Litter Training a Damaged Rescue Rabbit

[Nova]

I apologize if this has been asked before. The Search option for the forum is currently down.

We rescued a rabbit two weeks ago. It was a last minute thing, he was in trouble and I decided to save him. Although I did not know what this would entail, please know I will do whatever is necessary to give this rabbit a good life.

He is an 8 month old Lionhead. He was roughly 40% underweight for his age, he was missing patches of fur (I assume he pulled them out himself due to stress), he had never been outside of a cage in his entire life, and he was terrified of people. He wouldn’t eat anything, so I got desperate and tried Cheerios (I know, bad, but its better than nothing). Over that two weeks I have seen a HUGE change in this little guy. He’s happy and gaining weight. I do not put him in his cage. I cannot. He associates that with terrible things, and he has such joy running free.

Unfortunately, he poops everywhere. He mostly stays in one room and he does have a litterbox that he uses, but he uses everything else too. What I’ve read about litter training says I am supposed to put him in the litterbox (can’t pick him up) and pet him and show him affection when he uses it (can’t do that either, he barely tolerates touch). I can’t reward him with veggies or treats because he doesn’t seem to care half the time. 

I understand why he is so scared of people, and I know he will warm up to me more in time (he stopped running when we come into the room) but how can I litter train a bunny that doesn’t seem to respond to reward? I need to do this now before he gets too used to pooping wherever he pleases. 

Again, my apologies if this info is somewhere. Search is down. 

[Wick & Fable]

Do not worry about the search being down — we encourage multiple posts of the same questions because there’s always new information, updated experiences, and diverse opinions! Litter training is a common topic, and every situation can be different, so I’m glad you posted.

Thank you for rescuing this rabbit. It sounds like he had a tough time, but he’s on the mend.

This is tricky because you do accurately list the usual ways people recommend to litter train. On one hand, I want to recommend to simply tolerate it until he gets more comfortable in the environment so you can then -fine tune- his litter behavior. If you are not already, quickly taking all poops into the litter box and wiping up pees and putting soiled mediums in the litter box can help. If you find he’s fixated on certain spots, then put a litter box there alternatively.

Depending on how large his free roam space is, you can limit it to not a cage, but an X pen. So it’s still larger than a cage, but you have some more control on the area and the litter box will be “larger” in there. It’s actually recommended to start litter box training in an X pen, then expand to a larger and larger space as you go.

Again, thank you for rescuing this rabbit!

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[tobyluv]

Thank you for rescuing this bunny and giving him the good life that he never had before. You didn’t mention whether he is neutered or not, but I assume he probably isn’t. It can be more difficult to litter box train a rabbit that is not spayed or neutered. It can take weeks or months for a rabbit to be comfortable in a new home, especially if the rabbit wasn’t treated well before and may have a distrust of people. If he isn’t neutered, after he has settled in the house better and comes to trust you and let you handle him, you could think about getting him neutered. That might help a lot with the litter training.

[Nova]

Thank you for your replies. It’s very comforting to me to know that it’s okay for me to give this bunny time to properly acclimate before attempting to litter train him. 

Right now, he has the entire downstairs to run free, but only poops in a front den that we don’t use. He almost always only pees in his litter box, which I am grateful for. The front den is his “safe space.” He likes it there. 

I have found that crawling around on the floor in that room several times a day, picking up his poops, has actually helped him bond with me. He is no longer afraid of me in his room and will even let me give him the occasional pet. We are making progress. 

Here’s my plan, please tell me if I need to tweak it: I’m going to continue bonding with my bunny (my husband and son are doing the exact same things, not accosting him, letting him get used to us on his level) until he readily accepts treats. He’s a pretty clever bunny (He unplugs electronics with his paws, no joke, not sure if this is normal…). Then I’ll proceed with litter training him further. Since he only goes in one room and I am there to clean it several times a day we don’t have bunny poop everywhere so its not an immediate issue. 

I’m torn on getting him fixed immediately. If we got another bunny, I absolutely would, but the idea of putting him through more trauma right now makes me uneasy. He’s had so much change to deal with that I’d rather wait on that until he is fully integrated and secure. But if this is the wrong course to take, please tell me. I’m still learning and I’m trying not to make too many mistakes. 

Thank you for the guidance. I appreciate it more than you know. 

[LittlePuffyTail]

I think what you are doing and your plan sounds great. If it were me, I would let him have more time to settle before a neuter but keep in mind that his litter habits will most likely not improve until he is neutered.

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