Rabbit Bedding UK: Pellets, Hemp and Straw

Each product below was taken from the maker’s published specification and a live UK listing, checked October 2026, and was not tested by us. The mix covers paper pellets, hemp chips, barley straw, meadow hay, elephant-grass pellets, heat-treated pine pellets and wood-pulp fibre, which is what owners use on enclosure floors and in trays. Sleeping cushions sit on the rabbit beds page; plastic toilet trays are a separate buy.

How Much Space Should the Bedding Cover?

Rabbits need constant access to a shelter plus a run, and the RSPCA rabbit housing guide sets a minimum combined space of 3 x 2 x 1 m so two rabbits can hop, stand upright and rest apart. Bedding belongs on the solid sleeping floor and in any toilet tray, not as a substitute for that space. Measure the shelter base, then plan a 4 to 8 cm absorbent layer under a topping of hay or straw. A tray is usually 40 to 50 cm along one side; fill it deep enough that pellets do not scatter on the first landing. Indoor house rabbits using an indoor pen still need a tray they can reach without hopping over wet patches.

Giant breeds need a taller hide and a wider tray than a pair of dwarfs, so do not buy a 10 L pellet bag and expect it to last a week. Outdoor timber floors should be raised off wet ground. Wire mesh floors are a sore risk; board them before you pour any substrate.

What Should Sit Under Hay in a Toilet Tray?

RSPCA advice is dust-free hay or straw as the edible top layer, with newspaper, shredded paper or dust-free non-cedar shavings underneath, and paper-based non-clumping litter in trays. Back2Nature Small Animal Bedding 30L is a 30 L sack of ridged pellets made from 99 percent recycled paper, packed at about 48 x 35 x 10 cm and 9.5 kg, designed so urine soaks in rather than pooling. Excel Burgess Nap & Nest Paper Bedding is a 750 g bag of unused teabag offcuts that stay soft on hocks if you want a gentler tray than pellets. Megazorb Animal Bedding 85 Litres is virgin wood pulp dried at high heat, dust extracted, and listed as ten times more absorbent than straw, which helps a messy buck.

Small Pet Select Pine Pellet Bedding is 18.2 kg of heat-treated pine with no additives, sold as low dust and non-clumping; the maker says it is a poor match for sore or fragile paws, so keep a hay mat on the standing edge. Earth Grade Wood Pellet Bedding 30L is made from FSC certified British softwood with a light pine smell; the pellets swell and break down as they soak up urine, so a deep base layer under hay keeps the top dry. Leeway Easibed Bedding Bale 20kg is recycled whitewood fibre that drains through to the bottom, leaving a drier cap, which is why it is sold for hutches as well as stables.

How Do Straw, Hay and Hemp Behave Outdoors?

Rabbit bedding for winter has to stay dry enough that fur does not cake with ice. The RSPCA says bedding should be warm and safe to eat, and that extra straw or hay helps in cold weather. Pillow Wad Barley Straw is UK-grown, dust extracted and left in longer stems, sold here as a 1 kg pack (the listing also shows a six-pack count). Pillow Wad Maxi Meadow Hay is a 3.75 kg dust-extracted, unchopped meadow hay bale, so it can be both the edible rack fill and a sleeping pile. Neither bag replaces an absorbent base; straw on bare boards just wicks wee sideways.

Aubiose Hemp Bedding is a 19 kg organic hemp bale that the maker says soaks liquid in a small area and forms a capped wet layer underneath. Kerbl Hemp Rabbit Mat is a 40 x 100 x 1 cm woven hemp sheet, compostable and listed as absorbent and breathable, which works as a lying mat over pellets rather than as the only soak. Outdoor houses still need a waterproof roof and a draught-free sleeping end; hemp will not save a leaking lid. In a heatwave, thin the bed and give shade, because a deep wet pile cooks.

How Often Should You Empty a Hutch or Tray?

Trays are spot-cleaned daily and emptied when pellets have broken down into sludge, often every two to four days for two adults. Full house cleans are weekly: lift the dry top, bin the wet pad, scrub boards, and wait until timber is dry. Never rinse a hemp bed into a sink that feeds a garden pond; compost it if your council allows. Pine pellets and paper pellets go hard when soaked, which makes them easy to lift with a scoop. Wood-pulp fibre clumps less, so you skim the wet crater and top up.

Keep the sleeping hay away from the tray so they do not nap in the toilet. A hay rack over the tray, as the RSPCA suggests, lets them eat while they use it and keeps the sleeping pile cleaner. If you travel, pack a small paper bag rather than straw that seeds the car.

How Do These Rabbit Beddings Compare?

How Should You Set Up a New Tray and Sleeping End?

1. Board any wire floor and check the roof does not drip onto the sleeping board.
2. Pour 4 to 8 cm of pellets, pulp or hemp in the corner they already use as a toilet.
3. Lay hay or straw on the dry sleeping board, deep enough to nest in but not so deep they cannot turn.
4. Add a hemp mat only on top of a dry, absorbent layer, never on bare wet wood.
5. Place a hay rack above the tray so eating and toileting can happen together.
6. Scoop wet clumps each morning and refresh the hay pile when it is soiled or flattened.
7. Do a full scrub weekly and let the timber dry before the next bed goes down.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last reviewed: 15 October 2026.