# What litter do you use?



## smilingbunnies (Jan 16, 2016)

Wondering what litter you use in your trays- at the moment my girls are on wood pellets, but the dust and when it crumbles and flies everywhere is driving me mad :-D

I'm looking for a litter that causes as least mess possible (I fully clean their trays every 2-3 days) , least dust and economic. Have any of you tried the litter in the images listed? 

Thank you View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1452978671.190562.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1452978689.585733.jpg


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## Blue eyes (Jan 16, 2016)

Many on here use wood pellets for litter, as do I. I have zero problem with dust or with it ever getting out of the litter box. Not sure what could be happening with your set up. 

The pellets breakdown when wet with pee, but then they are wet and never ever dusty. Are you using too much at one time? The pellets are so absorbent that a thin layer on the bottom of the litter pan is all that is needed. They expand greatly.

Is your litter box large enough? Small boxes or those corner boxes typically don't work well with any litter. 

I also put hay on top of my pellets. It works great that way -- definitely no litter coming out of the box. 

Here is a visual of how I set it all up. Maybe you'll notice something different than you are currently doing?


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## smilingbunnies (Jan 17, 2016)

Blue eyes said:


> Many on here use wood pellets for litter, as do I. I have zero problem with dust or with it ever getting out of the litter box. Not sure what could be happening with your set up.
> 
> The pellets breakdown when wet with pee, but then they are wet and never ever dusty. Are you using too much at one time? The pellets are so absorbent that a thin layer on the bottom of the litter pan is all that is needed. They expand greatly.
> 
> ...




Thank you for your help, we use storage boxes too for litter trays, but we put hay in a hay rack and tosser so it doesn't get dirty, but I'll try that )

I think I'm definitely putting too much litter in so I'll give that a go since I've just bought a 30L bag and want it to last as well. I think dust still is a problem however, maybe I should try a different brand?


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## Blue eyes (Jan 17, 2016)

No need to worry about soiled hay -- the bunnies will only eat clean, choice pieces.  But they do love jumping on top of it. The hay also really helps keep their feet clean since they will be on the hay rather than having direct contact with soiled litter. It also help hold down the odor. 

With regular refreshing of hay, the litter box can be changed twice per week with no odor (-- no odor until you are actually dumping it, of course).

I can't imagine dust being a problem still if you do the hay thing and put fresh hay on top of the old hay twice per day.


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## Thumperina (Jan 17, 2016)

This is a new item I found at Walmart: huge bags of large pine or cedar shavings. The cost is $7 I believe, and it lasts us awhile (in litter boxes only) 
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Alphapet-Cedar-5-Cu.-Ft.-Shavings-141-l-Birds-Dogs/10320819


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## Watermelons (Jan 18, 2016)

Thumperina said:


> This is a new item I found at Walmart: huge bags of large pine or cedar shavings. The cost is $7 I believe, and it lasts us awhile (in litter boxes only)
> http://www.walmart.com/ip/Alphapet-Cedar-5-Cu.-Ft.-Shavings-141-l-Birds-Dogs/10320819


Please NEVER EVER use cedar shavings!!
Thumperina those should be returned asap!
Walmart carries wood stove pellets at $5 for a 50lb bag. Use those instead. That should last you just as long and be much less toxic.


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## Thumperina (Jan 18, 2016)

thanks. I rushed to the rabbits and replaced litter with wood pellets at 1.30 in the morning (luckily, I had some left from long ago). I don't like wood pellets but safety is more important. 
I must of been overwhelmed having so many pets (10 birds in addition to 3 rabbits) that I started confusing who can't have what. 
Are pine shavings better than cedar or should be avoided as well? Has damaged been done to my buns by using cedar? Of course, all cedar shavings say it's best litter for small pets
On the bright side, they were only exposed to cedar during night hours. During the day they are staying in the yard in the fresh air and don't use litter boxes.


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## Thumperina (Jan 18, 2016)

Interesting. I haven't been to this site for a long time (just have a lot of other things going on right now). Can't even say why I stopped by today, and can't say why I clicked this thread. But it turned out really really useful thing for us! Thanks, Watermelons!


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## Watermelons (Jan 18, 2016)

If youre going to use shavings use aspen. (I buy aspen shavings from petsmart in the US).
Pine i would personally never use in shaving form (some people will say its okay as long as its kiln dried) but i will only ever recommend using pine when it is in pellet form (Wood stove pellets or horse stall pellets) and says kiln dried. 
Cedar is the biggest no no for any critter.

I will personally NEVER even use pine wood stove pellets for my animals. I dont trust it. You have all ready pointed out im in Canada in another thread and i actually make a point of going down to the US just to buy bags of aspen shavings. (So much cheaper)

http://www.rabbit.org/care/shavings.html


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## Thumperina (Jan 18, 2016)

I have kind of a problem with litter now. 
I personally don't like wood pellets. I put shredded newspapers over the pellets and it's making a mess all around the boxes. 
I buy expensive hay that I feed that I would hate to use in the litterbox. Other than this, hay I can get in local feed stores is of an awful quality. I stopped buying it. 
I will need to find aspen shaving that are not expensive


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## Thumperina (Jan 18, 2016)

Watermelons said:


> Cedar is the biggest no no for any critter.
> 
> http://www.rabbit.org/care/shavings.html


I remember it attracted my attention because pack said protection from fleas or something like this. There was a picture of a rabbit on the pack.


