# What is the best safest rabbit litter?



## BinkyLouie (Jun 10, 2021)

Hi, guys so I haven’t been able to buy the litter I usually buy for Louie so I’m gonna need to buy a new brand.. any brands I should use? I saw the carefresh is good and some other brand. Apparently paper based litter is good? Thing is I just don’t want my rabbit ingesting it.. HES a trouble maker so can someone let me know what’s best for him!


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## John Wick (Jun 10, 2021)

What is the litter you usually buy?

I personally use the tractor supply pine pellet stall bedding as litter.
I put a sheet of plastic knitting mesh on top of it so it's a more pleasant surface to stand on and to keep things clean.

Also, again personally, I have observed paper-based litters to be far less absorbent. That's not a problem for everyone, but when I got my second rabbit, just one of her pees would saturate so much of the litter, very unlike my other rabbit.


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 10, 2021)

John Wick said:


> What is the litter you usually buy?
> 
> I personally use the tractor supply pine pellet stall bedding as litter.
> I put a sheet of plastic knitting mesh on top of it so it's a more pleasant surface to stand on and to keep things clean.
> ...


I see. Do you know what other type of pine litter is safe then? I think I’ve heard of that brand BUT I need this litter for tomorrow and I think I’ve seen it takes a while for it to get here so I need one that’s safe and good enough for odor control and that’s gonna absorb the pee.. I found these which are somewhat a good price cus my parents are kind of iffy when spending a lot of money on my bun. Are these any good? Or do you have Any other thoughts? Also I would buy the clay pearls I think they were and he wouldn’t ingest them so that’s why I would buy it. Only bought it because it was like 8 pounds for like 8 dollars so I basically wasted about 20 dollars per month on his litter.


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## Blue eyes (Jun 10, 2021)

If you want what is the best at odor absorbing and the cheapest, then get the wood pellets (pine or hardwood). [ These are same as what @John Wick mentioned] These can be any brand and are sold as wood stove pellets or as horse stall bedding. You can typically get a 40lb bag for about $7. I top mine with hay.

Carefresh is ok to use but I find it makes a mess, sticks to bun fur and get tracked everywhere.









Litter Training


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Wood pellets can be found (usually) at Tractor Supply, Cal-Ranch, Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowes, feed stores.


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 10, 2021)

Blue eyes said:


> If you want what is the best at odor absorbing and the cheapest, then get the wood pellets (pine or hardwood). [ These are same as what @John Wick mentioned] These can be any brand and are sold as wood stove pellets or as horse stall bedding. You can typically get a 40lb bag for about $7. I top mine with hay.
> 
> Carefresh is ok to use but I find it makes a mess, sticks to bun fur and get tracked everywhere.
> 
> ...


Okay. You think I have find something on petco? Or Amazon? I just search up pine pellets?


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 10, 2021)

Update I saw on another bunny blog where apparently equine pine pellets work really well. When I search it up this comes up:
I’m not sure if that’s safe for them but my guess would be no... I’m gonna check on Home Depot right now.


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 10, 2021)

BinkyLouie said:


> Update I saw on another bunny blog where apparently equine pine pellets work really well. When I search it up this comes up:
> I’m not sure if that’s safe for them but my guess would be no... I’m gonna check on Home Depot right now.


Nearest tractor supply to me is an hour oh my gosh.. I’m gonna check Amazon


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 11, 2021)

Okay so what I came back to is this.. People said I should get equine pine pellets and to make sure they were kiln something. I forgot what it was but it said something about that. In conclusion, are these safe for him? I need it by tmr so if you guys could answer I would appreciate


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## peanutdabunny (Jun 11, 2021)

You can ship tractor supply to your house


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## Apollo’s Slave (Jun 11, 2021)

that cat litter looks fine


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## Nancy McClelland (Jun 11, 2021)

We have been using Petspick kiln dried pine from Walmart for over a decade--they also will deliver--got 2 at our door yesterday.


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## John Wick (Jun 11, 2021)

BinkyLouie said:


> Update I saw on another bunny blog where apparently equine pine pellets work really well. When I search it up this comes up:
> I’m not sure if that’s safe for them but my guess would be no... I’m gonna check on Home Depot right now.


