Pets love feeling safe and secure in their cage, whether they’re sleeping, resting, or feeling anxious. A pet bunny is no different than a dog or a cat, seeking comfort when it’s feeling exhausted. This is why, no matter what others say, you need the best quality bedding for your bunny.
However, this one simple word is not so easy when it comes to this pet. You may now be wondering, “what should I look for when choosing the best bedding for rabbits? Will my rabbit be comfortable?”
Fret not. We’ll tell you how to choose a rabbit’s bedding that’ll be the best one for your bunny.
Why Should Your Rabbit Need Bedding?
Rabbits usually like to sleep in the afternoon and evening. For domestic rabbits, having designated rabbit bedding isn’t necessary as long as they have soft ground to sleep on. However, you need to get bedding for rabbits due to some factors, like bathroom accidents and temperature.
It’s better if you make the bedding, as well as the litter box, inside your rabbit’s hutch, as their hutches are their safe spaces.
Is Special Bedding Necessary for Pet Rabbits?
While you may think that these delicate animals irrespective of their age and size will be comfortable with the same kind of bedding, they may actually need special bedding. In fact, there are rabbit bedding options for every type of rabbit.
Younger and older rabbits need special bedding for their tender bodies, while healthy adult rabbits can do it with just regular bedding too.
- Bedding for Baby Rabbit
We know how sensitive a baby rabbit’s internal environment is, right? Well, baby rabbits are super sensitive everywhere, even on their skin. Wherever they’re living, they need to rest on something that’s soft on their skin and doesn’t have any irritating agent on them.
For a baby rabbit up to twelve months old, using small animal bedding made from timothy hay or cellulose is the safest option. They’ll also maintain the rabbit’s body temperature when it’s asleep. Besides, a baby rabbit will soil the bedding more, and cellulose will absorb it all properly.
This also means you’ll have to change the bedding many times as the baby is growing up. Hay and cellulose, in this case, are the easiest and most affordable options you’ll find. And if you think they aren’t suiting the baby pet, then you can consult a vet to find out what will work best for your pet.
- Bedding for Adult Rabbit
Adult rabbits are very capable of making themselves cozy wherever and however they can. But that doesn’t mean your rabbit doesn’t need special bedding. It still needs to feel safe in its cage when it’s sleeping.
Of course, you should be careful with what you choose as bedding. It shouldn’t obstruct the GI tract, shouldn’t induce respiratory problems, and shouldn’t give your pet rashes or allergic reaction.
Your pet may be picky with their bedding or can be very open to trying new things. Know your rabbit’s personality before you move forward with experimenting with the materials.
- Bedding for the Old Rabbits
Imagine when an adventurous human gets old. Do they travel more or stay at home more peacefully? The same applies to your pet rabbit. When your bunny will get old, it’ll want to rest more on its bedding than be adventurous in its surroundings.
An old rabbit will always prioritize its comfort over exploring. Besides, it’ll also suffer from various diseases like arthritis, for which your pet won’t be able to move around much. It’ll suffer from a weaker immunity as well.
Bedding for older rabbits should be soft and comfortable, and you should place it in the position they prefer the most. It should also keep them warm.
Do Pet Rabbits Chew on Their Bedding?
Rabbits, whether domestic or wild, chew on anything they find. They chew to entertain themselves, explore new things, and sometimes groom themselves. And if they confuse bedding and litter boxes, it can be dangerous. This is why you need to choose the bedding material and design carefully.
The wrong material will cause blockages in your rabbit’s gastrointestinal tract. Materials that may seem harmless to you, like certain wood shavings or cloth materials, can be potentially harmful and toxic for rabbits. If your rabbits ingest any, take it to the vet immediately.
Chewing bedding now and then is okay. However, if it becomes a habit, it can be risky. Give your rabbit plush toys or any other toys made from materials that are safe for rabbits, so that they can keep on amusing themselves and stay safe at the same time.
How to Pick the Best Bedding for Rabbits?
There are opinions saying that these furry pets don’t need any bedding, not even a special one. As they’re active most of the time they’re awake, and rabbits get very tired and can fall asleep anywhere.
However, a rabbit always wants and needs to feel safe in its hutch when it’s sleeping. The perfect bedding at the perfect place can just make the safe spot for your rabbit to rest. But for that, you need to choose suitable bedding.
So, how can you pick up the best bedding for rabbits which will also be suitable for your bunny? There are some dos and don’ts you should follow. How comfortable a rabbit’s bedding also depends on the quality aspects. Let’s start with that.
(a) Qualities of a Good Rabbit Bedding
How can you understand which rabbit bedding is good for your pet?
When choosing beds for your bunny, you have to look for a few factors. These won’t just ensure a good sleep but will keep your rabbit healthy and active at the same time.
Let’s look at all these factors in more detail.
- How Comfortable It is
The first factor you should always consider is if the bedding you choose will be comfortable for your rabbit. Their bedding should be made with soft materials so that they feel less anxious if things start getting busy around them when they’re sleeping.
