Help? Idea’s?

[mocha200]

Ok, so there are a few things that I want to try to make better so our life isn’t so stressful.

Smell:

Hay:

smell is the big thing here, my mom hates the smell of hay. I have to say its not my favorite smell either. so I thought that maybe I could put the hay in the garage but with winter coming i don’t think i want to be running in the cold garage every time they need hay. So i thought maybe keeping it in a different container would be better.

Litter boxes:

litter boxes is another problem because every time they pee you can smell it. so I thought I could maybe start changing them every day but that would be expensive. or maybe trying a different kind of litter.

Money:

We have already cut back on cost quite a bit but we just bought land up north so now we have to really cut back.
 

veggies:

I have had to not feed them as much as I would like, but they get 2 cups each a day so they get enough. My parents don’t like how much money we spend on veggies a week, so I am thinking maybe I should start buying them. I only buy about $5 worth ever week so its not that bad, and I get $10 a week so i have enough money.

litter:

If I start changing the litter boxes every day I would probably have to buy a bag a week so that would be another 5 dollars a week but if i started getting a different brand that would be like $12 a week. but i think my parents wouldn’t mind paying for litter if they knew it would make my room smell better.
 

Mess:

oh were do i start….

Hay:

I think hay is a big problem for every one. so what do you guys do to not get hay every were?

litter training:

Lulu just doesn’t get it! I have tried everything! I have been reading on the HRS and they say it can be territorial and i think that is what it is, because the poo that’s not in the litter box stinks really bad. can’t they let out a stink to show that’s there territory? I try to not reach my hand in there cage much but when i clean there cage i have to pick them up out of there cage because they don’t come out of there cage on there own unless its there active times. i try to keep the food dishes by the door so i just reach in a little bit but they carry them around and on different floors and every thing!
 

sorry for the long post. Please post any suggestions on how i can make things better.

 

[allegrabunny]

Could you keep the majority of the hay in the garage is just bring in what you need for a few days at a time? The stray poop actually poop or is it those little squished grape poops? What is your bunny housing situation like? Could you put you plexiglass around the base of the hutch to help keep the hay in maybe about 3 inches high.

what kind of litter are you using? I have found that the wood stove pellets, approxiamately 6 bucks for forty pounds really absorbs the urine smell and have the bonus of crumbling apart so you can scoop out the soiled litter and leave the fresh stuff behind sort of like mucking a horse stall.
You could also try leaving a bowl of white vinegar in the room collect the smells, or line the bottom of the litter pan with baking soda.
Or if your parents don’t use chemicals on your lawn you could pull a ton of dandelions and hang them upside down in the dark to dry.
You might try creating an indoor potted garden of baby greens or wheat grass the seeds should be fairly inexpensive now and you could help offset the veggie cost. consider shopping for your veggies at ethnic groceries.

[Monkeybun]

Do NOT line the bottom of the litter pan with baking soda unless the bunnies have a grid over the litter. It is not good for them if they ingest it.

[mocha200]

I use horse stall pellets. there the same price as wood stove pellets. its not the hay falling out of the cage it is me carrying the hay to there cage.

[Deleted User]

I can’t stop talking about the litterbox screen kit from BB. Here is what I do to beat smell. I pour about three table spoons’ worth of cheap white vinegar into the clean empty litterbox, then put my litter material on that and let it soak up the vinegar. Then I put the screen on that and a handful of hay. I dump out the poos and dirty hay every day (there is not much hay left) and the peed up vinegar-infused litter under the screen I only change ocassionally. It really has helped with stink for my rabbits.

The other thing would be to use cat litter under the screen, one that is safe for rabbits and with odor control.

About the hay, I would go in the garage once a day and get what you need in a bag. It’s your best bet. I have to go outside to get my hay once a day as I store it in my closed up rabbit pen over the winter.

About veggies, buy what you can with your money, remember the most important food is hay so don’t beat yourself up if you run short on veggies from time to time.

[Deleted User]

Carry the hay in a large bag so that nothing sticks out, then unload it once you get to their pen or cage. Reach into the bag and grab the hay wrapping any loose strands around a bunch of hay to make it stick together. Then use a brush if you have carpet or a broom to pick up any spilled hay pieces right away.

[Deleted User]

where do you put the territorial droppings when you clean up after Lulu?

