litter!!!!

[britt and yeti]

ok so i know im probably going to be crapped on for saying i use clumping litter for my bun. 

my local pet store has a bun clumping formula and Yeti has always used it with no issue… he doesnt dig in it or spend any time what so ever in his bin..

he hops in pee/poops and hes right back out. the stuff is EXPENSIVE and im trying to find something cheaper.. i found a litter that BLUE makes for cats its an all natural clumping formula. no chemicals or toxins.. its made from walnut shells. and its dust-free

with my bun being used to a clumping litter. and never having a problem with it…

COULD this cat litter be a safe, cheaper option?

[Cristina]

To be honest Britt, I would just switch Yeti over to CareFresh. It’s relatively cheap, and very safe for buns. They typically love it! And it actually will clump together nicely when it gets wet. Is there a particular reason why your only wanting to use clumping litters for Yeti?

[britt and yeti]

he wont use anything else -.-‘ if his paws get wet or damp in any way he flips. 

he was scoping out the top of his cage yesterday evening and when he came back down he accidentally put his paws into his water dish and he started freaking out.. i saw it as “hyperventilating”. took me almost a half hour to calm him down. 

if he steps in to wet anything he snaps.. i tried a newspaper with hay on top and after a couple pees it was too soggy for him so he peed on the couch instead. 

i’ve heard care fresh is quite expensive… i really need to find something cheaper. 

[Cristina]

It sounds like you need a scaterless pan! That’s what I have for my boys. It has a grate over the top, so all their pee and poop goes in the bottom and their feet never touch it! I put just a tiny bit of carefresh in the bottom underneath the grate, that way when I pull the litter box out of the cage it doesn’t slosh around. It makes the CareFresh last longer! And it really isn’t expensive at all! You can buy a MASSIVE bag of it for $20 and you only need a few handfuls under the grating just to soak up the pee. So it lasts forever!

[Monkeybun]

the risks with clumping are too high. If his paws get damp, and it sticks to them, he washes them off and ingests the litter. So even if he isn’t actively eating it, he is still ingesting it. And just because he isnt eating it NOW, doesn’t mean he will always avoid eating it.

Change the litter, he’ll get used to it. But not to nut shells.. just as bad. Use a pelleted litter or some such.

[britt and yeti]

hmm hmmm.. i could probably BUILD a pan like that if i make a quick trip to home depot.. i can make it custom for his cage. thats a really good idea. another scary question.. with switching from his current litter to something else im going to have to retrain him to use a new product wont i? 

[Cristina]

NOt at all!!! Since he doesn’t like to get his feet dirty, I think as long as his feet don’t touch it, he will be fine with the new arrangment! BB sells one on here and I’ve heard its fantastic! It coems with the grating and everything. However it is pretty expensive for a litter box, in my opinion., I bought my litterbox in the rabbit section at petsmart for $7.99 and it has the grate on it. The gratign is large enough so teh poop falls through to the bottom but small enough so your buns feet won’t fall through. And it has an inch of space between the grating and the bottom, so it can collect and be dumped out at the end of the day. You don’t NEED to put CareFresh in it. I just do that way when I go to maneauver it out of the cage to empty it out, I won’t dump pee all over myself. I am quite accident prone and can totally see myself doing this! lol If you REALLY want Yeti to be comy you can maybe just be a grating to put on top of his existing litter box that way he’s used to it already and his feet won’t touch and you can stop using the clumping litter. If you want I can post pics tonight of the litter box I have and how it’s made so you can get an idea for DIYing your own! 

[britt and yeti]

OH OH OH! i was just on the petsmart website and i see one that is just a little corner one.. its pretty much EXACTLY the pan he has now just with the grate and they are cheap under $10.. looks like im goin to petsmart tonight… always dangerous for my wallet.

[Hazel]

Chances are he won’t really care about the litter being different.

The absolute cheapest litter you can buy is wood stove pellets (also one of the safest, clumbing litter could cause obstructions if ingested), but make sure they are free of accelerant. Home Depot and the such should carry them, but it may be a seasonal thing. Some stores carry horse stall pellets (I get mine from Tractor Supply), it’s the same thing but you won’t have to worry about accelerant. I get a 40 lbs bag for $6, can’t beat that

[britt and yeti]

oh my goodness.. ive been paying out my rear end for litter! how dumb am i… my fault i suppose for not REALLY looking at all my options. his litter has been costing me almost $20per week. 

