Flooring
Choosing and maintaining appropriate flooring is a challenge for many rabbit owners, especially as your rabbit's flooring needs may change over the course of their life. This article discusses many different flooring considerations including cleaning routines, sore hocks, and accommodating rabbits with disabilities.
Every rabbit and every owner is different. Your needs and your rabbit's needs may require personalized feedback from your veterinarian.
Optimal flooring for a rabbit enclosure satisfies all of the following recommendations:
- Waterproof layer between padding and original floor
- You can adequately clean all layers above the waterproof layer
- No new or worsening sore hocks
- Your rabbit does not swallow synthetic fibers
Bad flooring
Without appropriate floor padding, many pet rabbits will develop painful pododermatitis, also known as sore hocks. Some rabbits are more predisposed than others, but the following flooring is to be avoided as much as possible:
- Wire mesh concentrates pressure on hocks and toes. Mesh holes catch toenails easily, ripping out nails or breaking digits.
- Hardwood, metal, stone, tile, linoleum, and laminate floors are too slippery and do not provide enough padding. These are known to cause or worsen sore hocks, splay legs, and arthritis.
- Plastic pee pads are slippery, non-absorbent, and a chewing hazard.
- Artificial turf grass is a scratchy chewing hazard.
There are some exceptions where mesh and smooth flooring may be used sparingly. These include flexible litterbox mesh that is not load-bearing or individual tiles chilled in the freezer and used as cooling pads.
For chewers
Rabbits can develop fatal intestinal blockages from chewing and swallowing materials found in most textiles, rugs, or foam. Most rabbits will show a preference for the edges of rugs/foam, or prefer certain textures/weaves. Before investing in rabbit-edible rugs it's recommended to try a wide variety of options to avoid your rabbit's preferred chewing textures. Try to stick to floor plans that are seamless and do not provide clear edges for your rabbit to nibble and burrow into. This may involve blocking off the edges of your floor padding with xpens, furniture, or heavy objects.
Do not apply chew deterrent sprays or attempt to train your rabbit out of this behavior like you would with an obedient dog. Rabbits do not understand discipline. Negative reinforcement will only degrade your relationship with your rabbit.
If you have tried many options to deter chewing, including blocking off edges and trying many different textures, your rabbit may be a good candidate for natural fiber rugs made of the following:
- Jute
- Sisal
- Seagrass
You may also try DIY using jute burlap backed with rattan cane webbing.
Natural fiber rugs are meant to be edible and therefore safe to eat for rabbits who are persistent chewings. However, these rugs are generally not recommended as a first resort because they do not provide enough padding to protect sore hocks in most rabbits. However, these rugs are much safer than no padding at all and much safer than risking an intestinal blockage.
Padding
Floor padding is the best way to prevent sore hocks in pet rabbits. However, sore hocks can still develop on padded floors such as carpet or foam. This happens due to differences in foot shape, fur growth, body weight, and acquired gait. Just like different humans may need different shoes, different rabbits may need different kinds of padding.
Low-padding floors rarely provide enough padding:
- Thin bed sheets
- Natural fiber rugs (jute, sisal, seagrass)
- Cardboard
- Horse stall mats
- Gym floor mats
Medium-padding floors sometimes require additional padding:
- Low-pile rug or carpet
- Foam puzzle mats
You can add some of the following high-padding toppers over medium-padding floors:
- Fleece blankets
- Quilts
- Moving blankets
Rabbits with disabilities, incontinence, sore hocks, or arthritis may need toppers with maximum padding:
- Synthetic sheepskin, also called STERI-LON and Sheepette
- VetBed, also called vet fleece
Your rabbit may need more padding as they get older.
There is a misconception that some rabbits don't like high-padding floors. Rabbits may dig and nip at floor padding so they can sit on bare, hard floors. In reality, this is a playful behavior to reorganize their surroundings. Secure padding in place and provide alternative sources of enrichment toys and novelty to occupy a bored rabbit.
Cleaning
Urine
If you are protecting your floors adequately, your rabbit will never have access to them thanks to multiple protective layers.
It is highly recommended to place a waterproof layer underneath your rabbit's padding to protect your floors. Even litterbox-trained rabbits may urinate on the floor if they are sick, hormonal, or scared. Litterbox training may also change over the course of your rabbit's life. Waterproof layers include plastic shower liners, sheet vinyl, washable whelping pads, and waterproof tarps. Always read product reviews to determine if something is truly waterproof.
Padding should be secured on top so that the waterproof layer is never exposed to the rabbit. Curious bunnies nip and tear at the waterproof layer, and it only takes one hole before it's not waterproof anymore.
Machine-wash vs. Vacuum
The padded layer can be split into two categories based on how you clean them: vacuum or machine-wash. Your cleaning preferences may help you decide what you use for padding.
Machine-washable options include:
- Fleece blankets
- Quilts
- Moving blankets
- Synthetic sheepskin
- VetBed
Vacuum options include:
- Rugs/carpet
- Yoga mats
- Foam puzzle mats
- Gym floor mats
- Horse stall mats
Some products like machine-washable rugs can tolerate both vacuuming and machine-washing, but these are often too expensive for most people to cover an entire room. In most cases, you will be choosing between vacuum-only options (rugs, foam, etc.) and machine-washable options (blankets, fleece, etc.).
Recommended products list
Popular soft flooring materials include the following:
- low-pile rugs - Popular affordable options in the US include 6 ft. x 8 ft. Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug (Home Depot), 6x9 indoor/outdoor rug (Costco in-store). Look for tight-woven machine made rugs without loose fibers to make it more difficult for rabbits to grab with their teeth and claws to dig up. Keeping the rug edges out of reach also helps prevent destruction.
The limit of rabbit destruction with months of work on a machine-made low-pile olefin rug. - rabbit-safe edible rugs made of jute, sisal, or seagrass are optimal for bunnies who chew their carpets or blankets
- fleece blankets - consider buying fleece by the yard from a fabric store
- bed sheets - can be layered over padded flooring to catch hay and poop for easy clean-up
- comforters
- moving blankets from the hardware store
- DIY rugs made with cardboard, velcro, and towels
- synthetic sheepskin such as STERI-LON, sheepette, PCP 6264, and Skil-Care synthetic sheepskin provide maximum padding and washability for rabbits with impaired mobility, incontinence, or sore hocks.
To protect hardwood floors or existing carpet, be sure to add a waterproof barrier underneath the soft flooring you decide to use. Examples include the following:
- vinyl sheet, PVC, or linoleum rolls (e.g. clear marine vinyl, plastic table protector)
- shower curtain
- plastic chair mat
- foam playpen pieces
- foam equipment mats (Warning: bunnies may gnaw off the treadmill pattern)
- whelping pads, washable pee pads, and pet blankets
- bed pads
- plastic sheets
General bedding in an enclosure is not needed. It will confuse the rabbit when trying to litter train the rabbit. The only bedding and litter needed is in the litter box.
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