Hay for rabbits+megazorb

[vanilla-yazoo]

I am just running down my checking through my list for my bunnys, soon to be here, I am just wondering on views on this hay
JR Farm Mountain-Meadow Hay: Great Deals on Sand & Litter at zooplus (http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hay_and_bedding/hay_small_pets/48095)
I am thinking ordering the 14kg for £20 as its really cost effective, I was wondering if anyone has tried it or similar hay?
or what hay would you recomend?

I am thinking of ordering megazorb for the bunnykins, as carefresh would be rather expensive, i was thinking of back to nature, or yesterdays news, but still, it works out rather alot when for £15 you can get a bag of megazorb (2 for £20 if the site still dose it!)
would this be a good litter for them to use? I am going to try for them to be litter trained, i have 2 wilko vet beds for when they have their ops, but dont know if its worth using it all the time, as It might be awkward to clean.

I will try and get some lino offcut to put under the pens, so any misshaps are easy to clean up :D

other then the hay and bedding I have pretty much everything I can think of ticked of the list, either here now or being delivered

pens, beds, bottles, brushes, bowls,one harnis if needed at vets,bendy tunnels, wood chews, straw balls, vinyl rings to chew on, carriers, vet bed, a decent pellet food, litter trays and scoops, hay racks, clippers for claws, afalfa biscuits (treat only)..
probably more then that!!

If theres anything major I have forgotten please let me know! I am trying to have everything ready!

thank you in advance :D

[SnickersTheFirst]

I use Megazorb in the litter trays and it works fine, just stick a sheet of newspaper on the bottom. :)
As for the hay, do you not live near a farm shop? You can get a giant bale for around £4 usually, although storage could be an issue.

Can I suggest you don't get a harness? They're not needed at the vets at all and they're actually quite dangerous. It's similar to having a hamster in one really.

[vanilla-yazoo]

Thats great that megazorb works, as its soo cheep and handy! I will check the papers at work, see whats safe for them :D
I am no where near a farm shop, only a few garden centres as I am just outside london! X.X

I did find this one
Chinchilla Food : Readigrass Natural Rye Grass Feed (NO VAT) LARGE 15kg Bale : www.EquineCanineFeline.com the place to buy all your Pet Products, Horse Products and Pet Supplies online (http://www.equinecaninefeline.com/catalog/readigrass-natural-grass-feed-large-15kg-bale-p-2650.html)
I checked on some rabbit forums, and it seems pretty liked by the buns, it is higher in calcium but has been checked by some of the rabbit owners vets and they said it was completely fine for them, as it is natural grass.
I am just trying to find something in large sizes that delivers, that is good and fresh, but stores well XD I dont mind going to pet shops and buying lots of small bales but that would mean the big green place, and I dont know how trustworthy their hay is.

I had ordered the harness ages ago, I probably will never use it, but its there, hidden under my bed atm, I know they use it for the rabbit jumping, i may try with a few kitchen toll tubes and see what the rabbits make of it XD of course not forcing them, might just be for general outside toys, a few tied together with some hay in the middle to chew on too :D

[purple_x]

I would really recommend hay for pets, mine love all 3 of the hays from there.
Hay for Pets website, Price List & Ordering Page - best quality IngsHay ,Timothy & Rye Grass Hay for Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Hamsters rats and other pets (http://www.hayforpets.co.uk/products.html)
I also give them 'treat hays' from The hay experts (I buy most of my bunny stuff from THE)

Vets get annoyed with bunnies in harnesses at the vets, I've been told more than once (we have 2 vets in the family)
The harnesses get tangled up, the vet cant get to parts of the bunny properly as the harness is in the way and bunnies get so stressed in them that they're just not worth it.

[vanilla-yazoo]

ahh thank you for the link :D I shall have a look at them :D might try a few different hays see whay they like :D

I ordered the harness a few months ago, but dont really plan to use it at all, might take it to a charity shop or something, or put it on a teddy, so no one uses it, it wasnt ment for actural use, just if it ever was needed.
dont worry i wouldnt drag them around in harnesses like a dog!