[Sarita]

Well, I think for the hay the only idea I have to is keep it in a container that you can easily carry from where you keep it to the cage. I don’t have alot of success with this – I just vacuum daily and when I add hay or change litterboxes I vacuum up the hay.

There really is no magic thing that you can do when you have rabbits especially more than one to keep their area clean other than clean every single day. I clean my rabbits area twice daily and that only takes me about 15 minutes. I vacuum stray poops and hay and anything else, I give them fresh water in their bowl, hay if needed and treats at night. The morning routine is the same but I do the veggies afterwards.

I have been changing the litter boxes every 4 days lately.

I don’t keep my rabbits in my bedroom though so every 4 days is fine. However I think if you are going to keep them in your room, you will need to vacuum daily.

[AbbyGirl]

I use the wood animal bedding pellets from a local stove store that sells their own. I didn’t smell it as much with Hugo but with Rhine it’s a little smellier. I just scoop out the wet area of the litterbox every night and that helps control the odor and you aren’t wasting any of the bedding.

For the hay, I keep my big box in the basement. I use a 58quart Sterilite tote from Walmart (only about $5). I fill it with the hay and keep it in the rabbit area. Then I put the litterbox in the tote and put the hay in the litterbox. That way any hay that falls just falls back into the tote. We’ve had Rhine for 5 days now and there has never been hay on the floor.

A suggestion on the veggies. You could plant some different things indoors for the winter. Herb gardens do wonderful in windowsills. Then once spring comes you could garden outside. That would cut back the cost of fresh foods a lot.

[Deleted User]

When you clean up after Lulu, put her territorial droppings into their litterbox rather than disposing of them.

Be realistic: rabbits will have some smell, there has to be hay around them and so hay smell is part of a rabbit household. Just keep your door to your room closed and air out often. The more you expect the more you will feel frustrated and the less you can enjoy them!

[runawaybunny]

Buying a lot of greens with tops is one way we save money on greens. Especially carrots, beets and radishes. We eat the root and they eat the top so it’s money we’d be spending anyway.

[mocha200]

I put the poos back in the litter box when i clean there cage.
Petzy: doesn’t the litter not soak up the pee if it soaked the vinegar?

I am really considering buying the litter box screen.

I grow a garden in the summer so all summer they eat for free.

[Deleted User]

You only put a couple of tablespoons’ worth of vinegar, it’s not much at all and there is plenty of absorbing ability left~ Only use it under a grid or screen though

[jerseygirl]

Petzy, that’s interesting with the vinegar in the litter box. I’ve contemplated doing that before too as I use a grate. Does your litter material absorb the vinegar smell initially?

Mocha, how do you currently deal with the hay?
Do the bunnies have it just in the litterbox or in the box plus a hay rack? Or elsewhere?

I’m wondering if it’d help to have a rack that holds alot of hay so you don’t have to fill it as often. I have a pic of a grid one I can post if you’d like to see it. I know you like a NIC project!

Otherwise, I was thinking you could use large paper bags and fill them out in the garage. You could keep the bags in your room in a plastic container, then just take a bag to the condo as needed. You could re use the bags OR you could give it to them in the bag and let them tear into it.

For room odour, I use vinegar in a dish and it helps. I also heard you can use charcoal briquettes that you get for barbeques. You just place them around the room to absorb odour. I haven’t tried this yet. I don’t really notice the odours too much except for Jerseys terri-poop.

There seems to be quite a difference with wood pellets. I was using one that was (or looked like) pine and I notice a slight wood smell but not much litterbox smell. Currently I’m using once that is reddish brown in colour  and it is not as good with absorption and odour control.
It breaks down to be mud-like where as the pine one broke down to a coarse sawdust. 

As Petzy said, a screen might really help as it’s easier to remove the wet hay. It’s often wet hay that’s causing the smell.

[Balefulregards]

First, can I tell you how I love that we just Chat it up about urine and poo and smelliness?

I have used Both the horse bedding, Yesterdays News and now the Wood Fuel Pellets. I found the horse bedding smelled most Hay -like as it was compressed straw. That may be unwittingly adding to the Hay smell you are getting. I didn’t mind the Hay smell, as I find it strangely soothing.

