What ruined caged litter training???

[Toni-Montana]

I recently adopted my rescue bun Ford early March. He’s two years old and I’m trying to litter train him. On the first few days I let him roam everywhere in my apartment and he marked his territory of course in two corners. At night I would put him in his cage and he would defecate and urinate in one corner. I bought him a cat sized litter pan for him to use outside his cage in my bedroom and it’s amazing how quickly he learned to use it. At night I would lock him up in his cage and I think he would hold his urine in until the next morning when I let him out so that he could use his litter pan in my bedroom. I bought him a small corner sized litter pan for his cage and he would defecate in it but not so great at urinating in it. I bought him Timothy Hay but he didn’t like it. The rescue place only fed him pellets. Too early I assume, I left his cage open for him to roam in my room when I’m asleep and he would consistently use his litter box outside the cage and only go in the cage to eat. I decided to let him roam the whole house since he was litter trained but he only wanted to stay under my bed. Day 3 and I had discovered that he had ripped some of the carpet under my bed! So I locked him back up in the cage at night and thats when my room started to smell bad. So I moved him into the dining room and I let him roam all day there when I’m home and he used his litterbox outside the cage and he kind of used it inside the cage. One time I took him to my parents house and I had him barricaded by the back door on tile. He had his blankets food and water and litter pan. He only chewed the carpet once that I had seen and a couple days he jumped over the barricade while we were gone and he was just lounging no carpet was chewed and he was just a really happy bun. I also took him to my boyfriend’s place and he was allowed to roam there all day because there was no carpet but all he wanted to do was stay under the couch. Back at my place a couple days ago he started urinating outside his pan in the cage but he still defecated in it. I bought him a bigger pan and he still does the same thing. I put his food next to it and he urinated in it. It’s like half the cage is his latrine and half is not. Should I buy him an even bigger pan? Did I mess up in trying to make him a house rabbit too soon? I’m thinking about putting his cage in the entrance to the kitchen so that when I’m gone or asleep he can jump out and use his litter pan since the floor is tile. I’ve been cleaning his cage with those disinfectant wipes that have a lemon scent but that never bothered him so idk and I make sure he doesn’t watch me clean it.

It just sucks, because I have to clean his cage everyday because his bedding gets super wet and gross. It seems like retaliation possibly. His water is over his cage litter pan too.

Also he still loves my bedroom. I don’t let him in but sometimes he runs in when I open the door and he starts doing binkies.

Litter: Bird bedding (used it at rescue place)

Bedding: Fuscia Hide N Seek Paper shreds (used it at rescue place)

[tobyluv]

Since you mentioned that you have both bedding and litter, it sounds like you have bedding all over the bottom of his cage. That confuses a rabbit, and it will make them go all over the cage. You need to have a large enough cage or an x-pen to hold a adequately sized litter box, and only have litter in the box. Don’t have any litter or bedding in other parts of the cage. If he isn’t a chewer, you can have towels or fleece blankets for him to sit or lie on in the cage, or grass mats.

Those disinfectant wipes might have chemicals that are dangerous if he licks the areas you have cleaned. You can use a white vinegar and water solution to clean.

Is Ford neutered? It’s much easier to litter box train a rabbit that has been spayed or neutered.

He really needs to be eating hay.  You could try some other brands or cuttings of Timothy, or you could try orchard grass.  It’s a sweeter grass that many rabbits prefer. There is also oat hay, meadow hay, blue grass hay and botanical hay.  Any of the grass hays are good for them, and needed for their digestive system to keep running smoothly, as well as to keep their teeth worn down.

[Toni-Montana]

He is neutered and I’ll try that solution.

I’m waiting to go to the doctor next week because I am very allergic to certain grasses and Timothy hay made my throat swell. It surprises me that the rescue place never fed them hay and I always knew about their teeth needing to be worn down so I give him stick treats and celery and plenty of toys to chew up. He’s a weird bun though, he chews his blankets instead of laying on them. He likes a flat surface. He’ll push all his bedding just to be on the plastic bottom of his cage.

Thank you very much for your help. I’ll remove the bedding and see what happens.

[tobyluv]

Timothy hay can be very bad for causing allergies. Orchard grass is much less likely to bother people that have allergies. It is surprising and dismaying that the rescue doesn’t feed hay to the rabbits. Hay should comprise the bulk of a rabbit’s diet. Maybe you could donate any hay that you don’t use.

[Toni-Montana]

So I removed the litter and he urinated outside his litter pan again, but I think it might have been because I didn’t let him out of his cage at his usual time. I went running because i could here him thrashing his litter box when he wants out (luckily all of it didn’t spill). 

So I wonder if he did it because of that or because he prefers to be out of his cage whenever he wants. I’m cat-sitting right now, but  after I’m thinking about moving his cage to the entrance of the kitchen so that he can hop out whenever I’m asleep since the ground is tile. 

[blubudgie]

I have hay allergies too, and Timothy hay seems to make my allergies the worst. Orchard grass or Rye usually gives me to least reactions.

[Author]

Messages