frustrated.

[Lanie]

Okay, so i posted a while ago that i was having troubles potty training my holland lop, Bella. I am still having huge problems. She seems to understand that she needs to go to the bathroom in her cage, therefore she rarely goes to teh bathroom when i let her out, but she doesnt understand WHERE to go in her cage…aka her litterbox. I have done everything I can to encourage this. I put hay in the litterbox, i clean her cage but leave some poops in her litterbox. I soak up some of her pee and place that in the litterbox…but she has no clue.

Not only that, she really seems to of changed behavior-wise in the past week or so. I try not to force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do, so I don’t MAKE her sit on my lap/be held if she doesnt want to. She used to not mind being handled but now she has done a 180 and BARELY lets me handle her. This is a problem, considering her nails are quite long and I NEED to trim them. Everytime I try, she won’t stay still because of her recent dislike of being handled.

Does anyone have any clue whats going on with my bunny?

[jerseygirl]

A few questions…How old do you estimate Bella to be now? About 12 weeks? She is still rather young. Also, a spayed or neutered rabbit takes to litter training easier. It’s sounds as if you’ve made some progress if she doesn’t have accidents outside of her cage. What do you have on the surface of her cage?

Re the handling – this may be as she is maturing and entering puberty so the hormones have arrived. However, watch for signs of illness which could also be causing her behaviour. Rabbits will often hunch up and hide away when feeling ill.

[Beka27]

some bunnies just don’t get littertraining until they are altered. i think it’s fantastic that she is not having accidents outside of her cage, that’s a big step towards becoming littertrained! keep up with what you’re doing. you have litter only in the litterbox right? what size is your litterbox, is it big enough for her to lay down in? what kind of litter are you using? does the box have a grate or is it just a regular box where she has access to teh litter directly?

i also have a hard time with nail trimming, so i take my buns to the vet to have it done. if i do it at home, it does require two people, one to hold securely, one to snip the nails…

[hooty22]

Sometimes you just need to let the bunny pick the corner they want to go in. I know when I first set up Felony’s pen, he liked to go in a corner that wasn’t the corner I had the box. I just rearranged things. If she is using one part of her cage more than others, try to set the box there. It might help

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Absolutely-that’s great she’s not having accidents out of her cage!!

1) spaying will help tremendously both with litter habits and her change in behavior. Start ‘shopping’ for a good rabbit vet now. I have some good questions to ask them, so let me know if you’d like to know them!

2) Do you only have litter in the litter box? (ie. no bedding anywhere else, no towels no bedding) If their is absorbant bedding in the rest of the cage, she’ll likely continue to go anywhere.

3) Try putting the litter box in a different place, every few days-she may use it if it’s in a different corner!

Keep us posted!! Good luck!

[Author]

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