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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.
- This topic has 21sd replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 10 months ago by
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Hey Everybody!!!
So for this past year that I have had Cookie I have been putting his hay straight into his litter box as that was how he ate hay back at the shelter. But I recently realized how much hay and money I am wasting because he ends up going to the bathroom on it and doesn’t eat it. So I tried out a few things as hay racks and none worked for me. I first tried an NIC Cube hay rack, which ended up bein waaay too big for him as Cookie is a dwarf rabbit. It was also waaay too messy. Another thing was that he hated it so much that he would sit there yanking at the rack whenever he would want hay. That did not work
The next thin I tried was attaching a tissue box to his pen over the litterbox and then I cut a big rectangular hole out of the front. I liked this hay serving option a lot as it was absolutely mess free and was the perfect size. But he was unfortunately able to pull all the hay out of the box and into his litterbox. I am thinking I can maybe try doing it again but cut multiple small holes in the front of the tissue box? That way he can still eat from it but not pull it into his litterbox. I am wasting hay at a rapid pace and need to do something about it. So I would just like you guys to tell me any ideas you have. I have heard of people using under the shelf organizers as hay racks so I might try that. I would just like something that would not be too messy, Cookie will cooperate with, and is a reasonable size.
Thank YOU!!! -
I think that your idea would work well. I used to use tissue boxes, but I didn’t like how they didn’t last for very long with my destructive buns. I bought a small trash bin and cut a medium size hole in it. It is large enough for her whole head to go in, and it also holds a lot of hay! I sanded down the edges, so nothing is sharp. I then put a hook in the back to hang it on her pen (I would have put two, but I only had one on hand, I will fix this in the future). She doesn’t eat in the litter box, but it could just as easily be placed there! I do not have a lot of mess with this design, but in my favor, I am using oat hay. The strands are very large, so not much falls out. I clean up hay about once a week (if it was over her litter box, I would do twice because I change it twice a week). I just cleaned last night, and you can see there is not too much mess at all. It is definitely not the best design on BB, but I like it. I plan on putting her name on it as well.
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I love it when people post pictures, I can understand what the person is explaining much more clearly.
I’ll have to buy one of those trash bins when I go out. Cutting the hole sounds tricky, I’ll probably have to have my dad do it. But gladly, we already have a box cutter. By the way, your girl is gorgeous! She is so vibrant in every way! Again, thanks for all your help and photos! I am hoping I can try this hay serving idea out soon. But when I do, I will let you know how it goes. -
I’m sure there could be a better knife to use too. I have another type, but it was too thick and it made the edge really jagged. Whether you or your dad does it, be super careful and go nice and slow! Even going slow it didn’t take me more than 10 minutes to cut it out. I have also seen ideas where people glue some sort of edge on if it was made square, but I just like the round look better. With sanding and drilling the holes in the back for the hooks, the whole thing took me less than an hour to do! I drilled small pilot holes and then just twisted the hook in.
And thank you, I love my little Eclipse. She is kind of chunky right now though… We are working on it, but she doesn’t look too bad for a senior bun! I’m also working on making her cage better. Not happy with it currently… Cookie is quite the looker too. I can’t tell from your avatar if he has rex fur or not?
Here is an extra picture of her just ’cause.
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Yah, when my dad cuts the hole he will have to be very careful. Eclipse is the perfect name for your rabbit! She looks like one happy and healthy senior rabbit! Cookie is a cross of different breeds. The only part I know is that he is part dwarf as he is small. But I have noticed ever since I adopted him a year ago that his fur is quite glossy and softer than other rabbits I have seen. So I guess that he might have rex in him!
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So upon seeing this thread I thought I’d put my 2 cents in! i have been making hay racks for my baby pretty much since we got her because I do not feel like spending upwards of $10 on something I can make myself, but I’m pretty crafty in general anyway
. Much like KyKattin’s feeder, I made something very similar with an ice cube bin i bought for less then a buck at Walmart! The plastic.jpg)
is durable, yet very easy to cut through with an exacto knife (be careful!) and I just put 4 little holes on the back and threaded ribbon through and tied it onto Pepper’s hutch. It works great, is easy to fill and keeps the hay from being wasted! -
For me, my considerations when building her hay bin:
It needed to be very easy to remove so I can fill it up without creating a mess (my hay is kept in the garage, I didn’t want to try to bring any in and fill it in the house).Easy to remove also meant that I could easily remove it when I was cleaning her pen.
It had to hold at least a weeks worth of hay, as if we go on vacation I do NOT want someone having to fill it. I have left people to do it before, and I feel like I am coming home to a barn, I have no idea how it is humanly possible to get hay in that many places other than the rabbit cage!
Safety was another big concern, as was durability, but I think that is a given for most people.
I’m not sure if Cookie has any Rex, at least he doesn’t seem to have the Rex fur. If you look at Eclipse’s nails, you can easily see them. People often think this is because I don’t trim them, but I do, as close to the quick as I can! Her fur is just so short and dense that it doesn’t come and cover most or all of the nail like normally furred rabbits have. I actually took her to a HRS event to try to have her bonded one time (very unsuccessful btw), and the ladies there kept making snide comments about her nails to each other. Eventually, one of them picked her up to go take her over to the nail trim station and took a better look at them and realized that is just how a Rex be. No more snide comments after that!
Megabunny: I know exactly what you mean! Except my cousin used to breed mini Rexes ( :/ ) and she easily outweighs them by 1-3 lbs so that is how I can more easily tell. Which might not seem like a lot, but a pound makes such a big difference on such a small animal! I didn’t actually get Eclipse from her (she didn’t have that color, which I was kinda sorta looking for), but when you can make a direct comparison like that, it is easy to see something went very wrong if they were trying for breed standards!
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It seems like your hay feeder meat all your considerations! Yay, now Cookie’s mix of breeds have been narrowed down a bit
I just wish I knew a little more about his breeds. Someone told me that Cookie looks like he has a bit of English spot? I always thought that he might have a bit of dwarf hotot?I really have no idea! 
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Just in case it doesn’t work (I hope it works good luck!
) my rabbit likes to eat from piles on the floor. (At the shelter he never had pellets or hay as far as I know) I try end hay racks boxes etc. eventually I just dropped some on the floor and he ate it. The only problem is it is a little messy since it gets on the carpet (he likes to sleep on carpet) so I made a tray out of cardboard to test it out and he was fine with it but he threw it around and made a mess XD anyway if that doesn’t work I suggest a tray (maybe screwing it to the floor so it can’t be thrown) good luck! -
I made this hayrack for my bunnies.
I don’t have a photo of their latest hayrack but what I did was revamped it with 3 vertical strips to prevent them from wasting too much hay ( they like to pull a whole bunch and it ends up on the toilet platform, and it starts absorbing pee)
The best has a nice small space to collect hay so that it’s easier for them to eat hay without having to pull too much.
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