirely ?
 
My rabbits don't seem to mind if the food is not close to the litter box and I prefer not to have the hay fall into it because it can get wet from urine and quickly mold (which is lethal if they eat it).

I've tried a few different things. A corner tray seems to work fine for a small rabbit. If your rabbit enjoys digging and throwing the litter everywhere, a deeper pan is necessary. My dutch doe really enjoyed using a narrow covered cat box, until she decided to turn it into a nest (she wasn't pregnant, just loves building nests). Mostly, I use a plastic tray that is about 3" deep, 6" wide and 12" long. I would have to measure it, but I think that's about right.

I've not tried using a grate over the litter. I saw one suggestion to use plastic canvas... that didn't last long. The rabbits chewed it.

As with most things, you kind of have to experiment until you figure out what works for your bunny.
 
The corner ones are nice since they have high sides on all but the entry side, which helps keep urine in the box if they spray.

I like having a grate in the box so they can't come into contact with the soiled litter. You can make your own out of a piece of floor wire or even hardware cloth.

Another option is to use pine pellets on the bottom and then put a layer of straw on top of that. Straw is pretty slick so the urine will drain through it to the pellets below before really having a chance to soak into the straw itself.

Many people do put a hay feeder above the box because rabbits like to eat and poop at the same time. It is a good training tool to use initially, even if you decide later that you don't like the idea of the hay dropping into the litter box.
 
We have a plastic shoebox in our house bunny's cage. Seems to work just fine. We clean it every day and fill it about 1/3 with pine shavings. Works perfect.
Lucy uses it as she should, until she is pregnant. Any time she gets knocked up, she dumps her litter box, and pees and poops all over the cage. She does that until a few days before giving birth, then starts using one corner of the cage. After giving birth, she goes back to using the litter box like normal.
 
Hi,

I'm confused about litter training.

Would there be a litter box in the house cage and another one for outside the cage when they are hoping around?

Also is pine shavings used in the litter box or do we stay away from pine shavings because it's unhealthy?

One person told me you can just put hay in the litter box. If I change that everyday - so no mold worries - is that good?

What size corner triangle cage litter box is needed for a holland lop?

Thanks!!!
 
BASS Equipment makes a nice litter box for rabbits- don't know why I didn't link to it in the first place...

http://www.bassequipment.com/Cages/Pott ... fault.aspx

cookie":2v1uhy4c said:
Would there be a litter box in the house cage and another one for outside the cage when they are hopping around?

When I had a house rabbit she would return to her cage to potty. Initially you want to limit their roaming area so they don't get too far away from their cage, and once they are reliably trained in that room you give them more range.

My rabbit was so good about using her box that she was allowed free range of the whole house- but it was a small home at only 1270sf.
 
We use small round tubs from the dollar tree.
The get replaced 2 or 3 times a year. The corner ones do work nice because of the tall sides, but ours was still a little too small and spray got around the sides anyway. I would think if you have room for a covered rectangular one that would work excellent inside, since it's a contained and also has high sides.....but keep in mind litter training rabbits won't be the same as cats so have expectations that match up with likely results:)
 
I use cat litter pans from dollarama. $2.50 each so I don't get as cheesed when they destroy them(as opposed to the $10 corner boxes, which they seem to find far tastier).

I use wood stove pellets for litter(no accellerant added), as it is by and far the biggest bang for your buck - 40lbs/$6 at walmart. I am sure a 40lb bag would do you guys for quite some time. I add a layer of baking soda to the bottom, then a layer of pellets, then a dusting of DE on top(repeated on the wet corner the next day) and dump them 2x per week. I prefer this method as all the things I use are biodegradable, and thus still useful for the compost pile.
 
@Bad Habit where in Walmart do you get the wood stove pellets?
 
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