Deciding on what to use on the floor on a rabbit house will depend on several factors. Whereas some people would want to go for easy to clean rabbit hutch with a mesh on their bottom side, some do not consider it wise. Therefore, which flooring is ideal?
Contents
Solid or rabbit cage wire floor
There are two main types of floorings. The solid floor and wire, both of which have their own pros and cons. Let us look at each in detail.
Grid or wire cage covering
This type of flooring can either be done using the chicken or grid wire mesh. To help trap droppings, urine and food debris, it has mainly a plastic pan beneath it filled with odor-controlling bunny litter.
This flooring is easier and quicker to clean. You only need to have a litter tray beneath it and once it is soiled, you remove, clean it. Afterward, you will fill it with fresh litter and return it back.
Go for good replacement plastic tray for rabbit hutch such as Replacement Pan for 42" Long MidWest Dog Crate by MidWest Homes for Pet.
On the downside, it is not comfortable since the bunnies’ feet must be on the wire throughout. This puts pressure on their feet, it may be painful and might increase the risks of sore hocks.
Larger rabbits such as the Giant Flemish and Giant Angoras or obese ones are at a higher risk of developing painful paws due to prolonged time spent on the wire hutches.
Solid (metal, plastic or wire)
The second type is more comfortable for your bunnies and the recommended one. They can be paved or concrete plexiglass, made of plywood, plywood covered with ceramic tiles, plastics, and so on. Most of them will also be ideal for a rabbit shed.
Unfortunately, cleaning this type of flooring is not easy since you must find a place to take your bunnies to as cleaning it. Also, scooping it in case the urine and feces become clumpy is cumbersome.
Cleaning will entail disposing of the litter if it was temporary and putting a new one or scooping it.
To reduce the effort of cleaning it, some people opt to litter train their bunnies which will make cleaning much easier. This is a good approach if you have a larger hutch to accommodate the littering boxes.
What to put in the bottom of the rabbit cage
Having seen the type of floor that you cage might have, it is time to look at what you can put on it to act as a rabbit hutch floor protector. This will help make your cages more comfortable and easier to clean.
Some of the common materials you can cover the bottom of your hutch with include:
Rabbit cage bedding
The first option is to line the whole hutch with bedding such as straw, hay, hardwood shavings, newspaper, among others which are commonly used to line areas where your bunny sleeps.
Your choice should be influenced by safety and whether your rabbit cage floor has a grid, or it is solid as a few other qualities such as being able to control odor, absorbent, and so on.
See some of the best bunny bedding alternatives. The post will also answer what should rabbits sleep on.
Lino
The second option you can go for is the use of linoleum. It will work well with a solid floor being waterproof. Furthermore, it will also make cleaning much easier.
Rabbit cage floor mats
As we mentioned, grids or wire on the bottom of your hutch might not be comfortable. However, you can go for the various mats available to make them more comfortable. Some of these mats include
- Plastic mats such as EDEN FARMS Mat for a bunny rabbit cage, Make a wire-floored cage comfortable.
- Grass mats for bunnies such as Peter's Woven Grass Mat
- Rubber mats for rabbit cages such as smabee Anti-Fatigue Non-Slip Rubber Floor Mat Heavy Duty Mats or
MiracleCorp Bulldog Rubber Mat that comes in different sizes and is multipurpose. - Others such as Prevue Pet Products Playpen Cover/Mat will also be helpful.
When choosing a mat, consider how easy it is to clean, unless your bunnies have perfected the art of using their litter trays. Some of these mats can also be used for solid hutch bottom surfaces.
Rabbit run flooring
Finally, both the flooring for outdoor rabbit run or indoor one can be made of concrete, paved, plywood, or tiles among other materials.
In addition, outdoor runs can just sit on the grass to give bunnies a chance to graze. However, ensure there is a mesh wire beneath to avoid predator or bunny tunneling.
Safety
To help decorate your hutch flooring use rabbit safe paints, mats, plastics, and other products we have mentioned. This to reduce any risk since your bunnies will tend to chew them and they may make them ill.
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