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- This topic has 20sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 10 months ago by
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Sounds like Tambor is about the same size as our Breintje. We just finished our litterbox training with the amazing help and tips from the BB forum members, thanks again peeps! Here’s what we have now (30*45*4 cm, it’s actually the bottom of a muffin carrier
):This is the trial-and-error process we went through:
First we tried a corner model litterbox sold by the pet store as dwarf rabbit litter box. That failed spectacularly, because he couldn’t fit his rear end in properly.
Then we tried a litterbox about 30*30 cm, which could have worked, except that Breintje just did his business right next to it or just hung his rear end over the side.
Finally we tried a box that tightly fits the area of the cage where he goes, and then things started to get better.
We often had misses though, and it turns out that rabbits love to pee on soft things. We tried to make the cage more comfortable by putting towels, blankets, pillows, cardboard or hay into it, but nothing worked. We only got perfect litterbox attendance when we removed all soft items from the cage. He doesn’t seem to mind.
So this is how we got our stubborn bun to be more cleanly.
The training process itself goes like this:
– Remove all distracting surfaces from his cage, only the litterbox should be comfortable.
– Scoop all poops into the litterbox, clean up spilled pee immediately with white vinegar.
– In the first weeks: clean litterbox every other day so your bun doesn’t find it too messy. Only wash the litterbox with a bit of water, so the smell remains. This helps to recognise the spot.
– Reward your bun greatly when he uses the litterbox, give him treats, pettings and use a happy voice. If he attempts to go in the wrong place (look for the lifting of the tail), gently pick him up and put him in the litterbox. Positive reinforcement works best with bunnies.
Good luck with the training!
(Note: intact rabbits are more difficult to train, I don’t know if Tambor is neutered, but that may help too.)
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Posted By Yilina on 12/16/2016 6:08 AM
Hi there!Yes, we are starting to put hay there (we didn’t do it before because we didn’t even know it could be done).
The current box is 30cm x 20cm and 4cm high. Should it be bigger? It is hard to know how big it is supposed to be and what “moving around comfortably” means exactly?
Hugs!
I serve hay to mine in their litter trays too, they didn’t get on well with a hay rack!
I would say as long as he can turn around and stretch out then it should be fine
If he has to squish to fit in then definitely size up. I use ‘large’ rectangular cat litter boxes. One measures 44cm x 30cm x 10cm and the other measures 49.5cm x 37cm x 13.5cm. You might find even if he can stretch out in his current tray, the height might not be tall enough so when he lifts his tail to pee, he might completely pee over the sides. I had that problem with lower sided trays. -
Thank you for all your advice! You are lovely
. Spaying is definitely on the table but, unfortunately, we live in Reunion Island (an isolated French territory in the Indian Ocean, near Madagascar) and there are no rabbit vets here. We are a bit scared of having him spayed by someone who does not treat rabbits on a regular basis. We went to check litter boxes today and we found a storage box that is 33*40*6! I think that could work better than the one we currently have. We will look around for one that fits tightly the read of the cage (as @Ellie from The Netherlands so kindly suggested), but I don’t have much hope. The cage is 60cm wide (110cm long) and I haven’t seen anything that long that is not huge on the other sides too and, so, would take up most of his cage.
We tried to find cat litter boxes too, as @bam suggested, but they are very tall He has trouble even jumping his 17cm tall cage bottom to get out. Tambor doesn’t not have anything soft in his cage (we tried to put hay at the beginning but he would push it aside and sleep on the bare floor). Since we got him, we have been doing ALL the litter training steps @Ellie from The Netherlands suggested. He recognises his current box all right but still pees 50% of the time outside and poops about 20% outside too.
He seems to enjoy peeing where he sleeps during the day (outside his cage). We have tried limiting his time outside, but he gets very anxious when he is locked inside his cage during the day. We can only do it for 1 hour at lunch time and 1 hour at dinner time (he pees and poos in the box during those 2 hours). He was kept almost 24/7 inside his former, tiny cage when he lived with his former owner, so we think he may have some anxiety problems about being locked up. Right now he is inside his cage sleeping but with the door open. As soon as he realises he is locked up for longer than 1 hour, he begins trashing and thumping. He is fine at night.
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Thank you for your advise and kind words. We are not originally from La Réunion, but we sure are loving it here <3, although it has its drawbacks, like the lack of rabbit vets :S. Have you ever visited the island? We lived in mainland France as well but Reunion is very magical
.Unfortunately, I don’t think we can limit the space outside his cage less than what it is now ( a 10 sqm room). How could I do it? Yes, I think he just “forgets” his litter tray in there during the day and prefers to pee where he is. When he is in his cage he never misses it!
Hugs!
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Hmmm its generally the other way around (buns go back to pee but every now and again poops get forgotten
) lol As he is not neutered this could be a reason for it….
To limit his space, well you give him literally only a metre extra or (50 cm) outside of his cage to start with, then he will go back inside to pee as he wont want to pee too close to his ‘bedroom’…. and then after a few days or a week, extend it to a metre extra…. and so on.10sq.m. is a fair sized room (unless you’re having a dinner party for 20 people ! Lol
) so you should be able to manage. (I’ve never been to la reunion, but i have 2 friends who are from there so i hear a lot about it. I am in Lille
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Hi everybody,
I am happy to announce (
) that Tambor is litter-trained!!!!!!! We had trouble with him peeing outside his litter box but he hasn’t been doing that in over a week. I think we found out the reason: he was marking territory with his pee. When he started to relax (he has only been with us for 2 months)/when he felt his room smelled like him enough, he just stopped doing it (even if we always cleaned it right after with vinegar). Now he always goes back to his litter tray (which is big enough now ) when he needs to use the toilet. However, when he is outside his room and in another part of the house, he will still pee there once in that day. We guess he will stop doing it when the house smells enough like him. Also, about 3 days ago, I accidentally put a plushie toy in his hiding stop inside his room and he peed next to it and took it with his teeth and threw it away forcefully
. So I guess that means he was using his pee for marking. Thank you everybody!! <3<3<3<3
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It may be because hes not neuteured, it may be teenage years. He may calm down in time. If not, then make him a dig box ? and fill it with screwed up balls of paper. I tidy my little balls away every night in tbe box and everry morning they are everywhere.!!! I dont know who does what, but they sure are having fun….. ( or frustration because i do hide pellets in there from time to time….)
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