Litter Box & Hay Rack Ideas

[Eucalyptus]

Hi guys. I wanted to see if I could get some good ideas on what to do about my bun’s litter box situation. Java is amazing with his litter box – he will poop outside the box sometimes, but only in his enclosure and never has any accidents outside of that. He’s also a great hay eater – he’ll try to find out big container of hay to get a good mouthful of the fresh stuff when he’s out and about. If he’s not lounging or playing with toys, he’s eating hay.

The problem is, Java LOVES to dive into a pile of hay and then pee all over it. As much hay as he eats, it definitely feels like we throw out more than he consumes. And that’s never a fun thing when you want to save money. We made two different hay racks, the second having larger holes because the first was discouraging. Both hardly worked. We found him pulling tiny pieces of hay from the blanket under his pen because he was so “starved” of hay. But he wouldn’t reach up to pull from the rack.

We’re thinking of getting one of these http://www.etsy.com/listing/67290023/saveabunnys-three-hole-hay-saver-box?ref=sr_gallery_3&ga_search_query=hay+saver&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=all because they’re clean and should provide an easier method for him to get hay than a rack above him. But we’re worried about spending 85$ and having him not pull hay from it. But 85$ would be worth it if he did use it. He’s in a pretty big box right now, so we plan to get a smaller one that will lean right against that hay saver and make it as easy and encouraging as possible for him to grab hay from it.

Has anyone had any experience with the hay saver? Any problems or bunnies that wouldn’t touch the hay from it? Any better ideas, or ideas in general?

Thanks!

[peppypoo]

How is your litter box set up? My Peppy only uses the back corners of her liter box, so I pile the hay in the front of the box and she can eat/poo at the same time. However, if your bunny likes to use the front corners of the box too more hay will get soiled. Or, you could find a long and not too deep box to put at the end of a litter box to act as a trough.

[Eucalyptus]

We’ve tried piling the hay in different parts of the box, but no matter what, he will immediately dig through it and spread it all over the box. He doesn’t seem to have a particular side or corner that he prefers – whenever I scoop or dump the box it appears that all parts are soiled.

Anything that he’s capable of getting his butt into, he will pee in. I tried different shapes and sizes for hay-only boxes, and he always managed to squeeze in.

The hay saver seems good because he wouldn’t be able to squeeze more than maybe his head into it at most. But it seems less discouraging than a rack or anything that would be above him. He seems to go out of his way to find fresh hay, but won’t look up or anything to pull from a rack. Kinda weird and a little frustrating lol.

[bmt87]

Here’s what we do.  This is just a tupperware container with some holes in it zip-tied to Lola’s NIC cage/  The top of one long side is cut open into a rectangle and we stuff hay in.  I cut the lid to the container in half and use it as a flap mainly to keep her from pulling the hay out of the top when she is out of her cage.  You can see right inside is her litter box and she will sit in there and eat her hay.  Very little is waste and what is left behind is just the “brown” pieces that my picky, spoiled bun won’t eat.  It’s worth a try being that it’s a super cheap solution! 

[Eucalyptus]

bmt87 – I really like that idea, but he wouldn’t touch a hay rack that was right in front of him, most likely because of the grid making it hard for him to get a whole bunch at once (at least that seems to be the problem).

On a side note, that’s such a cute pattern on the tupperware!

[Roberta]

Mine won’t eat from a hay rack unless they can pull it out over the top, Nermal doesn’t mind and seems to enjoy the challenge but the other 4, No Way…. They also like to use the entire litter tray, unfortunately the method of entry is a flying belly flop from the nearest raised platform (be it shelf, day bed, box or side of their ramp) once one has landed in the litter tray with a resounding WHOMP and the hay has flown in all directions everyone settles down to eating. Whilst they are in the middle of the tray and doing their business at both ends, the method of entry seems to drive the hay outwards and upwards so that less of it gets peed on.

[BunnyPosts]

I use a undertable rack (i think they are from bed and bath or the container store) they are really large, about 12×16 and 4 inches deep… holds a TON of hay! they also have great little arms that work perfectly on NIC grids!!!! hope this help! -bunnyposts

[rayray]

I’m having similar problem with my bun. He’ll use a hay rack, but he mostly just pulls all the hay out to spread over his litter box. Started just putting a pile of hay beside the litter box, but now he just spreads it out and poops on the cage floor. I’ve now moved back to a hay rack but still have the problem of poop on the cage floor. I guess I just have to pick my battles and sweeping up some poops is better than wasting hay I guess. lol! At least he still pees in the litter box.

[mijOok]

I have a similar issue where my bun only faces the inside of the cage when he’s in the litter box (and he digs at the hay in the box too), so it doesn’t work for me to put anything on the grid like most hay racks since it’s behind him. I just put less hay in the litter box but keep a good amt of hay in a box for him to munch out of… and if you think the one from etsy will work, maybe try making a replica out of a cardboard box for trial and error before spending the $85 granted the cardboard box itself may be chewed up? =) The design looks like it’s fairly easy to do by cutting the giant holes out of a good rectangular sized box.

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