Litter questions

[mia]

Lots of litter related questions coming up.

 

1. Is it better to completely dump out the litter box than trying to “save” the unused litter? When I try to save some of the unused, I end up sitring a little bit and that seems to smell more.
2. How deep should the litter be/can one get away with?
3. Should one have two litter boxes to switch out when cleaning? When my buns saw me cleaning, they just decide that they can’t wait and pee/poo elsewhere…
4. Where do you buy wood stove pellets (online or in-store)? Maybe I’m looking at the wrong time of year but I can’t see to find places that sell them. I see one on amazon but the shipping is ridiculous.
5. I’m currently using Yesterday’s News. Is Fresh News good? It’s on amazon and I <3 amazon and their free shipping.

[Elrohwen]

1. I just dump out the whole thing once a week (or a little more often). I cover it all with hay every day or two, so trying to save anything unused would just be a huge pain.

2. I just cover the bottom of the pan with wood stove pellets. Not even 1/2″ thick I would say.

3. If your buns like to do their business when you take away one box, it might be a good idea to have another. I have two that they use at the same time, but they don’t make messes when I take them out to clean.

4. I get my WSP at Agway. I’ve never looked in the summer months, but they’re very easy to find in the winter. Hardware stores often have WSP pellets too. If you’re in a warmer climate, you can try looking for horse stall pellets. They’re the same thing, but sold year round for horse owners.

5. I liked YN a lot, though I switched to WSP because they’re so much cheaper. I haven’t tried Fresh News.

[LoveChaCha]

1) I dump the entire contents once a week (I need to go change her litter today hehe) into a plastic baggie. I do the same as Elhrowen, I add hay to one side of the litter box. Rabbits LOVE going poo and pee and eating at the same time!

2) I use wood stove pellets, and I put enough to cover the entire bottom.. the urine makes the pellets poof up.

3) If you are just starting out with training, I would suggest 2. I still have 2, despite my bunny being trained. She gets access to my bedroom, so I put one in there when she is in my room, and I keep one in her condo, in case she wants to go back into the living room.

4) Are there any areas in your city that sells WSP that is not in a store? My bf and I drive past a house that actually advertises for WSP. I don’t get mine from there. I got mine at the store that I currently am employed at. I have 4 bags in the closet, and haven’t even gone through one bag yet o_O

5) Yesterday’s News is great I personally have not used it, but I heard good things about it. I used to use carefresh, but when I lost hours at my work last year, I had to do something about it… WSP are $5 for a 40 lb bag..

[osprey]

1- I always dump the whole thing, then clean with hot water, dish detergent and vinegar, then a rinse in fresh water before filling with litter again.

2- As others have said, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan, one pellet depth.  The pee will soak into the pellets anyway.

3- I have 3 bunnies – and they have 4 litterboxes!  3 in their condo and one for outside during runaround time.  I think a second box would be helpful for you.

4- Around here anyway, Wood Stove Pellets are a seasonal item, only available in the fall and winter.  They work just fine as litter, just be sure to get the kind that has no added hyrdrocarbon fuels.  If you have access to a feed store, you can get a product called Barn Dri, which is similar to wood stove pellets, made of compressed sawdust.  The pellets are made from cheaper wood, so it is more crumbly than the WSP, but they work fine.  If you aren’t going to burn them, the crumbliness doesn’t matter.

5- I am not familiar with Fresh News, sorry.  I have used Yesterday’s News and it is a good litter, not my favorite, but good.

I will put in a small plug for my favorite litter, Green Pet’s Aspen Supreme.  Excellent odor control, perfectly safe for buns, compostable and my favorite bunny store around here sells a 50 pound bag for around $25.  I am lazy, and only change my boxes once a week, so odor control is important.

[Ashley and Emily]

1- I always dump the whole thing but I change it every two days I don’t like the smell at all so I just change it more frequently. I do not put any hay in her litter area she doesn’t seem to mind.

2- I cover it just enough to where I can not see the bottom but its really on a few pellets deep if that.

3- I only have one box for one bun and she waits she is amazingly trained!

4- I use Good Mews its the same thing as yesterdays new just a ton cheaper but now reading this I am wanting to find wsp!

5- Fresh news should be fine but you will be paying more over time…

Hope you get everything worked out!

