Litter Training Baby Lop-Ear

[Alex and Sweep!]

Last week I bought a new baby lop-eared bunny (one month old) who I named Sweep. She has a fairly small cage to start, with her raised litter box (with a grate) in one corner and her water/food in the other. I have also been letting her out and about in my bedroom (where I keep the cage). I want to try to get her to do her business inside the cage but was given some unspecific advice from a friend, so she hasn’t exactly been learning very well these last ten days and keeps having accidents – though not necessarily in the same spots.

 

When she has, I have taken her to her cage and – since I am alone in the house and she will run everywhere – locking her inside it. I know that’s not ideal, but I don’t want her to run around and have another accident while I am trying to clean up the last! I have been putting the tissues in her litterbox (not all of them!) and sweeping her poops in there, too. But mostly, I just want to make sure she’s peeing inside her cage and not outside!

 

I am having a hard time concatenating all the advice around on how to litter-train my bunny, so if anyone could give me anything concrete to improve on what I’m doing already, I would greatly appreciate it!

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Here’s a great article
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/LitterboxTraining/tabid/62/Default.aspx

As for the rest, it takes time. Some bunnies get it immediately, but others take a month or so. I got Samson from a pet store, but they were in this huge tub pen and on solid ground, so I think Samson grew up knowing he pooped and knew he liked it in one spot. I just got Sweets a couple days ago from a “breeder”, she was raised in a cage 3 feet off the floor and I’m pretty sure she has no idea what those balls are that are surrounding her all the sudden. She’s going to take a lot more work than Samson did.

Sooo, moral of that story, I’m keeping her in the bathroom, have 2 litterboxes with hay in them (and make sure the hay is in a corner or up against the wall, otherwise they’re just as likely to stand next to the box and eat the hay). Keep sweeping up her poops as often as you can, she’ll get it eventually.

Oh, and when she’s out of the cage she should have a litterbox too for awhile. Samson now just goes in the one in her pen, but while she was younger I had 4 around the room.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Oh and welcome!! Beautiful baby you’ve got there!

 

ETA, is your bun 4 weeks? Buns shouldn’t be seperated from their mum until 6-8 weeks (preferably 8).

[Elrohwen]

I think more litterboxes could help. Also make sure that you thoroughly clean up every accident because if it smells like a bathroom (to a bunny) then it must be a bathroom 😛

A month old is also very very young – 8 weeks is ideal for taking the bun away from mom – and it could be that she’s too young to grasp this concept right now, so stick with it.

[Alex and Sweep!]

I will get another litter box for her for outside this week some time; I think that may fix some of the accidents that are happening when she’s in my bedroom, at least. I live in a small apartment and share with a house mate so I can’t get too huge a cage or leave her in the bathroom or anything, but I think with another litter box and some patience she’ll get the hang of it.

 

I’m not sure exactly how old she is. The woman at the pet store said she was one month old, and she was in a pen with a bunch of other lop-ears of different colors. I’m pretty sure she was separated too early, at least within the pet store, but I live in China. Which is to say, I know that there are worse places I could have gotten my bunny, and I’m not sure how much better it could have gotten.

[Elrohwen]

It’s not your fault that the store separated her too young – hopefully she’ll be nice and healthy and not have any issues from it. Is she eating and pooping alright?

[Alex and Sweep!]

Yes, absolutely! She loves her pellets and alfalfa hay, and knows the sound of her treat bag (dried mango) quite well. I also treat her to a bite of banana in the mornings when I’m having breakfast. And she poops plenty. She was skittish her first night home, but I figured that was partly getting her shots, and partly the new home. She’s settled in quite well, and doesn’t seem intimidate by bigger areas of the house even though I try not to take her outside my bedroom too often for now.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Oh I agree it’s not your fault! She’s sooo sweet! Are there any good exotic vets in your area? Is she eating lots of timothy or alfalfa hay?

[Alex and Sweep!]

No exotic vets that I’m aware of, but in Beijing rabbits are a pretty common house pet (though not treated nearly as well as their counterparts in non-urban settings) so I’m sure a regular vet will be able to handle her. She’s eating plenty of alfalfa hay! I can’t refill her tray fast enough…

[Alex and Sweep!]

Just thought I would update everyone! I bought Sweep another litter box and put it in the corner she used the most, and she just peed in it! This makes me a very happy bunny owner. For anyone else – don’t fight it, just get another litter box.

[Elrohwen]

Yay! Great news!

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