Equine pine pellets is likely referring to the same pine pellet stall bedding I mentioned, FYI! People can call it different things. Equine is horse-related, and the "stall" bedding refers to being used in horse stalls.


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 11, 2021)

John Wick said:


> Equine pine pellets is likely referring to the same pine pellet stall bedding I mentioned, FYI! People can call it different things. Equine is horse-related, and the "stall" bedding refers to being used in horse stalls.


I figured. I think I’ll be getting the cat litter I mentioned. It’s 40lbs and that’ll do us a big favor.


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 11, 2021)

Apollo’s Slave said:


> that cat litter looks fine


I think I’ll get this then but I’m just gonna stuck some pics of what the litter has like the description. I wanna make sure this is okay and safe for him since I can’t get the tractor supply one. I’ll get it next time if possible because it’s 26-30 dollars for delivery when the tractor supply pellets are 6 bucks


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## Blue eyes (Jun 11, 2021)

That litter is fine... just much more expensive because it is packaged for pet stores.

It IS the same as what we are talking about... horse stall bedding, woodstove pellets, equine pine.... all the same stuff.

As I said earlier, wood pellets can be found (usually) at Tractor Supply, Cal-Ranch, Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowes, feed stores. Surely there is something nearby where you live. If you get it from a local store, it's usually around $7 for a 40 pound bag (as opposed to the $30 for the same thing packaged as "FelinePine"). (avoid the kind with baking soda)


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## Blue eyes (Jun 11, 2021)

(By the way, when you were discussing "kiln" -- that's referring to kiln-dried pine which is only relevant to pine _shavings_. Pine shavings emit harmful fumes (phenols)--- unless it is kiln-dried. This doesn't apply to pellets because the process used to make the pellets removes those phenols.)


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 11, 2021)

Blue eyes said:


> That litter is fine... just much more expensive because it is packaged for pet stores.
> 
> It IS the same as what we are talking about... horse stall bedding, woodstove pellets, equine pine.... all the same stuff.
> 
> As I said earlier, wood pellets can be found (usually) at Tractor Supply, Cal-Ranch, Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowes, feed stores. Surely there is something nearby where you live. If you get it from a local store, it's usually around $7 for a 40 pound bag (as opposed to the $30 for the same thing packaged as "FelinePine"). (avoid the kind with baking soda)


I’m just making sure. Just wanting to make things safe for my rabbit. That’s all. I’m just gonna buy this one because it’s the closest to us.. besides 15 bucks for 40 pounds isn’t bad. Yes it’s more expensive but it also matters about how far it is. Thank you all


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 11, 2021)

I got the litter and I didn’t have to put a lot which is good but my concern is will my rabbit eat this? He was eating hay right now and he saw a pine pellet sticking out and he was trying to bite it/pick it up. Should I let him or keep watch on him. I’m concerned for when I put him away in his cage.. Should I be concerned or is this fine. The pine pellets are 100% natural pine and it says it doesn’t use any chemicals or anything else to enhance odor control.


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## ArtistChibi (Jun 11, 2021)

BinkyLouie said:


> I got the litter and I didn’t have to put a lot which is good but my concern is will my rabbit eat this? He was eating hay right now and he saw a pine pellet sticking out and he was trying to bite it/pick it up. Should I let him or keep watch on him. I’m concerned for when I put him away in his cage.. Should I be concerned or is this fine. The pine pellets are 100% natural pine and it says it doesn’t use any chemicals or anything else to enhance odor control.


Is the hay covering the litter? That's how I do it for their litter box. Just have a scoop at one end and the hay covering it over to the brim. They don't eat it, and it absorbs the urine pretty well. I use Small Pet Select kiln dried pine pellets for litter, but that's a personal preference. There's also Yesterday's News paper pellet cat litter, too.


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 11, 2021)

ArtistChibi said:


> Is the hay covering the litter? That's how I do it for their litter box. Just have a scoop at one end and the hay covering it over to the brim. They don't eat it, and it absorbs the urine pretty well. I use Small Pet Select kiln dried pine pellets for litter, but that's a personal preference. There's also Yesterday's News paper pellet cat litter, too.


Yes, it’s covering it but he likes to dig for some reason lol my guess would be to find better strands or something. He’s able to reach the pellets on the bottom. I didn’t put a lot just enough for it to cover the bottom. Then I put the hay on top. Looks like this.


