Nest Box Questions

[Oscar]

So i am going t assume that my rabbit is preggo and will be due the beginning of April. I know the nest box needs bedding, and the only hay i am really available to is timothy without buying a lot of hay. would that work as bedding or should i just buy some sort of other bedding like straw, wood chips, or some sort of small animal cage bedding? Also this is my and my does first litter any advise?

 

[Dwc77]

I use a few handfuls of pine shaving's then you can give her some hay she will use it for a nest then eat most of it. Tho don't worry about any of this for a few weeks. I understand your excited for your first litter tho! Good luck

 

[SableSteel]

I just use timothy (or Bermuda, grass hays, whatever I have on hand) for bedding, but I live in Arizona, where getting too cold isn't as much of a problem (although if you keep them indoors, it shouldn't be a problem then either). Shove the nestbox completely full, to where you can't fit any more in it - the doe will burrow into it, and some will be displaced. If it losses too much by the 31st day, you may want to add a few more handfuls into it.

Good luck with your first litter

 

[Oscar]

I at the monent have a open bottom nest box, i have a shert of plexi glass could i se that for a bottom, it would be easy to clean.

 

[shazza]

i use wooden nest boxes with 1/4" wire at the bottoms and i stuff mine with coastal/bermuda hay. i was using their timothy hay to stuff nests but the does would eat all of it since it's delicious, and i would keep having to refill the boxes every day until they decided to start nesting proper. plus, when they did start nesting, they wasted 80% of it. they don't like to eat the bermuda hay, and it's cheap, so i don't care if they throw it everywhere and i know they always have it when they start wanting to really get down and build a nest.

at about two weeks, whenever the eyes open, i'll usually dump the hay out and replace it with aspen shavings. the kits don't need the fur anymore unless it's really cold outside, and the shavings are more absorbent i find.

 

[LittleFluffyBunnies]

I also use wire flooring now, with a piece of cardboard in the bottom to prevent the bedding falling out. I use 1-2 inches of wood shavings on the bottom to absorb urine and for warmth. I then use whatever hay I have for feeding(at the moment it's teff). They don't seem to eat a lot of it if I also give them their hay for eating.

I change the cardboard if it gets messy or torn up, and I usually change out all of the bedding at 1 week, keeping the fur of course. I usually start taking out bits of hay slowly to keep the level down from the entrance, as mine like to escape the box before they are ready

 

[Oscar]

I found a piece of wire and cut it to fit, it isn't the traditional wire for cages but it was the only thing I had on hand.

 

[skysthelimit]

As long as the wire openings are small so kits feet don't get stuck. Or you put a bottom on it. I use shredded paper, because hay is hard to come by here and too valuable as feed to waste in nest boxes.

 

[Stephanie]

I at the monent have a open bottom nest box, i have a shert of plexi glass could i se that for a bottom, it would be easy to clean.

I do something similar. My nestboxes have open bottoms. And I keep a stock of cardboard cut to fit in the bottoms. With each new litter, I place 3 layers of cardboard, then hay. When I remove nestboxes, I toss the cardboard into the veggie garden. Having 3 layers absorbs whatever urine they produce during their nesting time. It's always nice and dry for them. And it also insulates from the cold.