[Silly Sungura]

I guess some of what you’re asking depends on your bunny’s habits and preferences. For me it would be a waste to empty the entire contents of the litter box because my bunny pees almost exclusively in the left hand corner. I use pelleted wheat litter (Oxbow) and it’s so easy just to scoop out the wet stuff, which disintegrates into a doughy clump that can be flushed or composted. The litter box never smells.

I have never used the wood stove pellets, so I can’t answer your questions in regards to that, but it sounds like you’ve gotten some reliable answers about those already. Yesterday’s News is a pretty good choice; I like Oxbow better, but if I couldn’t get it anymore I’d probably use Yesterday’s News. If Fresh News appeals to you, I say give it a try. I am not familiar with it, but I am a sucker for free shipping.

Yes, a second litter box helps. I empty my rabbit’s box of poop every single morning and while I am doing it she always seems to want to pee and poop a little more. I put a spare one out during that time. I just line it with newspaper and hay and she does fine with it.

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

1.I dump my buns litterbox twice but clean out the soiled part everyday. It depends on the size of your rabbit. A little rabbit maynot be able to hop into a big litterbox.  I use half water and half white vinegar to clean the litterbox.

2.You should really only have 2 litterboxes when you are trying to litterbox train your rabbit.

3. I currently use Equine Pine it is a horse bedding also called Equine Fresh you buy it at tractor supply you get 40 pounds for $7.00. It does have a smell and people have told me it was very safe for rabbits. Hope this helps

[Lagomorphic]

Wow, I’m feeling much better about my bun-keeping habits! I thought I was a slacker for completely dumping the litterboxes only once a week. When I first got into rabbits, I was doing it twice a week. In any case, I use Yesterday’s News, I have 2 boxes, and I just put enough litter in to cover the bottom (well, just a little more than that).

[mia]

Oh! I think maybe I’m using too much litter (~1 inch thick) and that’s why I’m trying to save by not dumping it all LOL. I’m cheap so I’m interested in WSP. Actually, I’ve been spending way too much on toys because none of the homemade ones are working, so, gotta cut back elsewhere. Guess the cheaper options are at the tractor feed stores; will have to check them out and hope they come in small portions that fit in my tiny apt.

My buns are supposedly litter trained but I think they like to spite me and go randomly at least once a day =).

[meow1]

I dump my litter every day, but i use very very little, and it works for me and my bun. A 40 pound bag of horse stall bedding (pine pellets) lasts me a very long time! I get mine from Tractor Supply, and Southern States also has them. Probably any type of farm n feed store will have it. It’s the same thing as the wood stove thingies you asked about, only they’re not seasonal, so they’re easier to find. And a 40 pound bag of the kind I get is like 6 bucks.

[LoveChaCha]

Miaeih, I spend more on toys LOL.. I think it is my biggest expense

[peppypoo]

I just use the minimal amount of litter for Peppy and Milo and dump it daily too. My mom on the other hand…for Remi, she takes a plastic spoon and scoops out the soiled bits of litter (she uses Yesterday’s News) and picks out the poopies carefully too. A taaad too much work, if you ask me, lol.

[Beka27]

Woodstove pellets are the single best investment I’ve ever made for my rabbits. Ridiculously cheap. I buy 8 bags a year (320 pounds). Costs $50 for the entire year. I was spending over $200 a year for petstore litter before.

Call home improvement stores (Home Depot, Lowes), farming stores (like Tractor Supply). If those places don’t carry them, see if they can check if another location does. My local Lowes does not carry the WSP, but if I drive about 20 minutes out “into the country”, that Lowes does carry them. It’s worth a drive to go pick them up, if you have space to stock several bags.

[jerseygirl]

I’m told the cat version of Yesterday’s New is cheaper yet it’s the same stuff. So that might help save some dollars if you hadn’t made that discovery yet.
If you want to switch to using pellets, maybe buy a small bag of feline pine or aspen supreme and see how the rabbits like it first before lugging home one of those big bags.

[Malp_15]

I’m so jealous of everyone who only has to empty their litterbox once a week If I leave mine 3 days I have to scrub and scrub and scrub the crap of out the box to get all the pee out.

[mossling]

i use pellet horse bedding. basically the same as the wood stove pellets, but available at feed stores year round. i just use a thin layer of pellets (more for puppet, since he’s bigger and pees more!), and dump the whole thing every few days. i have a box in each cage, and one out of the cage. i clean the boxes one at a time, so there is always a box with litter in it. a couple of times, i dumped the litter and set the boxes down while i was cleaning the rest of the cage (before putting more litter in), and puppet wouldn’t hesitate to pee in the completely empty box. i’ve used yesterday’s news, and several generic versions. they all work fine, some of the generics were a little more dusty, but not too bad. since i’ve started using wood pellets, though, i will never go back to compressed paper pellets! i’ve even started using the wood pellets for my cats.

