One of the questions we are most often asked about these rabbit condos is what to cover the surfaces with. We put peel and stick vinyl tiles on the plywood shelves for two reasons. It makes them easy to clean as well as providing a sliver-free surface. But our rabbits don’t sit on the bare tiles.
We have two condos, and the rabbits in each get different surface treatments. Priscilla, who is excellent with her litter box, has inexpensive, washable cotton rugs from IKEA on her three topmost shelves. The bottom shelf, where her litter box is located, has several layers of newspaper on top of the tiles. This is so, when the condo is cleaned out, we can simply wad up the paper, folding in the spilled hay and any “bunny berries” that missed the litter box.
The condo that Ryan and Littlewood share has all of the tiles covered with newspaper. This is because those two lop-eared rabbits are less accurate with their litter boxes and if we used rugs they would need to be laundered at least two or three times a week.
Inside all of the litter boxes we put down a layer of wood pellets. Sometimes we use horse stall pellets, and sometimes we use the pine pellets made for burning in fireplaces. On top of that layer goes a layer of timothy hay. We buy a bale from a feed store every month or two, breaking it down into flakes, each of which goes into a plastic garbage bag, to keep the car trunk from turning into a barn.
We also put a water bowl into each condo. Because none of our bunnies has incisor teeth, they are not as good at picking up things as most rabbits, so we don’t give them balls, pine cones, rattles, toilet paper rolls stuffed with hay, or other typical rabbit toys. We also have to cut their salad into smaller size bites when they have their breakfasts and suppers.