I switched to the Wood fuel pellets at the beginning of the fall. I do find it has a more saw dust/wood smell. However, I also find that it does a better job at absorbing general urine odor. Here in CA it is 4.99 per bag for 40 pds. When I clean my litter, I take the boxes out and let them soak in a vinegar and baking soda bath for about 15 minutes. I do this 2 times a week. This keeps the boxes from getting ANY urine buildup.

(I find the idea of the little bit of vinegar soaking in intriguing….)

And I am thinking a suspended box where they can pull out the hay they are eating without being able to get it damp —which then just now enhances the hay smell of the horse bedding.

It may also be worth chatting with a local grocery store’s produce manager – You may be able to get things like Carrot Tops and herbs etc they don’t want to put out for sale for free or close to free. It never hurts to ask. The worst they can say is No.

[lwayne]

I carry an empty litterbox (or any box for that matter) under my handful of hay to transport it from the closet (where I keep it) to their litterbox area. You can also just put it in the box for transporting, something to collect all the pieces dropping out.

As far as smell, we have a utility sink in our basement where I wash out the litterboxes with vinegar every time I change them (lately its been every day). I then dry them down with a towel and their ready for use again. I use Good Mews (same as YN), which I like better than the wood stove pellets because I found the stove pellets turned to saw dust and then my buns would track saw dust out onto the carpet.

I am too wondering how to cut costs on litter..

[mocha200]

Jersy: Yes. please post the pic!

I will post pics of my set up for hay tomorrow or Tuesday. I have been kinda busy lately.

[mocha200]

I have tried the vinegar in a dish but every time i walk past it I smell the vinegar. eww. so i stopped doing that. I use HSB because the place i get it is right in town.

First, can I tell you how I love that we just Chat it up about urine and poo and smelliness?

haha i laughed when i read this.

[mocha200]

As far as smell, we have a utility sink in our basement where I wash out the litterboxes with vinegar every time I change them (lately its been every day). I then dry them down with a towel and their ready for use again.

we have a utility sink in our basement so I clean mine the same as you. sometimes if one of my litter boxes aren’t that dirty i just spray it with 50/50 and wipe it out with paper towel.

[cactuspancake]

Get a big tupperware container to keep your hay in! There’s like a 50 gallon one at target for 7 bucks! I keep my hay in the closet because my b/f is allergic to it and we don’t smell it anymore at all. I don’t have a hay rack yet but I keep my hay in a 3 sided cardboard box in his cage; it all stays in! Almost lol but really.

I vacuum everyday for the smell with my handvac I just bought… best thing I ever bought for cleaning! I bought a really strong one and it sucks up all the poops and hay with no issues. If I don’t his poops smell so I don’t have advice other than to vacuum every day…

[Deleted User]

Posted By jerseygirl on 11/06/2010 07:39 PM

Petzy, that’s interesting with the vinegar in the litter box. I’ve contemplated doing that before too as I use a grate. Does your litter material absorb the vinegar smell initially?

Yes it does. You know I use my own cardboard strips that are very absorbent.  I just pour a little vinegar in all the corners of the empty box, then I press down the cardboard strips and place the BB screen over that.

 

[cactuspancake]

Lol bunnies on “the pot” I love how I think that pic is adorable :p

[jerseygirl]

Here’s the pic of the grid hay dispenser Mocha.  I haven’t made one of these but now that I have grids, I’m considering it. The angle of the grid on the bottom may have to be adjusted depending on your buns.  I think some would be tempted to get up in there too!

 

Also, I thought I’d post about this product. I saw an ad in last weekends paper and looked it up. Similar idea to the BBQ briquettes and the lava rock that Barbie posted about in that room deodoriser thread a while back.

These are made from bamboo charcoal which has LOTS of pores to trap odour. I’d probably trie the briquettes first myself but thought these looked interesting.

  http://www.bamboofabricstore.com.au/Shop/f…i-Cube.htm

[mocha200]

Jersey are they scented? because my mom gets really sick from scented stuff like perfume, air fresheners, flowers and sometimes deodorant.

can it be made out of C & C cubes ore does it have to have smaller holes.

[jerseygirl]

No, they don’t cover smells with another like perfume. The idea is they trap smells in the pores. Then you put them out in the sun to refresh them and use them over and over. I suppose they could smell like charcoal as that is essentially what they are. If you are wanting to try something like this, get BBQ heat beads. Likely that’s cheaper. This particular product is Australian I think so to order you’d be looking international postage and handling.

