What is best to put in the bottom of a rabbit cage?

In order to provide your rabbits with the best possible habitat, you must pay attention to what you use to line the respective cage. Here, there are some materials that lend themselves very well as bedding and should therefore be used accordingly. However, you can also make many mistakes with the bedding, which sometimes result in health problems of the rabbits.

With what you should not lay out the rabbit hutch…

Again and again unsuitable materials are used to line the respective cage. These materials sometimes do not provide good protection against moisture or are even harmful to the health of the animals. In addition belong particularly:

Hay
Cat litter
Newspapers
Dry leaves

Hay, for example, should be used as food for your rabbits and not as bedding. Cat litter and newspapers, on the other hand, have the negative effect of harming animals if they were to eat this material. Dry leaves, on the other hand, do not have high absorbency when wet.
Buy the right rabbit hutch and use high quality litter.

Once you have decided that you want to buy a rabbit hutch, you should accordingly purchase the right material for the bedding right away. A good material that can be used for the rabbit cages should have the following characteristics:

Binding odors and moisture
Inhibits the development of germs
Prevents the formation of ammonia
Acts against insect proliferation

To achieve these properties, two different layers of bedding should be used in the rabbit cage. In the case of the bottom layer, it is recommended that you choose so-called softwood shavings. This material provides good moisture absorption and equally good odor suppression. As an alternative to wood shavings, peat dust can also be used if it is suitably dry and dust-free.

Straw, on the other hand, should be used for the top layer of bedding. This has several reasons, such as that straw has a high heat-insulating effect. Thus, the rabbits can build a warm nest here. Also, because of their need for fiber (roughage), the animals always eat part of the bedding. Therefore, it makes sense to use straw here, as this natural material does not turn out harmful to the rabbits. When it comes to straw, it is best to choose rye straw, wheat straw and barley straw.

Buying the right bedding for your rabbit hutch

In most pet stores as well as in hardware stores, you can easily purchase the designated bedding such as straw, wood chips or sphagnum at fair prices. You should attach great importance to the fact that the respective material turns out very dry, so that this can absorb as much moisture as possible. Thus, the floor of the stable remains dry even if you change the bedding only once a week. In addition, bedding that is too moist can cause rabbits to eat it and could die from subsequent flatulence. It is equally important to make sure that the materials are dust-free. The reason for this is the sensitive respiratory organs of the animals, which are affected by too much dust from the bedding accordingly, so that the well-being of the rabbits is diminished.

The conclusion for the correct bedding

If you buy a rabbit hutch, you must absolutely pay attention to the appropriate bedding. Thus, a healthy and above all species-appropriate design of the rabbit hutch can be maintained.