[Hazel]

Like I said, it can’t be beat!!

It’s really just compressed saw dust, totally safe. It does a great job with the odor too, we are using it for our cats litter box, works great!

[Cristina]

OMG Britt that is INSANE!!! And yes that is the exact one I have for Toby and he adores his litter box! I am sure that Yeti will love it! And it even SMELLS good! haha No joke! Sniff it when you get it home, not in the store so they won’t think your a freak! hehe

Hazel- Oooo you are giving me ideas!!! I only put a handful or two of litter in mine just so the pee won’t spill on me when I move it. I could totally switch to that since Toby’s feet don’t even touch it! And it would probably last me a whole year. Eeek! Thanks for the info! =)

[britt and yeti]

argh thank all of you! this makes my life so much easier.

LONG LIVE BB AND ALL ITS MEMBERS!

i’d be broke without you. *tear

[Cristina]

bahahaha you are sooo right! I just started using the forums last week and its already been a life saver! hehe

[Hazel]

Cristina: Yes it lasts a long time, right now we just use it for the cat, we don’t actually have a bunny at the moment (what am I even doing here lol  ) and it lasts us for about 6 weeks, maybe longer.

[Cristina]

bahahaha You just made my day!!! lol Go get a bunny! QUICK!!!! Before they kick you out! LOL

[Hazel]

Yeah I guess I just blew my cover…

[britt and yeti]

alright guys!
so i went out and bought him his new box with the grate on top with some carefresh and we have had a successful night!
poops and pees galore in there already!

hes such a good boy
Cristina: you were so right about the bin smelling good.. omgosh! my whole apartment smells like the box.. and thankfully my husband doesnt mind the smell. (hes sensitive and picky)

so Yeti is now a carefresh bunny and we’re lovin every second of it.

thanks again errbody for all the help and support.

[peppypoo]

I’m really glad you found a good solution! I love it when we’re able to help people find good ideas .

A few additional suggestions…some people find Carefresh to be a bit pricey, and use different types of litters instead. Yesterday’s News (unscented, for cats) is a popular option, as is Feline Pine (original non-clumping). If you live in a place with colder winters, wood stove pellets are a fantastic and very inexpensive option, as long as it doesn’t have added accelerants. Horse stall bedding is essentially the same thing as Feline Pine/wood stove pellets as well, and again is pretty cheap. Cheers to litter box solutions!

[zoologist]

As a new bun owner I decided against the grated litter box in favor of a corner one that Tofu can jump into and dig in the carefresh. It scatters alllll over the bottom of his cage. Will he know that the box is his litter box if there is a grate on top of it?

[britt and yeti]

Yeti had NO problem with it.. i just made sure that when i switched over to the grated box i put his soiled litter in the bottom of it until i saw him use it once or twice. 

[Cristina]

Britt- Right!!! I’ve been using this litter box for 4 months and it STILL smells amazing!!! haha I don’t know how they do it! But my bun and I LOVE this litter box, and its super affordable! =)

Zoologist- Yes he will know it’s a litter box! WIth mine to help them out a bit, I’d place some of their poop in it. They caught in REALLY quick! hehe If you did what Britt did it would probably work even better!

Peppy- TOTALLY going to look into getting that! I’m trying to spend less on things like litter so I can switch to a better brand of hay and maybe get a bunny condo for mine. That’s an excellent way to save and I can use the money on other things that Toby wolud LOVE!!!

[britt and yeti]

my life is a thousand times easier now. whew!

[Mimsy]

So my bunny doesnt poop or pee anywhere near where he eats. I’m currently using cat litter and he’s really good about using the litter box. After reading that the litter is “dangerous” now I’m considering switching but concerned that he wont use it anymore since he’s not used to the smell/feel etc. Plus my cat still uses the cat litter so it will still be in the house, which I’m assuming would be confusing to smell the old stuff and not want to pee/poop in it. how “dangerous” is cat litter? Is it worth trying to switch since he’s already trained?

[Sarita]

Hi Mimsy, welcome – we ask that members do not reply to old posts – it is confusing to people. I am going to lock this and ask that you start a new post and ask your question – otherwise members respond to the initial post…thank you,

[Author]

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