# Any ideas for homemade resting pad



## nancy237 (May 29, 2008)

I don't know if resting pad is the official name but I am trying to figure out a 
cheap idea to place pads in the cage for the rabbits to get off the wire
some.

I will be going to the Home Depot in the morning to see what I can 
find. last time I went I made hay racks from .99 cent gutter guards.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

I use cardboard from cut up boxes. Instead of having to clean them, I just toss and replace!!!!


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## bbkaren (Oct 28, 2008)

We use the 1/2" wire mesh; do they need something to rest on from that too? or is it just the larger-size mesh? Mine don't seem to have any trouble; I don't think their toes even poke through the mesh...


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## Jesse L (Nov 6, 2008)

I have these plastic tile thingers. They are floor tiles, but not the ceramic. They are more like a thick plastic. I use them in the winter as they do not get as cold, and in the summer I have ceramic tiles in the freezer to keep them cool.

Very easy to clean, whipe them off with somthing once a day and its good. Most rabbits use them well, some not so much(eg, some messy bucks ).

I found them at my local farmers market - a friend pointed them out (ladysown). 

Anything cheap would work. Im sure you will find sometime at Home Depot.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

Just be sure what ever you use is safe if the bun chews it and some will try to chew almost anything!


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## denaliguide (Aug 30, 2008)

I try to keep an appropriate untreated board in there for them to perch on, to get off the wire. So far the REXX's have the most feet issues, and the NZ's the least, but they all like their boards. I just burn the badly used ones in the woodstove.

DG



RiverPines said:


> Just be sure what ever you use is safe if the bun chews it and some will try to chew almost anything!


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## Jcran (Jan 4, 2006)

I've heard (but haven't tried yet) that dry wall remnants or chunks are great. It is non-toxic gypsum and cheap/free from contractors. Can be tossed into compost or garden and rabbits can chew on it safely. Does anyone out there use it?


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## nancy237 (May 29, 2008)

Thanks for all the ideas.
This forum is amazing !!!!

I hadn't thought of tiles.

I'll let you know what I decide on.


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## SaratogaNZW (Feb 10, 2009)

Jcran said:


> I've heard (but haven't tried yet) that dry wall remnants or chunks are great. It is non-toxic gypsum and cheap/free from contractors. Can be tossed into compost or garden and rabbits can chew on it safely. Does anyone out there use it?


I put a 6x6 piece of gypsum board in when a doe is about 2 weeks pregnant. It gives them some minerals their feed may be lacking, and is supposed to prevent them cannibalazing the litter. They tear the paper off, and may make bones with it, but I pull it out anyways. Then they nibble on it untill after they kindle and I toss it out when the kits are a week old.

I also have a 10x8 piece of untreated plyboard in the cages when the nest box isnt.


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## menollyrj (Mar 15, 2006)

A local manufacturer of trailers always has small 1/4" plywood scraps (between 8x8 and 10x14). I just use those & toss when nasty. Lots more where they came from...

-Joy


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

I used ceramic tiles for awhile for my Rex, although they were a bit heavy they provided a nice cool surface during hot weather. 

A fellow rabbit breeder introduced me to resting boards manufactured specifically for rabbits. They are plastic and look rather like very big floor wire made of 1/2" wide plastic instead of wire. Urine and droppings fall through the openings, but the plastic supports the feet quite nicely. The boards clean up easily, can snap onto the floor wire so the rabbits can't move them around and so far have lasted over a year without any problem. The rabbits seem to find them quite comfortable. I paid something like $4/each and for me they've been worth every penny!


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## katduck (Jul 10, 2008)

MariaAZ said:


> A fellow rabbit breeder introduced me to resting boards manufactured specifically for rabbits. They are plastic and look rather like very big floor wire made of 1/2" wide plastic instead of wire.
> 
> 
> > This is what I have in all my cages. My rabbits are always laying right on them.
> ...


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## AprilW (Nov 25, 2007)

Cheap plastic car floor mats from the dollar store would work just fine.


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## BikerJon (Apr 4, 2009)

I also use scrap pieces of cardboard. When soiled I just toss it into the manure bucket and will till the whole lot into the garden if it ever gets dry enough to till here.


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## mamato3 (Nov 1, 2008)

i use cardboard squares my husband gets from his work. Though i would like to look for something different as a few of my bun like to shred it and put it in there pee corner so cleaning there cages is not a pleasant chore. Thought it funny going in the barn right after you give them the cardboard there all playing with there piece of cardboard and making all kinds of racket.


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## denaliguide (Aug 30, 2008)

[
just for anyone who is using or thinking of using drywall, you *NEED*to read the article on this link, ->BAD THINGS 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090411/ap_on_bi_ge/chinese_drywall

given any of this, I will probably continue using boards. Not plywood, not plastic floormats, just plain untreated wood. My next choices would be ceramic tile, and probably sheet metal.

Best of luck, stay vigilant.

DG


QUOTE=Jcran;3740503]I've heard (but haven't tried yet) that dry wall remnants or chunks are great. It is non-toxic gypsum and cheap/free from contractors. Can be tossed into compost or garden and rabbits can chew on it safely. Does anyone out there use it?[/QUOTE]


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## Jcran (Jan 4, 2006)

Wow, good article; not going to use drywall after reading that one! I just got back from a rabbit show in Oregon and bought 12 of those plastic resting mats from K and W rabbit supplies. I'm going to try those.


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