Kicking Litter

[Rachelle]

We are sooooo in love with our bunny! We just got him 2 weeks ago, so we are still learning…

He has a habit of kicking litter out of the cage. We have a corner litter pan. I know he’s just a baby… but I wondered if this behavior will change or if it’s something they always do? He sleeps in our bedroom, and it’s carpeted, so I vacuum all the time and, bless his little heart, the sound doesn’t bother him at all. LOL

[MarkBun]

Some buns may do that forever. Mine does it if she feels that her litter pan isn’t clean enough for her (so she cleans it herself). One remedy is to buy one of the corner litter pans that have a screen on top of it. This stops the distribution of litter all over the place and it helps to keep their paws clean.

[JK]

OR you might want to get a bigger litter pan. The corner ones look awfully small to me. I actually use a Large Kitty Litter box and it’s perfect. That is if you have a large enough area for him outside of the cage to use a bigger one.

[Beka27]

welcome here!

lol!  don’t worry, eventually you’ll stop vacuuming all the time b/c you’ll get used to it.

what kind of litter are you using?  is it something very lightweight?  there’s a good chance he’s not doing it on purpose, it’s just getting out when he jumps in and out.  if he is using the litterpan to potty, i wouldn’t be too concerned about some litter getitng out.  if it really bothers you tho, you could put up a bit of plastic on the outside of the cage to keep it a bit more confined.

[Gravehearted]

hi Rachelle – welcome to binky bunny!

I’d agree with Beka, swapping litters might really help. One of my bunnies kicked around carefresh and yesterdays news, but doesn’t do the same with the aspen supreme. you could also try a covered litterbox since it should really cut down on the mess.

I haven’t tried one of the corner pans with the screen that Markus mentioned, but it sounds promising too.

[wendyzski]

I have a dollar store dishpan for a litterbox and i got a wire cookie-cooling rack and set it in there on top of the litter when Pepper started kicking her litter out  (we use Feline Pine).  No more mess!

[kimberleyanddarren]

yes rachelle i used to hoover all the time when i first got hopscotch too but now im just like ahh i can live with abit of hay here and there lol i only hoover once a day now regardless lol after like a month of hoovering 2-4 times a day it just becomes ah forget it lol
i would recommend a bigger pan if you can get one, what kind of cage is it? if its one of those which just looks like a huge hamster cage then you could just fasten some kind of paper of hard plastic to the sides where the litter tray is and it may stop the litter going onto the floor and let it flick back into the box.

[Rachelle]

Thanks everyone!

Yes, we have a cage that looks like a big hamster cage. And we use the Kaytee Soft-Sorbent litter since it’s unscented and doesn’t have dyes or coloring.

I’ll attach a picture. I’m a bit of a clean nut, even my cat takes a bath! I vacuumed every day even before there was litter on the carpet. LOL I love my furbabies!!

1326221886871.jpg

[KatnipCrzy]

I have been really happy with using wood stove pellets as litter- cheap and great for odor control (I lay newspaper underneath to make dumping easier).

[ScooterandAnnette]

For what it’s worth, we have litter pans that are about 6″ tall, and our four dwarf rabbits have no issue hopping in and out of them. They do a good job of keeping litter in most of the time. Bear in mind they’re all adults, though.

[BinkyBunny]

Bailey loved to dig in her litterbox, even at 5 years old, and she still would be today if she wasn’t dealing with illness issues. You could put up cardboard along the sides of the cage to keep the litter in. Fasten it maybe with zipties – punch holes in the edges of the cardboard, and slip the zip tie through and fasten to the cage.

You’re bunny will soon outgrow that tiny cage, so if he’s a lifelong digger – check out the this thread regarding what to do about diggers, and examples of litterboxes that can solve the “mess” factor.

https://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=54&forumid=6&tpage=1&view=topic&postid=8944

[2buns2luv]

Our bunnies love to dig in their litter tray. I vacuum daily since they always, nomatter how clean it is empty it of it’s contents. We’ve tried various types of litter/bedding. Pine shavings were horrible and stuck to everything. We also tried the type of litter you’re using, still with the same reslut. We recently switched to a brand called yesterday’s news. It seems to be working fine, they still kick a vast majority of it out of the litter pan but it’s a million times easier to keep clean. Having a dustbuster might help as they’re not as noisy as some of the larger vacuum cleaners, and less of a hassle to use since you don’t have to lug out the large one on a daily basis.

[Rachelle]

… and since he’s so fuzzy it clings to his fur! LOL

I “dust” him off all the time. He loves to be held. I lay in bed and watch TV at night sometimes and he’ll lay on my chest and stretch his whole body straight out. SO cute!

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