Bunny newbie looking for litter training advise :)

[ZiggyMeow&Whisky]

OK, here it is …My Holland Lop ( Whisky ) doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of a litter box yet.. I know it’s still early early days and i have patience because I love my bunny and she’s just the most adorable thing in the world. I have the intention of her being a house bunny ( restricted to my bedroom though, for saftey) but first I have to get her litter trained ( I hate the idea of cages and i want her to be free!) At the moment she does have a cage which has a sectioned bottom part for convienient cleaning..the whole bottom is covered in litter wood chips. she has a corner toilet box which i put in the corner of the cage (the corner i found her doing most of her poops) There is a handful of timothy hay on the toilet also..

The problem is she never seems to use it, She seems to be really smart and has already learned a voice command of mine…when ever i let her run on the floor she almost always leaves a few droppings or so and on a rare occasion has pee’d too.. there is a big litter box with plenty of hay outside her cage too which she likes to go in and eat but it seems as soon as she jumps out of the box she will leave a few droppings on the floor right beside the box .. I spend alot of bonding time with her and lye on my bed cuddling her and she will never poop or pee on me.

Can some one please give me some advice to get started, any questions you have to give me more specific advice are welcomed.
I have an affinity with all animals and have successfully raised dogs,cats,budgies(parakeets) and rats before but I’m a bunny newbie.
Thanks very much for your anticipated response
Ziggy, China

[FluffyBunny]

How old is she? Is she spayed?

First, take all of the wood chips out of her cage. Bedding isn’t necessary for bunnies, and in fact, it can completely prevent litter training with many bunnies. In addition, if you’re using pine or cedar shavings or if the litter is scented, it could be very bad for her health. You might want to move a rectangular or square litter box into the cage; most bunnies don’t care for corner boxes.

Next, try putting some poops and a few pee-soaked rags in her main litter box. Pick up every “stray poop” and immediately throw it out or put it in the litter box. This method made my rabbits get near-perfect litter habits in about a week. Bunnies have a very good sense of smell, and they’ll know to poop in places that smell like old poop and pee.

If you’re still having trouble, you can try putting some tasty treats (fruit, oats, mint, etc.) in the litter box right after you feed her to make her sit in there. They tend to poop right after they eat. Also, if you catch her “in the act” of pooping/peeing outside of the box, you can quickly lift her up and put her in there. Also, I recommend only having one litter box until she starts using the one in her cage.

If you haven’t already, I recommend reading the BinkyBunny litter training page: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO…fault.aspx

[Monkeybun]

Cover the wire bottom, first of all. Having the urine/poop smell everywhere under her will just confuse her. It’s useless, and actually harder to clean properly than a clean solid floor. Get a regular cat litter box, alot of rabbits don’t like the corner boxes as they are too small. Make sure she has hay in or by the litterbox, as bunnies eat and go at the same time. Wood shavings are a no-no, unless they are aspen, as cedar and pine have phenols that can cause respiratory problems in buns. Not good! Find a paper based litter, or wood stove pellets, those work great

[ZiggyMeow&Whisky]

Firstly, let me say I appreciate your responses very much!
I also want5 to say that I did a fair bit of research myself before coming to a forum to ask .
@Fluffy Bunny , she is 2 months old ansd not spayed yet but I am considering it to prolong her life and for health problems ( cancer )

Being in Chinese, I’m not sure what the chips are made from though i was assured they are not detrimental to the bunnies health ( chinese sellers arent always trustworthy) saying that though..it is lavender scented so I will change this NOW!..

I am already doing everything else you mentioned, so I’ll follow this advice and get back to you soon with some updates..

My beautiful Whisky is already the cutest, funniest, affectionate bunny so once th training is achieved she will be the perfect bunny..
another thing! Are many members of this site male? I feel im the only guy that has a rabbit hahaha

My questions are..1..What do you suggest i cover the wire bottom with?
2..Should I have the litterbox as her only source of hay? I already keep hay and a little carrot in her litter box( the one outside her cage is a big box and as a lot of hay)

!

[Monkeybun]

We have a few guys here, don’t worry

Keep the covering of the floor simple. Even cardboard would work for now, until she has litter training down, as it’s easy enough to replace. A softer material, like fleece or carpet, is often used as a potty place for bunnies, so don’t use that as flooring yet.

I keep allt he hay for my buns in the litter box, as that is what they are used to, and they seem to enjoy it. Some people ahve hay racks above theirs, other people have hay separate, but it works for me

[jackikal]

I’m sure the reason your bunny isn’t fully grasping the concept of the litter box is because of her age. My bunny was the same way. The thing that helped me the most was to pick up any droppings she had with a napkin, place her in the litter box, and make her smell the droppings. Then drop them in the box while she’s still inside. My bunny caught on quite quickly after that.

It’s also important not to change out the type of litter during the training process. It can confuse her!

Good luck!

[Author]

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