How To Keep Hay From Getting Everywhere

When rabbits are in the wild, they naturally live in underground burrows. These underground burrows are holes that are dug into the ground, twisting and turning until they gradually open up into a small chamber that is the rabbit’s bed.

So, when a rabbit is digging around at its hay bedding, they’re trying to make their bedding either comfier or trying to change the size of their bedding area.

Are There Better Alternatives To Hay?

Some rabbit owners don’t actually have a bed for their pet rabbits. Instead, they prefer to line the rabbit’s living area with something that’s absorbent and that can easily be cleaned.

Some of these cleaner methods include:

• Newspaper
• Cardboard
• Carpet
• Rugs
• Towels
• Blankets
• Sheets
• Bath Mats

While using any of the methods above is fine, your rabbit is still going to need some kind of burrow to hide in sometimes. This can be as simple as using a cardboard box with a hole cut in it, or as fancy as the burrow described below.

Using Flannel Sheets For Bedding
There are quite a few rabbit owners that swear by using flannel bedding for their rabbit.

The biggest benefit of using flannel bedding is that flannel sheets are very absorbent as well as being warm and cosy. Although the downside is that you are going to have to clean those sheets regularly.

Of course, this will mean that you’ll need to take the soiled sheet outside and shake out the rabbit’s pebbles, then throw the whole thing in your washing machine.

Using Fleece Blankets For Bedding
Similar to using flannel sheets, however, fleece blankets are even more soft and comfy, although they tend to be harder to clean.

In short, bringing rabbits into your home means you’ll always be fighting a losing battle with hay to some degree. Hay has an unhelpful ability to multiply like rabbits. It starts with a few strands, then gradually getting on the carpet. Eventually, a little clings on your shoe here, some hiding in your coat pocket there. Welcome to living with rabbits! Although for many it’s worth it!

Acceptance

​Hay is to rabbits what gasoline is to cars. ​The thing is that rabbits absolutely need high-fiber grass hay in order to keep their gut healthy and teeth worn down. Hay is their food – at least 80% of their diet and of course it’s also a source of fun and play. It’s simply essential for maintaining a healthy and happy rabbit. If you’re planning on adopting rabbits, then you should plan on hay making its presence known at home, too.

​You may already know that a rabbit needs to eat hay throughout the day, not in small meals like we do. A rabbit should always have a nice pile, about the size of its body, that’s available for munching at all times. It’s perfectly normal for a rabbit to play with their food, too. You can help to encourage a rabbit’s hay consumption by offering some stuffed toys and chews, sprinkling in some tasty herbs, or switching up the type or cut of hay every so often. Remember that rabbits need variety! 

You’ve probably noticed that your rabbit tends to redecorate their pen as soon as it’s freshly cleaned and nicely arranged. Again, the same goes for a nicely contained offering of fresh hay. Of course, your rabbit isn’t trying to hurt your feelings. What may look like a mess to us looks nothing more than a home to them.

If you’ve got a house rabbit, you can always offer hay in a “pet store cage” or similar tray for easy access. Your rabbit would then be free to visit this spot as they come and go throughout the day. If you’ve got the space, offering multiple areas where hay is available helps rabbits eat as much as they should.

​Another option is to use hay managers when possible, which can cut down on the mess. These items work well over a litter box. ​A rabbit is more likely to eat hay when the hay manger is nearby and easily accessible.

​Regardless of the method you chose, a little mess will be inevitable. Although you can always take heart in knowing that your rabbit enjoys making it. It’s normal to have a love/hate relationship with hay. By embracing the hay mess to some extent will allow extra time to simply enjoy your rabbit.

Build A Burrow For Your Rabbit

As mentioned at the start of this article, the main reason that a pet rabbit pushes their hay over the floor is that they’re trying to dig in their burrow.

So, why not try to help them out while also helping ourselves not to have to deal with the mess all the time?

You can build a burrow for your rabbit by starting with an enclosed box of your choice. As previously mentioned, it can be a cardboard box or a wooden box, but the top needs to be removable.

If you want to go with a wooden box, think about how you could put some kind of liner in the box that makes cleaning the box out much easier. You can start with using a litter box and then build a box that the litter box fits in snuggly.

Then when it’s time to clean their hay bedding, you just need to lift out the litter box!

You can use a 12″ of big PVC Pipe from your local hardware store to build a tunnel into the bed. Of course, the size of the PVC will depend on the size of your rabbit.

Then cut a hole in the wooden box to the size of the PVC Pipe and slide the pipe into the hole.

Now your rabbit has their own little tunnel that leads into a nice dark burrow where it can feel perfectly safe, warm, and cosy. And you now have a fully contained bedding area that will be super easy to clean out as needed.

Conclusion

It’s important to keep in mind that this is your rabbit’s natural habit and not some rebellious behaviour from your rabbit. It should also be noted that all rabbits are different with different personalities and preferences.