I think my rabbit is TOO well litter trained – Am I crazy??

[Flint]

I switched Remy’s cage around yesterday (for those of you who don’t know I’ve had her since 1pm on Saturday) tucking in the fleece under the plastic tray because she had taken to pulling it up and eating puppy pads and giving her a proper litterbox rather than a paper box lid.  The litterbox was hooded and she went in and out just fine playing about her cage but when I woke up this morning to see my husband off to work at 5am, I saw she hadn’t used it or even used the floor in her cage!  I removed the hood from the litter box thinking maybe she didn’t like the closed feeling and went back to bed.  I woke up to potty in the litterbox but I am seriously concerned that she will hurt herself holding it in.  She didn’t even pee on the floor all night!  

Can she hurt herself like this?  She went a good 16 hours without using the bathroom solely because she didn’t like her box.

Does anyone else have a bunny that JUST WON’T POTTY unless there is a litter box present?

Remy had me so scared.
Regards,
Tim&Remy

[Sarita]

I’ve never heard this before – I do wonder if you should just try putting the litter box back and see what happens.

I don’t think that she would intentionally hold it in though. I think it might just be too soon yet to determine what her habits are at this point.

What are you using for the litter?

[Deleted User]

I don’t think Henry has ever ‘held on’ for 16 hours, but he does spend hours away from his litter tray without incident. I have to be honest – Henry is one of those bunny’s that doesn’t eat while he goes potty – he eats his hay in his house and when I see him on the toilet (outside his house) he just sits and stares, sometimes I feel like offering him a newspaper to read???
I originally had his litter box (and still do – a rectangle plastic cat litter tray) inside his carrier (for privacy), but the hubby (WHY???) put a second one just outside his house (in the open for us all to see – yuck!) and he now use’s that one – I’m guessing so he can see what’s going on so he doesn’t miss out on anything! I only catch Henry in the toilet about twice a day. It’s like he goes when he needs too – like us humans. Not sure if that’s strange, I never thought to ask? It’s just normal for Henry and if he spent a long time in there or went more often I think I would actually worry, ha ha ha ha!
I do think, like us all (humans and animals), if you HAVE to go, you will regardless of what is or isn’t available at the time. Maybe she just didn’t need too? Time will tell….. As Sarita said, it’s still early days.
I’m sure within no time, she will feel secure and content with her environment and you’ll have bunny pee and poop everywhere – YAY! Lol!

[Flint]

The litter box is in and being used now that the hood was removed. She went to the bathroom immediately after I removed the hood. She used the cardboard litter box the first night perfectly as well she just didn’t go when the lid was on. She is using Feline Pine as litter.

[Sarita]

Yes, the hood must have been what was confusing her.

[LongEaredLions]

Actually one time Lionel refused to poop for several hours after I changed the litter to carefresh. Back to wood pellets, I guess. I was just trying to give him something softer. Silly boy! <3

[Flint]

Is there any EASY way to get the pee out? The pellets disintegrate and I don’t want to waste litter because it’s expensive. I always leave poop behind when I clean her litter box but I figure that’s best anyways.

[bmt87]

Lola used to hold it. We had two litter boxes – one in her cage and one outside of her cage and she preferred the one outside the cage. She preferred the one outside the cage and used to hold it all night until we let her out in the morning and she would RACE to the other potty box to go. We tried EVERYTHING to fix it and nothing worked until we moved apartments and only gave her the one option of the potty box in her cage. That seemed to fix the problem. Being that you’ve only had her a few days I would just try to find something that is routine (same box, same spot, etc.) and STICK with it. Even if she isn’t fixed yet just have it there so she knows it’s there and that it isn’t going away.

Also, for the wasting litter thing. You may want to try putting hay on one end and carefresh on the other end. This *may* mean that she will just soil one end and you can clean it out regularly and save money. This used to work for my Lola until she became a digger…and now it’s just a mixed up mess overnight and I just have to change the whole thing every 4 days.

[Stickerbunny]

I use a generic litter scooper like for cats to just scoop out the wet spots in the litter, the sawdust sticks together well enough to not fall through the slits in the scooper.

[Sarita]

See if you can find wood stove pellets (without accelerate) which are much cheaper than feline pine.

Also something used in horses stalls which is basically the same thing. I think Tractor Supply has something called Equine Pelleted Bedding which is $6 for 40 pounds. I use something called Lone Star Bedding but I think it’s only available in Texas. I think I pay $6 for 35 pounds.

[Flint]

I’ll try a litter scoop tomorrow when I clean her box. I can’t get wood stove pellets here in Louisiana unless it’s winter. They are seasonal, I already tried. I’ll have to try the horse bedding we have a tractor supply down the street! I still won’t be wasting litter, though!

[Meatloaf N Bunnito]

What I use for bedding, which my buns seem happy with, is a base layer of OxBow straw pellets and then Aspen pet bedding on top. I use the Foster’s and Smith brand of aspen bedding because it has a much finer chop that doesn’t get stuck as much in my buns’ fur. The pellets clump to make it easier to scoop out damp areas. For me i have to empty their litter box once a day since i have two poo machines lol. Least i know my buns are healthy lol.

[Author]

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