With the popularity of keeping rabbits as pets constantly increasing, we have been seeing more and more people asking various questions about how they should be caring for their rabbits as well as how they are able to reduce their costs of caring for their pet rabbit.
One of the best ways to reduce your costs with your pet rabbit is to get a cheaper bedding and many rabbit keepers have started to use horse stall pellets for rabbit bedding as well as for other uses in the hutch.
It is possible to use horse stall pellets with rabbits, and in fact, it can be a great way to reduce costs. Horse stall pellets are a cheaper bedding option than many of the alternatives, on the market, even those specifically designed for use as bedding for rabbits.
A large number of rabbit owners are using horse stall pellets for rabbits without issue due to their low price, high absorbency rate for your rabbits pee while also offering insulating properties.
The only downside of using horse stall pellets for your rabbits is that they can sometimes work out to be more expensive than actual rabbit bedding depending on where you live if you need to get the product shipped out to you.
Are Horse Stall Pellets Safe For Rabbits?
The horse stall pellets that are on the market are generally safe for rabbits to use. There are a few horse stall pellets that have been known to cause a bit of a reaction in rabbits, but for the most part, the horse stall pellets that are dust free will not cause any problems.
This is why so many people within the rabbit keeping community are switching over to using horse stall pellets as they offer a similar level of performance to rabbit bedding while also working out to be considerably cheaper in some areas.
You still have to change the horse stall pellets just as regularly as you would with actual rabbit bedding though so keep that in mind.
When you do switch over to using horse stall pellets in your hutch, be sure to monitor the behavior of your pet rabbits for anything unusual. Although the majority of rabbits will be fine, some can have a reaction but this really is rare.
Can You Use Horse Stall Pellets As Rabbit Bedding?
Horse stall pellets are proving a popular alternative to rabbit bedding that also works out to be much cheaper than actual rabbit bedding too. Not only is the product easy to use and often readily available but there are minimal downsides to using it with your rabbit.
Most people within the rabbit keeping community who are using horse stall pellets use it as an actual bedding for warmth, as a substrate on the bottom of their hutch for any pee or poop while also using it in their pet rabbit’s litter bin too if they use a litter bin setup.
It is also unlikely that your pet rabbit will try to eat the horse stall pellets either unlike some other rabbit bedding alternatives that have been popular over the years.
The best part is that the vast majority of rabbits tend not to care what they have for their bedding anyway but we have seen a small number of rabbit keepers say that they noticed a strange shift in the behavior of their rabbits after switching over to horse stall pellets.
This may just be due to being switch over from a totally different type of material that the rabbit is used to such as fleece and the new texture making the rabbit a little on edge.
Does Horse Stall Pellets Control Rabbit Pee Odor?
Although horse stall pellets are great for absorbing the urine of your pet rabbit, they do not control the odor that is associated with it. This means that if you are looking for a way to keep your hutch smelling fresh, horse stall pellets are not the best option.
There are a number of other products on the market that are specifically designed to control the odor of a pet rabbit’s urine though and you may want to consider using one of those options instead if that is something that is important to you.
The smell of a rabbit’s urine can be strong, especially if the hutch is indoors so many people want to try and minimize the smell as much as possible.
If you’re looking for a way to reduce the smell of your rabbit’s urine, there are a number of products on the market that can help. One of the most popular is an enzymatic cleaner that helps to break down the urine and neutralize the smell.
This type of cleaner is available at most pet stores and online but it pumps your costs up making a normal rabbit bedding a better option for some people.
What Are The Downsides For Using Horse Stall Pellets With Rabbits?
The main downside of horse stall pellets for rabbits is that depending on your location, it can be difficult to find as well as more expensive than actual rabbit bedding. This will rule many of our readers out as they tend to live in larger cities rather than rural areas.
Still, many online stores such as Amazon do offer free shipping with their Prime membership allowing you avoid having to pay for shipping.
Even if you do live in a large city, there may still be a farmer’s store near you that will sell horse stall pellets anyway so a quick Google check is always a good idea.
The other downside of horse stall pellets is that they don’t mask the odor of rabbit urine as well as other rabbit bedding options on the market. If you’re looking for a way to keep your hutch smelling fresh, horse stall pellets are not the best option.
Should You Use Your Horse Stall Pellets With An Actual Rabbit Bedding?
There are plenty of people out there who use horse stall pellets with their pet rabbit proving that the product is safe to use with rabbits.
If the price of the horse stall pellets works out cheaper than your rabbit bedding then it can definitely make sense to use them over rabbit bedding.
As we have covered above though, if you do have a hutch in your home then the smell of rabbit pee can end up becoming overpowering surprisingly quickly.
If you do think that you will be having to pay for a product to deal with the smell of the rabbit pee on top of the horse stall pellets then it will pump your costs up and potentially not make it worth using as actual rabbit bedding may end up being cheaper.