For the grid dispenser, I thought I’d line them with something like cardboard. I sort of want to make one so I don’t have to be loading hay so often but my bunnies seem to like little amounts given often. Like I’m their waitress bring them a multi course meal !

[Chazz]

I recently switched to using Feline Pine after seeing that people here use it (sorry if someone already said this) and I’ve noticed a big difference in smell. The pine really helps keep it down.

I also combat smell (and maybe this is an obvious thing to say) by opening windows and airing out with a fan. Even if it is cold. For a bit a day it really helps with my small apartment.

[Deleted User]

If you don’t want hay scent in the house, mocha, then I would stay away from a hay setup that stores large quantities such as the nifty grid hay dispenser. Your best bet is storing your hay in the garage and transporting a small amount daily in a little box or similar.

[mocha200]

yeah I like the idea of bringing in some hay in a paper bag and putting it in a container.

[mocha200]

 

OK. so I bought the buns veggies this week and it cost $6. I got Romain lettuce, spinach and parsley. I started making Beka’s rolls last week.

These are the rolls I just made. Are there enough veggies? I give them two rolls a day. One in the morning, one at night.

(below) Some rolls have more and some have less. This one is one of the ones that have less. I try to make them as even as I can though.

 

 

Beka: Last week when I made these for the first time I found the next day the parsley was wilted. Do you have that problem?

 

[Otti]

That looks like too much paper to me for the amount of veggies.

I use a rectangular shallow tuperware the way someone suggested on here a while back, (forget who), with holes poked through one side to let air in. One container per type of veggie, since some spoil faster than others. Romaine in one, parsely in another and cilantro in a third. When I bring the veggies home, I wash and clean them, discard any spoiled parts, and then layer them in the tupperware like this: one sheet of paper towel, half of the veggies, sheet of paper towel, other half of the veggies, paper towel on top.

I think with herbs like cilantro and parsely, keeping it moist but not too moist is that key to it staying fresh for a longer time. The way I store it, I can keep the veggies for about a week, which is how long they usually last anyways.

The tupperware containers also stack easily and fit neatly in the fridge. In the morning and at night, all I have to do is take them out, open them and grab a portion of veggies.

If you want to do the paper towel roll thing for organization purposes and to make things quicker, maybe just try less paper… like one sheet. or more veggies per roll… Somehow i think the paper to veggie ratio in your rolls looks to high, so the amount of paper would dry out the veggies too much.

[mocha200]

Thats what i did before just grab veggies out. but when I am tired and want to go to bed it is easier to grab this. I would like to not have to use that much paper towels. Any ideas on how to not use paper towels and still have the separated out?

[Otti]

I’m saying if you’re making portions of vegetables of that size, I think you’d need to use less paper towel in order to keep them from wilting. So one sheet of paper towel per portion, not two like in your picture. It might get trickier to roll them and keep them from opening then, but maybe you could loosely fasten them with rubber bands or something.

[mocha200]

good idea thanks Otti!

[Monkeybun]

If the paper towels stay clean and dry, you can reuse them a couple times too, so you dont waste them

[Deleted User]

You don’t need paper towels at all if you want to be economical. You can just use a clean dish cloth misted with water and toss it in the lauundry every so often. Why do you need portions of veggies? You can just keep it in a bunch and take some as you need.

[mocha200]

I don’t need to but it is much easier when i am tired to just grab, wash, and go. but I could probably think of another way.

[Sarita]

I think if it’s easier for you and you are happy with this, continue on with it.

[Deleted User]

Yes, whichever way is easiest for you to manage — that’s the way to keep it up! Again, though, don’t stress out if you get low on veggies for them. They are well-cared for and it won’t hurt them to have an ocassional ‘hay-day’!

[mocha200]

Thanks. This weekend I am going to try to find a better hay container. I will post a pic of what I come up with.

[jerseygirl]

Do you still have the pen set up adjoining the condo? I’ve seen some members store hay in a crate in the rabbits area. This might be another option for you too.

Binky Bunny has made a thread about this hay issue if you haven’t seen it. Worth keeping an eye on it. ;o)
https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aff/4/aft/112828/afv/topic/Default.aspx

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