How do you clean the poop/urine trays?

[jimmywalt]

We are somewhat new to raising rabbits (only been doing it for about 2 months). I'm wondering what is the easiest way to keep the poop/urine trays from getting crusty, and how to clean used ones to remove the stuff from the last owners?

At first we lined the trays with pine shavings. That worked ok, but proved to be messy and wasn't too cheap. Then we have since moved to newspapers. We lay them inside nice and think and it works pretty well, but I'm sure the experts here have figured out something better. We clean them once per week.

So what do you use in your trays, and if you purchase used cages with trays how do you get all the crusty stuff off before you use them with your rabbits?

Thank you.

 

[ladysown]

I put nothing in my trays.
I clean them daily with a wash out once a week or so.
i use a putty knife when I clean them daily and that lifts almost everything off. I scrape ALL the urine and poop off that I can. Putty knives are great for getting under the white crust that sometimes forms.

I clean daily because for the life of me I can't understand why folks can let their animals stand over filth...it attracts flies and just isn't good for them.

So clean 'em out daily if you can.
OH.. on Saturday nights I often lay down a wee layer of peat moss as Sunday's I tend not to clean trays. It's a day of rest, and half a days' poop isn't going to hurt them.

 

[ckcs]

My method is as follows. Keep in mine that my 16 rabbits are inside my house in our living areas.

I use pine pelleted bedding that is used for horse stalls. It absorbs the urine well, is fairly cheap and is easy to work with. 12 of the 16 cages that have rabbits in them have wire bottoms and most have deep pans. I use about an inch of bedding in the pans. Every 4 days I pull the trays and take them out on my deck. I scoop out the urine areas and any bulk piles of poop. I throw it all over my deck to compost. Then I push the remaining bedding (most) towards the back and add new stuff to the front of the pans. I do it every 4 days because any longer and you can smell it. I have people pick up bunnies at my house, they almost always comment that they can't smell the rabbits. On the 4 cages that have plastic bottoms, 3 use litter pans filled with pelleted bedding. The 4th I line with newspaper. I hate the newspaper because it smells quickly, but haven't found the right litter box for that rabbit.

Occasionally I will deep clean the pans but honestly it doesn't bother me because the bedding covers it all up. On the plastic bottom cages there is not much build up because of the litter boxes. I don't find rabbit poo to be an issue with smell so I don't try to remove it all each time, just the big piles. I don't have flies inside so that is not an issue and I've never had disease so my method works great for me and my bunnies.

I built 9 of my cages and the other 7 I bought used. I'm sure there is a way to remove all the previous owners urine scaling. I haven't figured it out though. I've tried scrubbing (even with a machine), scour pads, steel wool and even razor blade. Soaking overnight in vinegar may help but I've never been that patient and have only tried vinegar for 15-30 minutes and it did little good. All help a little but none have gotten most or all of it out. I am sure if I worked at it a lot each week they would eventually come clean. However I don't have the time, the desire or see the need to do that.

 

[Dood]

My outdoor rabbits wastes drop to a concrete floor which has a dusting of stall deodorizer and peatmoss to absorb the urine. This is sweep out roughly once a week for my 10 adults and young kits.

My house bunnies each have a litter box in their cage and in their trays I use stall deodorizer and a touch of clay kitty litter. The adults are all very good about using their litter boxes (and none of them spray , these are cleaned every other day and the clay kitty litter only needs changing once a month but if the does have kits then it needs refreshing more frequently.

I soak their plastic litter boxes in a 20% vinegar solution over night to prevent crusties from building up.

 

[a7736100]

I clean daily because for the life of me I can't understand why folks can let their animals stand over filth...it attracts flies and just isn't good for them.

So clean 'em out daily if you can.
OH.. on Saturday nights I often lay down a wee layer of peat moss as Sunday's I tend not to clean trays. It's a day of rest, and half a days' poop isn't going to hurt them.

I'm of the opposite opinion. I think rabbits are more comfortable with their droppings. My observations on free range rabbits is that they often dig in manure piles under cages; stretch out on top of their dropping even though they have 300 square feet to choose from; mark their favorite spots. So, when we clean are we actually making them less comfortable?

 

[Marinea]

Based on pics I saw here, when it came time to build our cages, I decided to go the easy route.

I do rinse it off most every day, mostly for the smell. We collect the manure and add it to the garden beds. When the metal (24" aluminum flashing) gets crusty, I use a vinegar/water solution, soak it and let it sit a bit, then wash it off.

 

[skysthelimit]

I don't put anything in my pans either. No matter what, shavings, horse pellets, for 50 pans the price adds up a lot. And the more frequently I empty them, the more the cost adds up. So nothing in there but some lime, empty every three days, rinse with Vinegar and water, and more lime.

 

[tbirdy]

My outdoor rabbits wastes drop to a concrete floor which has a dusting of stall deodorizer and peatmoss to absorb the urine. This is sweep out roughly once a week for my 10 adults and young kits.

My house bunnies each have a litter box in their cage and in their trays I use stall deodorizer and a touch of clay kitty litter. The adults are all very good about using their litter boxes (and none of them spray , these are cleaned every other day and the clay kitty litter only needs changing once a month but if the does have kits then it needs refreshing more frequently.

I soak their plastic litter boxes in a 20% vinegar solution over night to prevent crusties from building up.

I'm new to rabbits, but I have heard a lot about what I think is the stall deodorizer product you may be using... Is it called Sweet PDZ Horse Stall Refresher? I have been reading so much into that with the chicken coop I have in my backyard and am thinking about putting it to use in both my new rabbit cage and outdoor chicken coop?