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## Watermelons (Jan 18, 2016)

Thumperina said:


> I remember it attracted my attention because pack said protection from fleas or something like this. There was a picture of a rabbit on the pack.


Yeah. Thats just how toxic cedar is  

Aspen is definitely more expensive but is worth it IMO. Its not crazy but sure costs more then pine and cedar.


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## smilingbunnies (Jan 18, 2016)

Blue eyes said:


> No need to worry about soiled hay -- the bunnies will only eat clean, choice pieces.  But they do love jumping on top of it. The hay also really helps keep their feet clean since they will be on the hay rather than having direct contact with soiled litter. It also help hold down the odor.
> 
> With regular refreshing of hay, the litter box can be changed twice per week with no odor (-- no odor until you are actually dumping it, of course).
> 
> I can't imagine dust being a problem still if you do the hay thing and put fresh hay on top of the old hay twice per day.




Thank you, I'll put their hay in the litter trays and in a hay rack so they can choose, thanks for the advice


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## Gnoccibun (Jan 18, 2016)

I line my litter box with puppy pads! Super absorbent, but they do require changing twice a day. I change in the morning and at night and dump a huge pile of hay on top. Clean up is really easy as I just fold the pad up and dump into a bag. I probably waste a very small amount of hay in the process, but I'm not too worried about that. Gnocci usually eats all the clean stuff by the time it's time to change anyway.


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## Thumperina (Jan 18, 2016)

Well changing this often isn't for me 
I went to Tractor Supplies and got there a large bag of Aspen Shavings for $9 + tax. haven't use it yet.


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## Watermelons (Jan 18, 2016)

Aspen is almost $20 for a 4cu ft bag in Canada  That is why I cross the border for it LOL $9 is cheaper then US petsmart prices.


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## flemishwhite (Jan 18, 2016)

Our four litter boxes, for our house baby bunnies are lined with newspaper and covered with a thick cover of oat hay. They are changed daily. They just love to munch on the oat hay.


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## Thumperina (Jan 19, 2016)

Watermelons said:


> $9 is cheaper then US petsmart prices.


Petsmart is expensive. Try Menards or Tractor Supplies


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## Azerane (Jan 19, 2016)

I have used the back 2 nature paper litter, it's fine, it can stay a little soggier than the wood pellets, and I found it can get caught on bunny feet when they jump out the tray. But otherwise it's alright. I switched to woodpellets from a litter like that because I like the odour control better and it just seems to work better. I've not really had any issues with dust either. Sometimes there's a bit of dust at the bottom of the bag, but I use a litter scoop to add fresh litter to the tray so that sieves any dust out anyway.


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## flemishwhite (Jan 28, 2016)

flemishwhite said:


> Our four litter boxes, for our house baby bunnies are lined with newspaper and covered with a thick cover of oat hay. They are changed daily. They just love to munch on the oat hay.



About the oat hay. Where we live is relatively near a community that allows horses. BTW, it's an expensive area to live in and the houses have small barns in the back for a horse. I buy a "flake" or oat hay for $5. I think there are 5 flakes in a "bale" of hay. With two baby Flemmish rabbits, now slightly larger than normal rabbits, and three to four litter boxes, we go through a lot of oat hay. The rabbits just love to set in their litter boxes and eat it at one end and expel it at the other end!!

BTW: Oat hay: the dried oat stalks, leaves, *and *oat kernals. 
Oat straw: the dried oat stalks, leaves. NO oat kernals. 
The bunnies need the oat hay. Oat hay is abrasive, it contains silicates, so it helps keep the rabbits teeth from getting too long...remember rabbits teeth are constantly growing and they need things to chew to grind down their teeth.


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## Blue eyes (Jan 28, 2016)

flemishwhite said:


> The bunnies need the oat hay. Oat hay is abrasive, it contains silicates, so it helps keep the rabbits teeth from getting too long...remember rabbits teeth are constantly growing and they need things to chew to grind down their teeth.


 

Any grass hay will wear down a bunny's teeth. It can be oat grass hay, Bermuda grass hay, orchard grass hay, timothy hay, etc. It is the chewing of hay (or grass) that causes a bunny to move its jaw in a figure 8 motion. It is this motion that grinds down the teeth.

Chewing other things like pellets, wood chews, or sticks does not grind the teeth the way hay chewing does.


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## Hollandlvr (Feb 9, 2016)

We just read online that pine shavings can cause liver failure in a bunny. I am fine using the soft Carefresh bedding for the bottom tray that the rabbit does not come in contact with. BUT, what should i put in the litter box? We had a holland die suddenly last night and we're trying to figure out what went wrong.


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## Azerane (Feb 10, 2016)

Hollandlvr said:


> We just read online that pine shavings can cause liver failure in a bunny. I am fine using the soft Carefresh bedding for the bottom tray that the rabbit does not come in contact with. BUT, what should i put in the litter box? We had a holland die suddenly last night and we're trying to figure out what went wrong.



I'm sorry for your loss. In a well ventilated cage I don't think pine shavings would cause death, at least not without any symptoms of illness leading up to it.

You can use carefresh in the litter tray, recycled paper pellets or compressed pine pellets/wood stove pellets (no accelerants)/horse stall bedding.


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