How to discourage

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 8sd replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 16 years ago by SuzanneP.

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- 11/17/2008 at 4:09 PM
  SuzanneP
  Participant
  30 posts
  My second rabbit, Liesel, is 9 or 10 months old and was spayed about a month ago. I recently (like, this weekend) upgraded her living quarters from a one story plastic and wire cage to one of those two level pine hutches. The top floor has a hidey hole box, a built in hay basket on the wall, and a resting shelf and the bottom, down the “stairs”, has a floor that is half solid, half wire – so I put her littler box over the wire because it fits there, keeps her feet mostly off the wire and has a catch tray under it. Anyway, she is primarily litterbox trained but not perfectly. She never pees or poops (unless frightened) when out in the house but has been known to pee just outside the litterbox or even, strangely, in one of her food bowls. I figured, at this point, that it was better for her to have a bigger space, regardless of her voiding habbits and I would figure that part out later. But now I am concerned that she has picked a spot just under the hay basket, in the corner of the upstairs, to pee. She also pees in the hidey hole. I am concerned that, over time, this is going to ruin that part of the wood. I sense that it would be good to have the litterbox right there but it’s a rather inconvenient place to put it and might not fit at all.
  
  Is there any way to behaviorally redirect pee to some other location, or, alternately, is there something that rabbits won’t chew on that I could put there to wick up the pee so it doesn’t soak through the wood? There isn’t really enough depth to fill the space with bedding or anything.
  
  Thanks.
- 11/17/2008 at 4:24 PM
  Kokaneeandkahlua
  Participant
  12067 posts
  You could use towels or vet bed (faux sheepskin) it really absorbs pee and in my experience, they love to pee on it!
  
  Keep working on the training I think your doing great and she’s coming right along!
- 11/17/2008 at 4:39 PM
  KatnipCrzy
  Participant
  2981 posts
  You could try to cover the wood with something less absorbant- large floor tiles, coroplast, or even a cutting board. I have a “typical” rabbit cage that is plastic with a wire bottom and the first thing I did before I made a coroplast bottom for the portion of the cage that is not the litterbox is to use a cutting board. I bought a cheap one that fit in the area. Cutting boards (not wood) are usually very sturdy and quite chew resistant and easy to clean. If you have an old cutting board that has lots of score marks from a knife- I would not use that board at all, or use that side down as the score marks will be hard to clean if they get soiled. I believe cutting board material is also called starboard- but it is otherwise sold in large sheets (like building material size) and can be expensive. It has some applications in saltwater fish tank use too (that is how I know about it).
  
  EDIT: I forgot to add that maybe if the area is not wicking up the urine the bunny will dislike soiling her area. If she pees on a cutting board she is stuck with the pee there until someone cleans it up.
  
  When I first got my bunny I had a litterbox over the grated section and had no luck at all- the litterbox AND the grate can send conflicting messages of where to eliminate. So I took the litterbox out and keep a portion of the grate uncovered as a “potty area/litter box”, but I have a large plastic bin that fits below that cage to fill with litter and collect waste. I don’t know if your wooden cage has that type of set up.
- 11/17/2008 at 6:00 PM
  Colin
  Participant
  107 posts
  Try covering the areas she pees in with newspaper. Then, as soon as she pees on them, rip off that part of the paper and put it in the litter box (underneath whatever litter you have in there).
- 11/18/2008 at 6:18 AM
  SuzanneP
  Participant
  30 posts
  Oh, she knows the litterbox is where pee is supposed to go. She just doesn’t seem to understand that I want her to ONLY put it there. Anyway, I ended up deciding to just try to put the litterbox up there in the corner where she was peeing and, guess what – it fits. Mostly. It hangs over the doorway to her hidey hole a little but I think it will do. I just hope she doesn’t decide to find another corner to pee in now. I’m going to have to bite her if she does.
- 11/18/2008 at 7:21 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  do you have hay in the litterbox and only in the litterbox? i know they like to munch hay and go potty at the same time, so combining the two is usually the best way to encourage box use. i agree with KatnipCrzy about putting down a flooring that is not absorbent at all. if the pee gets wicked away she’ll keep using it and it’s possible it might become saturated and still soak thru. a cut piece of linoleum or the other items that Katnip mentioned would work. you’d have to be diligent cleaning up accidents tho. soak up with a paper towel and deposit it in the litterbox. the problem with wood is that it can never be cleaned fully. so even one pee accident will forever hold that scent for her. that will make her associate that spot with the potty.
  
  here is the BinkyBunny litter training page… https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/LitterboxTraining/tabid/62/Default.aspx
- 11/18/2008 at 9:30 AM
  Kokaneeandkahlua
  Participant
  12067 posts
  heheh Suzanne my family dog we have right now was totally like that. We were amazed as all our previous dogs had done really well house training, trained them in a day or less…She knew she could go outside to pee or poop but she didn’t understand why she couldnt’ go in the house or on the porch?!?! Gross!!
  
  Katnip that cutting board idea is genius!!
- 11/18/2008 at 4:48 PM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22345 posts
  Posted By Suzanne on 11/18/2008 6:18 AM
  
  I just hope she doesn’t decide to find another corner to pee in now. I’m going to have to bite her if she does.
  
  She should understand that! Ok, forgive my silly question, but what is this word “wicked” you are all using?
- 11/18/2008 at 10:31 PM
  SuzanneP
  Participant
  30 posts
  Wicked means to soak up fluid and draw it away from the source.
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