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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Oh the joys of litter training…

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    • Legend
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        So… I just recently bought a lion head rabbit, she is just now turning on nine weeks. I have owned her for maybe… three weeks now. I absolutely adore her although we do have a few problems here and their. She lives in my bedroom, in a XL dog kennel with a second story added. She gets 5+ hours of running time around my room everyday. I have a cat box in one corner of her cage, which I have filled with Timothy hay and some alfalfa on the top. She will pee in the cat box, and only the cat box IF she is locked up. But, she poos everywhere in her cage. If she so happens to be in the cat box, she will poo in their, if not, then screw it, she will poo wherever. When I let her out, she poos wherever too, like… wherever. But I haven’t found any urine stains. But, who knows if the floor rug is hiding a whole fountain of them. So, I hadn’t found any urine stains UNTIL she found out how to hop on my bed (my bed isn’t awfully high up) then… the nastiness happened. At first I didn’t mind her being on my bed, I just threw a towel over it and shook out the poo when I went to bed at night, but then I found some urine stains… So nasty! And I don’t know how to stop her from getting on my bed… Anyway… can you actually teach rabbits to poo IN their box? And not on every other surface they have access to? And what about pee? I supposedly heard that rabbits go in one corner of their cage, but I have not once seen her only poo in one spot… Is it because she is still rather young? Will she outgrow this? Also, she hasn’t been neutered. I really have no idea on how to even begin litter training her…I’m sorry, I know their is a ton of litter training questions on here already.


      • Radhika
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          Neutering will help a lot, she won’t have so much of an urge to mark.

          Do you know what she looks like when she’s about to pee? Harry kind of crouches with his tail raised, and I know a pee is coming. When you see that, quickly shoo her into the litterbox. If you don’t get there in time, pat the stain with tissue and put the urine-soaked tissue in the box. It might take days or weeks but she will eventually understand that you want her to go in the litterbox (Harry had accidents for two days then he got it). If she seems intent on going in one place, it’s easier to put another box there.

          From what I’ve read, even neutered bunnies will leave some poo outside the litter tray. I think it’s just something we have to live with – at least they are hard, dry and odourless


        • Sarita
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          • LittlePuffyTail
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              Spaying will probably help. Female rabbits are very territorial and mark their property area with poos. When you clean up the stray poos, put them in her litter box.

              When you let her out, how much space does she have? It’s best to keep a young non-litter trained bunny in a smaller area as a big area can confuse them and cause them to poo/mark everywhere.


            • Legend
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                Radhika:
                That is a problem, as I have never caught her peeing. The only time she pees on my bed, is at night time when Im sleeping. (I leave her out at night because she wakes up at about 3am and if she is locked up, makes more noise than a steam engine.) I will wake up in the morning to two, or three pee stains on my bed *head shake*. She has never peed in front of me… and she doesnt only go in one place on my bed, she urinates wherever seems fit >.<

                Sarita:
                I will look at those right now, thank you.

                LittlePuffyTail:
                As far as spaying goes, do you need a special vet just for rabbits, or simply a small animal vet? And, she has the run of my bedroom (its not that big).


              • lmais
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                  Rabbits should always be taken to an exotic vet, or at least find a vet that has someone who has studied them. I have two vets – I took mine to get spayed by a rabbit specialist, and for more common things like hairballs nails etc. I take her to a vet that isn’t technically an exotic vet but she has studied them for years. I just called the local vets around and asked if they had someone who has experience working with rabbits.

                  For the spaying, I was more picky. I found out one of the local vets had someone who knows how to spay rabbits but hasn’t done it many times (no thank you), so I made sure to look around and find someone who I knew would be able to take care of my little girl.

                  And this definitely helped with the litter training – I have the same problem with my bed still (it’s been nearly a year since her spay). The vet told me it will be a really hard habit to break now because when she was a baby my bed was her play area. She said if I had kept her off the bed then it would be easier to get her not to pee on it. Maybe try shooing her off the bed for a few months until she learns where she’s supposed to go.


                • tanlover14
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                    You should definitely search for a rabbit-savvy vet — someone who specializes in exotics and knows what they’re doing when it comes to spays/neuters on your bun. If possible, you can search in the Rabbit Info on this site or House Rabbit Society site and they have good recommendations in most areas. Another idea would be to contact your local Humane Society and see if they have a specific vet that they recommend for these types of things. Typically, getting them done through the Humane Society can be much cheaper also!

                    Would love to see more pics of your darling girl!


                  • Legend
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                      Wow, sorry I havent been on here in forever. Update! I have fallen in love with my little puff ball completely. She has so much personality… which is sometimes bad… haha, anyway: I started putting a plastic tablecloth on my bed to stop the urine from soaking into my bed. But the pee went through that too… So I doubled the plastic tablecloths. That worked… but ugh, such a pain cleaning off the pee every night before I went to bed… Then I put another litter box on their. Still pee stains EVERYWHERE. About 7+ pee stains a day. Then… one day the amount of pee stains wasnt so much… then for about a week, I would only have one pee stain per day. And now! She has ONLY peed in her littler boxes for two days straight! I am so proud of her! Lots of loves, and lettuce! I am hoping this will the end of pee all over my bed… Also, I have just started ignoring the poos that cover every surface of my room… *sigh* I just vacuum daily. I simply cannot get her to poo in her boxes. Nope nope. But thankfully, its dry, hard, and small… easy to deal with!

                      AD; I still havent got her fixed. I cant find anyone to fix her… I am looking into another rabbit as soon as she is potty trained, and before I get another rabbit I must have her fixed. 

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                  Forum BEHAVIOR Oh the joys of litter training…