Although a pet bunny is always active and runs around all the time, bunnies love comfort just like a cat does. They love soft surfaces and want to spend some time resting and relaxing during the day as well just like a cat.
- How Well It Absorbs
No matter how trained rabbits are with the litter and bathroom habits, they’ll still lose it sometimes, be it in their sleep or by confusing their bedding with the litter box.
Bedding for rabbits should be absorbent enough so that, when your rabbit has a bathroom accident, the bedding soaks it up well and doesn’t feel wet. A wet-feeling bed can give your rabbit many diseases, like snuffles, pneumonia, and skin diseases.
Keep in mind that, while the best bedding material will absorb your rabbit’s excretion properly, it’ll still be there. This will build up harmful chemicals like ammonia. So, you should wash or change your rabbit’s bedding frequently, so that your bunny doesn’t fall sick.
- If It’s Flexible or Not
Rabbits love arranging and rearranging things around their hutches. No matter how good you think the placement for your rabbit bed is, it’ll still move the bedding around until it’s satisfied with the position.
Besides just moving the bedding sideways, your bunny should be able to toss and turn it around if it likes. If you put a blanket and a pillow on the bed, it should be light enough to drag around easily. Your rabbit should also be able to hide under it without feeling suffocating. And if you have a nest or toys on the bed, they should be easy to carry around.
Thus, in order to ensure that your bunny can play around with it properly, a rabbit’s bedding has to be built with lightweight material.
- If It Can Balance Temperatures
Just like any other pets like cats and dogs, a rabbit’s body temperature falls when it’s asleep. Furthermore, it can also get cold easily during winter and can heat up on summer days.
Good bedding should be able to balance hot and cold temperatures. You may need to make your bunny go through phases of an experiment before you can understand which bedding material perfectly balances the temperature. Check which material it is and how you can make it more comfortable.
- How Safe It is
Not all the things that we think are safe are actually safe for bunnies. Some can cause skin inflammations, and some can cause respiratory issues as well.
When you choose rabbit bedding for your rabbits, you should ensure that they’re free of dust and allergens. Besides, these beddings shouldn’t be made of things that are harmful to your pets. Rabbits tend to seek comfort in things that can cause more harm than good.
Your rabbits will breathe what’s on the bed and may even chew it. Therefore, you should ensure that the beddings are free of anything harmful. You can opt for safe options that are environmentally friendly. That way, if you even have to discard them, they’ll compost properly and not affect the environment.
- If the Bedding is Fun
Bunnies always love playing and experimenting with things, even with their bedding. They like to move things around, try to flip them, and see how they feel about the new positions.
Whichever bedding you choose, check if it’s light enough for your rabbit to move around and play with, or even play on it with toys. Check if you can incorporate pieces on the bedding that’ll encourage your bunny to be more active.
- It Should Be Different From the Rabbit Litter
Whichever material you choose for your rabbit’s bedding, it has to be different from the rabbit litter. Rabbits tend to confuse their bedding and their litter.
The materials of the bedding should be different in an identifiable way so that it doesn’t get confused about where to sleep and where to excrete. Since rabbits sometimes like to chew on or eat their bedding, confusion between the litter box and bedding can happen, which you want to avoid.
(b) Things That Make the Best Rabbit Bedding
As alluded to in previous sections, not everything that you think is harmless to you will suits rabbits. There are some substances rabbits are generally allergic to, and other particles that can enter their body through their nose, eyes, ears, or mouth, and cause fatal issues.
When choosing the best rabbit bedding for your bunny, you have to be mindful of the materials you’re choosing. Keep in mind that your rabbit will now just be sleeping on them, but will play with them and chew on them too.
Here’s a list of materials that are safe as bedding for rabbits. You can experiment around with these and find out which one your rabbits like the most.
- Cellulose Bedding
Cellulose is one of the best materials for rabbit bedding as it’s readily available and doesn’t cost much. It’s safe for rabbits of all ages and sizes. Besides, it’s super absorbent, which means you don’t need to change it too frequently.
Cellulose also makes the best bedding when it comes to maintaining your rabbit’s body temperature when it’s asleep. It’s also light enough for your pet to move around and play with it.
- Hay Bedding
Another safe option for your bunny is bedding made from hay. Since rabbits tend to chew on whatever they find, even their bedding, hay makes it the perfect choice. They can chew on it without fearing a bowel obstruction.
The timothy variety, which is a type of hay made from grass, is the best material for baby bunnies, as these are very soft on their skin. Even if they chew on this grass hay, they can digest it easily.
However, keep one thing in mind, hay isn’t as absorbent as other materials, so you’ll have to change their bedding very frequently. This can be an advantage since you won’t make their litter bed from hay or grass due to their low absorbency. Therefore, there will be fewer chances of an adult and old bunny mistaking their bedding for their litter box and accidentally soiling the bedding.
