# An old towel instead of bedding



## bunnybear23 (Jul 20, 2006)

Hey guys I was just wondering if you could somehow use an old towel instead of bedding? I know I know thats a stupid question. But it seems like it would'nt hurt because you could wash it when needed. Bedding is just so messy and when it gets wet it smells really bad. I know that a towel probably will to but at least I could wash it instead of dumping bedding in my neighbors field they dont like it and my hubby dont like it in the yard. I could always put it in the garbage.......But I just thought I would ask, questions never hurt.

God bless


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## MyBabyBunnies (Jul 20, 2006)

Some rabbits tend to eat towels and ingesting the fibers could be dangerous and even fatal if it creates a blockage. Not to mention a soiled towel is even worse, and they don't absord as well as mostlitters. You would have to wash the towel daily which gets to be a pain. And actually, the litter isn't what stinks, it's the pee and litter helps mask that odor so it would probably we worse with a towel.

I'd recommend finding another little like Woody Pet which is supposed to be great for odor especially since litter is a lot less work than a towel would me.


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## canela_2004 (Jul 20, 2006)

Is your rabbit litter trained? What are you using as litter? I honestly wouldnt use an old towel, that will stink faster than almost any other bedding would. Rabbit urine is really strong smelling.


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## bunnybear23 (Jul 20, 2006)

Ok thanks alot guys he is not litter box trained I would'nt even know where to start, What kind of litter can you use? I just dont like to come in and see him sitting in the stuff.


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## canela_2004 (Jul 20, 2006)

The good thing about litter training him is that he wouldnt be sitting in wet litter. He would pee/poop in the box and then have the rest of the clean cage to lay/play in. 

You can use Yesterday's News unscented cat litter, Feline Pine, Woody Pet, or any other rabbit safe litter. I am currently switching over to a wood pellet litter (like Feline Pine or Woody Pet) becuase Yesterday's News was getting costly as they only had the small sacks of unscented here at petsmart. 

Buy a litter box large enough for your bunny and put litter about 1 in. deep and hay at one end. Put it in the corner of the cage the bunny pees in the most. YOu can put a little scoop of wet litter in there to help him associate the box with going potty and hopefully in a few days, he will go reliably in the box. 

I cant really give more detailed instructions because my rabbit opretty much trained herself once she realized what the box was for.

I hope this helps!:bunnydance:


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## Spring (Jul 20, 2006)

A towel will get very stinky very quickly- probably faster then any litter. Just go and buy a litter box (If you can find a one made for rabbits- great, but a small cat one will work just fine). Put it whereyour rabbit goes to the bathroom and he'll probably just start using it himself. Poop outside the litterbox is normal, you can pick that up easy anyways. If he pees outside the litterbox, soak as much up with a paper towel and put the paper towel in the literbox. He'll soon catch on.

Once he's littertrained, you can use a towel for the REST of the cage as bedding, then it will cut the cost down on litter.


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## jordiwes (Jul 21, 2006)

I must say, I do use towels as my litter box!

I use two towels on top of each other to soak up the pee and I change them every day. There is also a fairly large area so that they can go in various places.

Here's a pic, the inner part is their cage, the outer part is theirlitter area:


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## Bassetluv (Jul 21, 2006)

For my bunnies (in their indoor cages) I use a combo...a corner litter box and towels on the floor of the cage. What I find works really well for Raph (as he can get very dirty/stinky when he sprays urine...he winds up lying in it) is those baby changing blankets with the lining. I do have to change the towels daily, but have enough on hand so a wash is only done once a week or so, when they have accumulated to run a full load. I find it to be a relatively easysetup...though aswas pointed out, some rabbits will chew, so you have to be mindful of this if considering using towels in the cage.


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## JimD (Jul 21, 2006)

*Bassetluv wrote: *


> For my bunnies (in their indoor cages) I use a combo...a corner litter box and towels on the floor of the cage. What I find works really well for Raph (as he can get very dirty/stinky when he sprays urine...he winds up lying in it) is those baby changing blankets with the lining. I do have to change the towels daily, but have enough on hand so a wash is only done once a week or so, when they have accumulated to run a full load. I find it to be a relatively easysetup...though aswas pointed out, some rabbits will chew, so you have to be mindful of this if considering using towels in the cage.


 :yeahthat...or very similar.

My bunnies are all litter trained and I give them blankies. I buy baby blankets at the dollar store and then cut them up into appropriate sizes. Some buns want only one, some want two, and Tootsie wants the whole 9 yards.
I wash Tootsie's whenever neened and just toss the smaller ones...they're so cheap.
Luckily not of the bunnies eat the blankies...chew them, groom them, pat them, fight with them, but never eaten them.


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## naturestee (Jul 21, 2006)

One of my pairs-o-bunnies has several flour sack towels (the kind for drying dishes) layered on top of each other and laid flat in a corner. They sometimes bite holes in them when the rearrange them, but they don't eat them like they do normal towels. They're litterbox trained, and I'm putting another vote in for wood pellets being the best litter ever!

Anyway, many rabbits do chew on towels so they shouldn't have them in their cages. But you can use untreated straw mats. You can't clean them but they are nice for the buns to sleep on, they're safe, and they're fun to dig and chew. I use dragongrass doormats from Pier 1. You can also get safe straw mats from some of the online bunny toy stores. You have to be careful with mats bought from human stores because sometimes they're treated and sometimes they have cotton strings in them. Only use 100% untreated straw/grass mats.


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## MyBabyBunnies (Jul 21, 2006)

Is it just all my rabbits then?! They are all horrible for eating clothes, carpet, towels, even plastic containers. Spice will eat half a hand towel is 2 hours and when he was a baby, he devoured an entireplastic dish. Even Mocha and Zoey eat towels.


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## naturestee (Jul 21, 2006)

It's not just you. Mocha and Loki would love to have towels... so they can eat them! Fey and Sprite also eat normal bath towels, but they're okay with the flat flour sack types. I have my share of bunny-eaten clothes, too.


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## JimD (Jul 21, 2006)

I still have the first blankie that we gave to MooShu (it's hanging on the fridge). It looks like a piece of Swiss cheese. When I found it I panicked :shock:thinking she had ingested the pieces....then I spotted them in the drop pan of her cage. 
Not hungry...just artistic


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## Jess_sully (Jul 21, 2006)

Our mini lop Theodore always had a towel lining his cage, but he had a litterbox and used it well. He never tried to chew it, though...


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## aeposten (Jul 21, 2006)

I've been using CareFresh for Oswald. I like it because it obsorbs the odors so well, but it is quite pricey. Do those of you who use Woody Pet or Yesterday's News find that it keeps the odor under control? Oswald's cage and litter box are in our bedroom, and I would hate for it to smell in here!

-Amy


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## naturestee (Jul 21, 2006)

I used to use Carefresh, and Woody Pet type litters are way better! More absorbent and less odor.


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## Jess_sully (Jul 21, 2006)

My bunny cages are always in my bedroom, so I had the same concern with Woody Pet. From what I've heard from everyone around here, Woody Pet is far superior at odor control/absorbtion than most other litters. I'll be using it for my new bunny


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