Would adding something like the herbal delights into a new hay encourage them to try it? or would a really nice smelling fresh hay do that anyway?

We are getting really excited!! it wont be long so just getting the last things!!!

[Bekki2308]

I use fleece with puppy pads under for my bunny and then back to nature or megazorb in her litter tray , her hay rack is above her litter tray so she goes in there when eating so does her toilet business in there too as they eat and poo at the same time buns usually. bun she actually now goes to the tray to poo and wee even if she isnt eating :-) I just put the tray in the corner that she chose to go in most of the time

[vanilla-yazoo]

thats a good idea!! i was looking for something for flooring, I have some vet bed but that could easily get soaked, I will get some puppy pads a few days before getting them so I can set that up!
i will be using the megazorb in the litter trays :D hopefully itl do its magic like with the hams :D

I have open cat litter trays, so i was thinking putting my hay racks above there, so they would naturally go there for the hay and then do their buisness. I hope mine get that well trained like yours!

[Bekki2308]

Mine isnt even neutered so its harder to train them ... I say trian she did that bit herself she just goes in the same place even the same corner of the little box all the time

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt59/stabiloboss2/DSCN0060.jpg

This is my buns hutch her litter tray is in the bottom left section :-) just to show you how I do my fleeces

For your fleeces wash them three times without fabric conditioner as fleece has a water resistant coating on that you need to get off before liquid soaks straight through , my fleeces last the bun 2 weeks before they look tatty and the puppy pads under are always dry unless she has sprayed and missed the littler box a little bit. A cheaper option to puppy pads is huggies dry nights bed mats are they are much bigger and more absorbent but poundland puppy pads do the job fine too :-)

This picture is rubbish as it was when I was repainting the hutch ... and just putting the inside in but you can see what I do

[vanilla-yazoo]

your hutch looks awesome :D i love the blue and white!!
we was going to use my old ham hutch, but decided to go for a large pen instead, I do like the puppy pads! i work in a supermarket, by poundland so i can see if the huggys is on offer, if not get the puppy ones :D
do you find the fleeces can be washed and used again for a few times? or is it better to just do a new one?
I will be getting my boy neutered asap, but my girl will have to wait a bit longer for her op, I hope they both learn to use the toilets nicely :D

[Bekki2308]

My fleeces are actually old ones from my bed that are years old , I have cut and sewn them to fit up and over the plastic base in my hutch (home made base too!) so the weakest point that comes undone is my handsewing but the fleeces wash really easily , I wash on a 60 degree wash for an hour (I do the bunnies and guinea pigs all in one wash so I do a hot wash as the piggies are really messy) and then dry on high for 30 minutes and then they are good as new, just use a sweeping brush to get the majority of hay and fur off then throw them in the washer!

heres showing the fleece fitting the base
http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt59/stabiloboss2/DSCN0059.jpg
http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt59/stabiloboss2/DSCN0056.jpg

Tips on Alternative Beddings (Fleece, Vetbed etc.) - The Guinea Pig Forum (http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=29854)

heres a thread on another forum where guinea pig users use fleeces - piggies are really messy so the smell and mess bits are irrelevant but it might be interesting to read :-) mods sorry if posting liks to other forums isnt allowed just delete it

the plastic base in my hutch is made from correx, if your pen doesnt have a base I really recommend getting some correx and making a base

[vanilla-yazoo]

thats a really good idea!! I might have a sneaky peek see if we have some old ones :D I have a sewing mashine so i could zip something together.
It sounds like it lasts a good time for the rabbits so I will see what the oh thinks of the idea :D
it would also be easyer to wash then vet bed (i have 2x 1meter square pieces from wilko) so I may well end up doing that :D

thank you for the link! i have bookmarked it so I can check on the washing times ect :D

Thank you for your help and advice :D this is my first time having rabbits so Im still learning :D

[Bekki2308]

this bunny is my first but ive had guinea pigs a while so I just did what I do with them and it worked :-) though piggies just poo all over their fleeces and they need sweeping daily and washing weekly atleast :-)

any questions just ask x

your local fabric store should stock fleece that you can buy by the meter then you can make it fit exactly to your pen and base x