Is Wire Flooring Bad For Rabbits

It can also cause sores to develop on your pet s feet.

Is wire flooring bad for rabbits.

First some people use improperly sized wire for cage floors and this likely will damage the rabbits feet. It keeps the rabbit clean the rabbit is not sitting around in excrement. Some rabbits with poorly formed feet and or large or rexed rabbits might do best with at least partially solid floors in any case. Floor wire is ideally 14 gage 1 x1 2 wire.

Hardware cloth sometimes called cheese wire is too fine a gauge for the bottom of a rabbit cage and may cut up a rabbit s feet. Rabbits were not designed to live on wire floors they re hard on their feet which have no pads like those of cats or dogs. Anything finer than 16 gage might do harm in some instances. If you must use a cage with a wire floor you need to provide your rabbit with a resting board or rug for her to sit on otherwise she will spend all of her time in her litterbox.

Rabbits were not designed to live on wire floors a house rabbit does not need a wire floor. Wire is probably the most controversial cage flooring available. Wire floors cause sores to develop on rabbits feet. Improper flooring rabbits need soft preferably malleable flooring that will mimic the natural texture of the earth as much as possible.

All cages with wire floors must have a piece of plexi glass or a piece of plywood that the rabbit can sit on. Rabbits chinchillas and ferrets can all get sore hocks. Wire mesh cages are almost always a bad choice for rabbits. However the wire grid is not only uncomfortable for bunnies.

It does not look all that comfortable leading many owners to believe it is harmful. Many cages come with a wire mesh floor the main advantage of which is that it s effortless to keep clean. Plastic floors must be removed the bedding dumped floor scrubbed and replaced. Also guinea pigs hamsters and gerbils may get their feet stuck in between the wire which good result in a broken limb.

Wood floors absorb urine and will smell after a short time. They may get an infection on their feet called sorax from having wire bottom cages. Wire flooring for rabbits is another controversial flooring option. The misconception about wire floors being bad for rabbits feet is probably based on two things.

When using grass hay the entire wire floor should be covered. Wire with about 1 2 inch openings is perfect for most rabbits.