- Paper Bedding
The plain paper also makes for outstanding bedding material for your tender pets. Even if your bunny chews on the paper bedding or eats it accidentally, you don’t have to worry about potential poisoning from the ink that’s on papers like a newspaper.
There are various types of paper bedding you can choose from. You can tear up paper pieces, or pass a bunch of paper through the shredder and make a shredded paper bed. This is a very pocket-friendly option ad almost every household has unused paper lying around.
You can also make your rabbit bedding from other paper products. Try using paper pellets, compressed paper, or paper pulp. They’re litter friendly as well, as the paper has great absorbency.
You may need to change paper bedding frequently as these aren’t great for odor control. So choose your paper option wisely, so that you won’t have to spend too much on changing them.
- Towels
Although a risky option, towels can make for a very cozy and absorbent rabbit bedding. You should avoid any fabric material in general when it comes to bunnies as they chew on whatever they find. However, if you have old towels, you can trim off the threads.
You have to, however, monitor your pet so that it doesn’t chew on this bedding. This also requires a lot of washing if your pet soils it repeatedly. For these reasons and the risk factors, any type of towel is not much preferred.
You can use soft blankets for your pet though, as long as they’re safe enough to make good bedding.
- Aspen Shavings
Generally, we don’t prefer any type of wood shavings for these furry babies, as they have dust on them which can cause respiratory issues. However, aspen shavings are one of the safest options and also make the best bedding.
They are non-toxic, dust-free, super soft, and very absorbent. They can be expensive though. As a result, changing them frequently may not be easy for you.
- Bedding Pellets
As long as these aren’t of pine and cedar and are different from the litter box, bedding pellets are excellent to make a good rabbit bedding. Whether it’s from wood, paper, hemp, straw, or hay, bedding pellets make for greatly absorbent bedding.
Rabbit Bedding Products That Should You Avoid
There are certain rabbit bedding products that you should avoid at all costs, no matter how soft and absorbent they are. Why do you need to do so? Let’s dive into it.
- Straw Bedding
Although people compare straws with hay and think that one can replace the other, that’s often not the case. Straw is much thicker and coarser than hay, which is why these furry pets can’t digest them much.
Straw also accumulates more dust than hay does, which isn’t safe for their skin, fur, and lungs.
- Wood Shavings of Pine and Cedar
Not just wood shavings but anything made of pine and cedar is harmful to these delicate pets. Although they’re highly absorbent, these woods contain phenols and other volatile chemicals that can harm your pet from the inside.
However, there’s a debate about it. Dried shavings or pellets with high heat supposedly remove these volatile chemicals. This means that high-quality pine or cedar shavings should be fine.
- Newspaper
Yes, they’re paper. However, the newspaper contains various types of ink. Since your bunny will be chewing on its bedding, the ink will enter its body, which is very toxic for these creatures.
- Cardboard
This can be a little controversial, but cardboard isn’t that safe for these furry creatures. Yes, you can make a corner for it, and possibly lay some safe materials on a cardboard box in the hutch. Other than that, cardboard can be harmful as it can cause GI obstruction.
- Cat Litter
Cat litter is just another animal litter. It’s supposed to be safe for rabbits when you use them for bedding, right? Well, not all cat litters are suitable for them. Cat litter made from wood and paper is safe for them. However, the rest are harmful.
Clay litters have a lot of dust and are basically earth matter, which is harmful to their lungs. If by any chance, your pet eats these, they’ll cause GI problems. Crystal litters are poisonous and can cause digestive issues.
Odor control litters have chemicals in them that can harm your pet’s skin, and can damage the lungs as well. Clumping litter sounds concerning itself. These can cause intestinal blockages in your pet if it eats them accidentally, which can be fatal.
- Sawdust
The most harmful in this list is sawdust. This, as the name suggests, is just plain dust from various wood shavings. These can cause respiratory damage.
Sawdust from certain plants carries poisonous compounds, which can be fatal for your pet. Besides, if these get in your rabbit’s eyes, they can cause great damage to its eyesight.
Can You Make Rabbit Bedding by Yourself?
You absolutely can! And the good news is, you don’t even have to break the bank for it! You may have most of these materials lying around your house.
Take a cardboard box and cut it according to the way you plan on placing it in the hutch. Then, lay the bedding material in the cardboard box. It can be shredded paper, hay, cellulose, whichever you have near you now. The paper would be the best option in this case, honestly.
Place it in the spot perfect for your pet. They won’t just see you making something for them with love, but will also find great comfort in what you made for them. Besides, you don’t even have to wash them regularly!
Conclusion
Whatever negative opinions people give about rabbit bedding, know that it’s perfectly fine for them. Your pet needs to feel safe and find comfort in the place where it sleeps and rests. Therefore, bedding in its hutch is the perfect addition.
We hope that this article has helped you to make or choose the best bedding for your pet.