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## ArtistChibi (Jun 11, 2021)

BinkyLouie said:


> Yes, it’s covering it but he likes to dig for some reason lol my guess would be to find better strands or something. He’s able to reach the pellets on the bottom. I didn’t put a lot just enough for it to cover the bottom. Then I put the hay on top. Looks like this.


He probably doesn't realize the pellets are there and when he did notice, he probably wanted to move it out of his box. >.> You'd be amazed how often these little goof balls will pick up pieces of hay and toss them out the box as well.


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## BinkyLouie (Jun 11, 2021)

ArtistChibi said:


> He probably doesn't realize the pellets are there and when he did notice, he probably wanted to move it out of his box. >.> You'd be amazed how often these little goof balls will pick up pieces of hay and toss them out the box as well.


Mine does that too!


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## JBun (Jun 12, 2021)

If he nibbles on the pellets a little, it shouldn't cause any problems, unless he tries eating them to excess. Rabbits in nature, chew on and eat safe branches and wood all of the time. In fact my rabbits love devouring apple and willow branches. Your rabbit may try the wood pellets out just to see what they are, then realize they aren't food or that tasty, and leave them alone after that.


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## Momma Luvbun (Jun 12, 2021)

I use this stuff, Talon ABM and put hay over it so the buns dont get poked in their little feet.


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## Blue eyes (Jun 12, 2021)

Momma Luvbun said:


> I use this stuff, Talon ABM and put hay over it so the buns dont get poked in their little feet.


Yup! Those are the same wood pellets we're talking about. Many different brands available depending on where one lives.


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## Blue eyes (Jun 12, 2021)




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## Nancy McClelland (Jun 12, 2021)

Kiln drying removes the phenols from pine and makes it safe--Cedar on the other hand is quite deadly no matter how it's treated--don't use Cedar!


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## Catlyn (Jun 13, 2021)

JBun said:


> If he nibbles on the pellets a little, it shouldn't cause any problems, unless he tries eating them to excess. Your rabbit may try the wood pellets out just to see what they are, then realize they aren't food or that tasty, and leave them alone after that.


That is so true! When we swapped over to straw-based pellets, Storm ate one and then decided that the others weren't edible. Not only does he try out any questionably edible item, he will try to taste definetly inedible items too. When i got him ceramic tiles, he gnawed at their edges a few times, confirming them to be a cold, hard, inedible material.


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## TreasuredFriend (Jun 27, 2021)

@Catlyn - quick side note on trying out questionable items. Ahhh, nibbling items you should not. Our FG boy got into trouble with a Petromalt tube. I didn't think he could reach it on the shelf after he jumped on top another.

Sidenote wrt eating hay as show in Blue eyes visual. Our vet told me about force-feeding single or multi-strands of hay into the side-opening of a rabbit's teeth. This has helped on many occasions and to keep GI functioning well and seeing those happy, plentiful brown marbles.


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## Flipgirl24 (Aug 8, 2021)

I thought pine was a no-no due to the scent? Just from what I have read, I am no where near knowledgeable.


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## odyssey~ (Aug 9, 2021)

Flipgirl24 said:


> I thought pine was a no-no due to the scent? Just from what I have read, I am no where near knowledgeable.


pine pellets are okay but shavings aren't, unles they are kiln dried. pine pellets are actually perfectly fine for bunnies as they are compressed pine. the main reason why pine shaving is bad is because it releases certain scents (phenols) which can harm a rabbit's respiratory system. pine shavings have a lot more surface area than pine pellets meaning that they give off more phenols, but pine pellets are fine since they have less surface area than pine shavings. also most pine pellets are kiln made so this rids of most of the phenols. hope this helped you learn a bit more!


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## Flipgirl24 (Aug 9, 2021)

odyssey~ said:


> pine pellets are okay but shavings aren't, unles they are kiln dried. pine pellets are actually perfectly fine for bunnies as they are compressed pine. the main reason why pine shaving is bad is because it releases certain scents (phenols) which can harm a rabbit's respiratory system. pine shavings have a lot more surface area than pine pellets meaning that they give off more phenols, but pine pellets are fine since they have less surface area than pine shavings. also most pine pellets are kiln made so this rids of most of the phenols. hope this helped you learn a bit more!



Thank you so much for the detailed information! Good to know!


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