Go in your darn litter box already!

[LittleWhiteRex]

My bunny, Lily, is in a red cage and likes it. She’s perfectly healthy (other than a case of sneezing, which I STILL can’t convince my parents is abnormal enough to take her to the vet over) and we have one problem. Her cage is huge and heavy, so we try to  get her to use the litterbox.

Keyword: TRY.

Seriously, it is a mild blue color with wire that is the same as the bottom of the cage. We place it in the corner that she uses, only to find an hour later that she’s either moved it or developed a different corner. We try putting some of her ‘stuff’ in it. We use the same litter/baking soda mix we use in the bottom of the cage (not much baking soda, just enough to cover the smell.) and used to give her treats after she used it, which we can’t now because she doesn’t use it at all. How can we get her to use it – or will we have to haul her cage outside once a week, every week?

[Elrohwen]

Do you have bedding covering the bottom of the cage? If you do, that’s probably confusing her. Just put the litter in the litter box.

Also, you can attach the box to the side of the cage so that she can’t move it. Also, clean her entire cage with a vinegar/water solution so that it no longer smells like her pee.

Is she spayed? Unspayed females sometimes like to mark their territory and it can be hard to change their mind about it without spaying.

[LittleWhiteRex]

There is no litter in the rest of her cage, and when we fasten the box, she just adopts another corner instead of using the litter tray. Yes, she’s spayed…. grrh.

Lily, honestly, you lovable, adorable, furball. You’re driving me nuts. >.<

[Sarita]

What size litter box are you using and what size is this cage?

[LittleWhiteRex]

Hang on, let me go measure…. (brb) Just eyeballing, the litter tray takes a little less than 1/8 of the floor space cage, but it’s designed so as to give her plenty of room to sit on. It also has a tall, triangular wall to avoid misses. She also has extra space on her *other* tray, the elevated one she loves to come sit on to socialize with us, that’s the equivalent of 1/4 of the floor space. (I’ll go measure now.)

[Deleted User]

Are you using a triangular corner box with wire grid? If so, many rabbits don’t take to using this type. Try a larger, rectangular-shaped box with just litter material, no baking soda but hay on top of the litter material for extra comfort. This is a rabbit’s idea of a toilet, something soft and diggable.

[LittleWhiteRex]

Hmm, okay. Yes, it’s that type, but the wire is the same kind and size and color as the rest of the cage floor, so I don’t know why she would prefer the cage. This thing lets me take the wire out, so should I just do that for now, since we don’t really have a good container to use and my parents don’t want to be spending a lot extra right now?

[Elrohwen]

You can get a cat litter box at Walmart or something for just a few dollars. I agree with Petzy that this would help her litter training.

Taking the wire out might help, but many bunnies just don’t like those corner boxes.

[Deleted User]

I am not sure how much colors matter to rabbits, but she may resent the triangular box because she has to put her butt in it and it might just be easier for her to use a cage corner. What I am saying is that a rabbit litter box has to be oh so cozy a spot, that’s how you trick them into choosing it. Try without the wire in the box and line it with hay. You will have to change that hay every day because peed up hay has a barn smell. I also recommend lining the rest of her cage bottom with cardboard as the wire is really uncomfortable for rabbits, especially rexes can develop sores on their feet from sitting on wire.
Do you maybe have an old lasagna pan you can turn into a litterbox, or a large rectangular cookie tin? Look around your house or see if you can find a thing at the dollar store. A litter box doesn’t have to cost much.

[LittleWhiteRex]

I’ll ask my parents about that, I’ll just take the wire out until we can find something else. ^.^ She’s a standard Rex, but she’s not much bigger than a large Mini for some reason. 0.o

[Deleted User]

Definitely remove all the wire grids for your rex.

[Deleted User]

i don’t think we have seen pictures of Lily. We would love to see her! I remember too you posted about her picky eating habits, how is she doing now for diet preferences?

[Beka27]

Rexes really should not be on any wire flooring at all. No rabbits should, but especially rexes. Since they have less fur on their feet, they are more prone to sore hocks. Petzy had a good idea to use a piece of cardboard, at least for now… but ideally you could maybe get a cut piece of linoleum for a more durable (and cleanable) cage floor. If everywhere she goes has wire… there’s no difference to her. It’s actually the same as the whole cage being bedding.

Litterbox= litter
Cage= litter

Litterbox= wire
Cage= wire

There is no way for her to differentiate between the good and the bad locations to go potty.

[LittleWhiteRex]

It’s actually coated wire, soft to the touch even to me. She has plenty of places to get off it as well.

I took the wire out and put a layer of her litter in a box and put it in the other one (just for now, we should be getting a new one soon.) She uses them both for some reason – one for peepee and one for pebbles. o.o

I have a video of her eating my grandpa’s newspaper as she reads it – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6spbEkjTk9g :3 That was actually taken quite a while ago… x3

She is eating more veggies, in part thanks to changing her pellet ration, and also since we switched her from the fine, smells-like-candy, dusty alfalfa hay to more substantial but still good-smelling timothy hay.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for sharing the cute video, Lily is a great bunny. I love her, I have a blue-eyed white rex, too, a mini rex, though. Glad to hear she’s eating veggies and timothy, that is much better a diet for her. I have a cage with coated wire bottom like that myself but they are no good for rexes. It is the pressure from the bars that causes the trouble in rex-coated breeds, so it is best to minimize the time she spends on wire.

[LittleWhiteRex]

Gotcha. By the way, I have the computer plugged in by the table and next to the cage… she’s trying to eat hay out of her litterbox 0.o LILY. *waves around clean hay* -.-

[Deleted User]

It meansLily approves of her new litter area! Hay munching is part of pottying. Just change the hay often.

[LittleWhiteRex]

Okay then! Good thing… I guess xD I’m feeding her carrot greens. Nom.

[BinkyBunny]

Once you take the screen out, you’ll have to stop mixing the baking soda in with the litter as she shouldn’t have direct access to that.

BTW – I watched the video (subscribed too!) and your bunny is gorgeous! She seems like a funny confident character.

[LittleWhiteRex]

She certainly is! I’ve stopped using baking soda and I’ll tell my parents we need to switch litters as soon as there’s less left (we still have about 10 pounds sitting in the laundry room.)

 

I’ll be taking her for a walk right now, I’ll tape that.

[Author]

Messages