After reading several bunny blogs I noticed that lots of bunny people give their bunnies a nice box of hay, big enough for them to hop into and lay in. I thought this is something I should do for Clovis; it would make the hay very accessible to him and maybe he would eat more of it. So I bought a plastic container and filled it up and put it in the corner of his room where he potties when he's in one of his moods. (That's another story. I love Nature's Miracle by the way.) Clovis gets something new and different, I protect the carpet in that corner. A win/win situation.
I'm all excited to see him jump in and chow down but after a few days I notice poop and, doggone that little twerp, it has become a litter box! I should have known better. But am I going to take it away? No, because he likes it.
So now every night I am cleaning two litter boxes. The one in his cage that he uses just enough to require a cleaning, and his hay box. And tell me, why must he run to this corner to go potty when I am cleaning the hay box? Can he not wait until I am finished?
I am such a slave to this animal...
12 comments:
It looks like a very cool box. Clovie is such a smart boy, he is marking it as his. What a good bunny slave you are :)
Bunnies are multi-taskers; stuff going in one end while coming out the other comes naturally to them. Sometimes, they will even take a nap in there as well. I've found that the hay is surprisingly good at absorbing pee odors, better even than some litters.
The solution to the "pee in the corner" issue is to get a second haybox as a spare; on box-cleaning day, you fill the clean box with hay, put it in the corner and take the dirty box off to be cleaned. The cleaned box then becomes the spare until the next time, and so on.
Jade, you are so clever! What I've been doing is cleaning the litter box in his cage first then putting it in the corner spot while I clean the hay box. It works out okay. Never thought I'd have to outsmart a rabbit.
He is such a clever rabbit... (I'm sure they are all laughing at their human slaves behind our backs!)
I just had the same realization! I remodeled the buns' sun/bun room this weekend and, since they had more room, added a second box with just hay ... no paper towel liner, no shredded paper for absorbing liquid ... just hay. Same thing ... pee and poo. Now, when I put cardboard boxes in their houses and cut holes in them and stuffed some hay in ... they didn't pee in those. Weird. I'm sure they think I'm weird ... oh, well ... so do my furless kids ...
Clovie Boy is an amazing bunny! So handsome!
Oh, it's such a treat to meet Clovis!
I would adore a rabbit hopping round my house, but Edward would no doubt disapprove. So I will visit here often, I know!
You know, I don't have many followers and probably not many visitors either but this is the most comments I've ever gotten. And just like the rest of you, I love it when I get them. So thanks! Hope you come back!
I find it interesting, though, that the one subject that got the most attention thus far was poo...
I did the same thing. Used one box for litterbox, one for hay, thought the buns would LIKE to keep their hay clean. Nope. Two litterboxes for over a year now. It's not really a bad thing. Ive been thinking about getting the Screwy rabbit hay feeder, tohugh.
Hello,
we use the litter box/hay feeder too and yes, our bunns (two Netherland dwarfs) pee and poop in them while eating. It's seems odd but it's very natural to the bunny to "go" where he eats. I use those sifting cat litter pans- with layers of newspaper in between. It doesn't help the poo, but it eliminates the wet hay and yellow feet. we change the paper daily. Have you been to Bunspace.com yet? ( http://www.bunspace.com/ )It's got loads of info and a great forum. You can get just about any question about your rabbit answered there and there's lots of great pictures and photo contests!
By the way~ I love your artwork! I found you on Etsy first. Keep up the great work!
Lil
I see your blog on many other bunny forums and blogs, so I suspect your following will increase. Clovie Boy is a very strikingly handsome bun! Poo does get us bunny people going, doesn't it??? hahaha! I have wire hay holders on the way right next to the litter boxes, so the buns can either eat the hay in the litter box or clean hay, hanging right next to them. They usually choose the litter box hay ... crazy bunz!
Thank you everyone, for your comments!
I have a hay manger in Clovis' cage next to his litter box so he can eat and potty at the same time. I knew rabbits would do that. But, I assumed he would return to his litter box in his cage if he had to potty rather than mess up his new box of fresh, clean hay...
I only use one litter box, the bunnies poop/pee at one end and eat they hay from the other -- often at the same time. :) I line the bottom of the litter box with newspaper and stuff full of hay. We have multiple buns, so I always clean it daily. And, since we have horses, we always have plenty of hay. It has worked well for us. AND, the bunnies get their much needed roughage daily.
Clovis is so darn cute!
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