Digging Bunny

[CoryK]

Zoey is almost a year old, unnueterd, female.  She will not stop digging in her litter box and flinging crap all over the place. She knows it bothers me to no end! She absolutely loves the shop vac and i think she does it just so i have to use it! She is not neglected by any means but i don’t know how to get her to stop digging in her litter. is there something else she might like to scratch on? help!!!

[MooBunnay]

Hi! Its quite normal for bunnies to dig, as well as fling things around, my bunnies like to bury their head in the hay and then lift their head up and have a hay HAT A great way to stop this is to give your bunny a covered cat igloo instead of an open litter box. My favorite is a booda dome that has stairs on it, then its really tough for them to flig the hay out. I’ve seen these at almost all of the regular pet stores. This way, she can dig but the flinging will not be able to fling anything OUT.

Also, does your litter box have carefresh litter on the bottom and then covered with hay? Thats one of the best combos for a litterbox.  There are some pics of litterboxes and housing on this website that show that.

Also, I’m sure other people will mention, but getting the bunny spayed will help calm her down a tad as well 

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome Corrine!! I am sorry I missed this post!

My Bailey loves to dig in her litterbox.  In one of them, I put a screen over it.  There are also litterboxes with tops and edges.   But I didn’t want to take the joy of digging away from her so I gave her a litterbox with really tall edges.   And here’s a link to another discussion on the forum that includes ideas for diggy boxes.

https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=54&forumid=3&tpage=1&view=topic&postid=6183#6183

 

I’ve attached a picture of the litterbox with an edge as well as the screen.

[Deleted User]

I think your Bailey is just adorable … sweet thing!

[Timmy]

My bunny, Timmy, is quite the digger! He’s fixed but his digging habbits haven’t altered at all. These are some great tips and I especially like the screen that BinkyBunny has posted to keep his cage and his paws clean. I’ve made him a diggy box before and he loves it but his litter box is still remains one of his digging box. I was wondering if you made that screen yourself or purchased it somewhere? I would love to have one for Timmy!

[poopy]

Refer to #2 in my sig. below

[Timmy]

Yup I’ve considered the covered litter box as well as many of the alternatives listed in the many threads I’ve searched through. As soon as Timmy jumps into the litterbox, he starts digging so my logic is that he might just hop into the covered litterbox and dig everything out of the hole he just hopped in from? And he’ll still get his paws plenty dirty! I believe the best one for him would be the screen so I asked if BinkyBunny or anyone knows how to make/get one and let him continue digging in the box I’ve made for him to dig in. Thanks though!

[poopy]

Try a covered one with a DOOR. I’ve seen ones with top doors as well, of course you’d have to manually show your rabbit how to get into it, and eventually he will learn to hop onto the top and fall down. Just try one first they are like $20

[jam224]

If you don’t want to try a hooded litterbox, I’ve heard of several suggestions that have worked for some people:
1) Use a "sifting" litterbox.  Line the solid portion with the litter of your choice and then place the grated portion on top of the litter.
2) Buy "hardware cloth" and cut it to the size of the litterbox to place on top of the litter (this may be what’s pictured, I’m not sure).
3) Buy an egg crate fluorescent light panel/cover and cut it to the size of the litterbox.  Egg crates can be made out of plastic or metal, but everyone that I know that uses them, gets the white plastic kind.  You can buy a sheet at any home improvement store (Lowe’s, Home Depot) in their lighting department.  (If you can’t find it, don’t be afraid to ask someone.)  They also use several PVC pipes (about 2" tall) to prop up the litterbox grate, so that it’s not resting solely on the litter.
4) I’ve also known someone to buy plastic canvas sheets (meant for cross stitching) at her local dollar store to use as litterbox grates (you could also probably find them at craft stores).  She cuts them to size and can replace them cheaply when they get really dirty.

Particularly if you’re curious about the egg crate option, I can clarify instructions better, if you’d like.  These were just brief descriptions.

[Timmy]

Thank you for the suggestions. I will look into them and keep you updated on what works!

[Scarlet_Rose]

Also, for a more creative twist, use a wire cooling rack that you would find in the baking item section of your store.  They do very nicely.

[kellyrorgan]

That screen is a genious idea. Sometimes I feel that we’re wasting a ton of litter because we have to clean it out so often with all the poops. Where did you find it?

[poopy]

This thread on covered litterboxes is for you:
https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=54&forumid=6&view=topic&postid=8944

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By kellyrorgan on 07/10/2007 9:51 PM

That screen is a genious idea. Sometimes I feel that we’re wasting a ton of litter because we have to clean it out so often with all the poops. Where did you find it?

Thanks!  We actually made that screen.  We have made some improvements since his picture. We changed the material on the edges to make it  impossible to chew. We are actually going to sell them, but we are just going through a final safety check.   It’ll be a couple more months until then, but some of the other suggestions should be able to see you through!

 

[wordmonkey]

 

This thing is amazing…..remove all the extra stuff it comes with and use it covered or uncovered. The sides are about 9 " tall without the top on, its not big enough for big bun full spralled out lounging but 2 buns can fit perfectly.

 

Heres the link- http://www.petsmart.com/media/ps/images/products/detail/standard/February07/50669_64ea5.jpg

[Author]

Messages