[Bumblebunny]

We use YN cat litter which appears to be the same as the rabbit litter and it is cheaper. We also use the BB screens with a little hay over them which takes care of the poops and Bumblebunny takes care of his other business in the same corner every time. Everyday we remove the screens and dump the poops and scoop out only the wet corner and replace a small amount of litter. It works great. We empty the litterbox every two weeks and wash it and we even are able to re-use most of that litter. As a side note, recently I bought a 34 lb. bag of YN unscented cat litter for only $3.00 more than a 10 lb. bag. Chains like Petco and PetSmart seem to run special sales every so often, you have to keep checking, but if you live close to one it can be worth it.

[mia]

Posted By Bumblebunny on 05/20/2011 04:11 PM
Everyday we remove the screens and dump the poops and scoop out only the wet corner and replace a small amount of litter. It works great. We empty the litterbox every two weeks and wash it and we even are able to re-use most of that litter.

That’s what I was trying to do. Most of the wet litter are in the corner but after trying to only scoop out the corner a few days, it began to stink. The first few times was ok.

 

 

[peppypoo]

Posted By miaeih on 05/20/2011 10:03 PM

Posted By Bumblebunny on 05/20/2011 04:11 PM
Everyday we remove the screens and dump the poops and scoop out only the wet corner and replace a small amount of litter. It works great. We empty the litterbox every two weeks and wash it and we even are able to re-use most of that litter.

That’s what I was trying to do. Most of the wet litter are in the corner but after trying to only scoop out the corner a few days, it began to stink. The first few times was ok.

 

 

One of my least favorite things about Yesterday’s News was that it left a lot of nasty residue in the corner where the buns peed the most, and the residue was really difficult to scrub out.  Maybe I wasn’t using enough litter each time…dunno.  The horse stall bedding I’m using now (same as Feline Pine) leaves a small amount of residue, but is a lot easier to clean up and doesn’t leave as much caked up…crap.

 

[Malp_15]

I have the same problem with YN and Carefresh litter and I have tried using more, but it’s the same thing.

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By Malp_15 on 05/19/2011 11:21 PM
I’m so jealous of everyone who only has to empty their litterbox once a week If I leave mine 3 days I have to scrub and scrub and scrub the crap of out the box to get all the pee out.

Your not alone, I cannot wait more than three days either.  I do know part of the issue in my case is that Jack and Vivian are on a high hydration diet (lots of greens and fluid/water) due to Jack’s calcium issues, so they have to pee alot. 

I am also sensitive the amonia smell of the urine, so I do exactly what  BumbleBunny does — I dump the hay and poo that’s on top of the litterbox screen, and scoop out the urine soaked sections of the litter every day, no more than every other day.  There have been times when I have waited three days (but i  always dump the screen part daily), but I feel like the bunny room gets too ripe then. (again, my bunnies pee alot) 

I also have more than one box just because they don’t like to share, but also, while I clean out one, they feel the need to reinforce their peeing rights or something, and they will seek out the other box to do that in. 

I put in about an inch of Yesterdays News in.   I really do like Yesterday’s News, but my favorite is Aspen Supreme (I think Osprey originally turned me on to it a while back..??) .  However Aspen Supreme is a bit pricey.  So many times i will just mix iit in with Yesterday’s News, and that works better than Yesterday’s News alone in my opinion.  

[Silly Sungura]

Posted By Bumblebunny on 05/20/2011 04:11 PM
We also use the BB screens with a little hay over them which takes care of the poops and Bumblebunny takes care of his other business in the same corner every time. Everyday we remove the screens and dump the poops and scoop out only the wet corner and replace a small amount of litter. It works great.

This is exactly what I do. Salvage the hay that wasn’t eaten or soiled, shake the poop off the screen, clean the wet corner, and put two or three handfuls of clean litter in the pan. The box stays very clean with no odor whatsoever. I mentioned above that I use Oxbow litter. It lasts a long time, so it’s not as expensive as it seems. It has a nice gummy or doughy consistency when wet, so I can scoop almost every bit of it out. There’s no residue. The screen needs cleaning maybe once a month, but the entire box will rarely need anything, it seems.

 

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