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Hello
I just found this site today, but I already love it. I need some help, though. I have a male lionhead bunny named Downy, and he is a great rabbit all around, but we just cannot master litter training. For a while, he was doing well, only leaving a couple poos around the litterbox, but last week he started going half in the litterbox, and half outside the litterbox. Now I don’t know what to do to get him to stop going on the floor around his litterbox. Any suggestions? Also, can rabbits eat bluegrass hay rather than timothy? I was thinking about switching my guinea pigs to bluegrass but I wanted to make sure it was ok for bunnies to eat too. Thanks. -
Welcome Julia
Can you tell us a bit more about Downy? How old is he and how long have you had him? Is he neutered? What sort of litter box do you use? etc Loss of litter habits can be due to health issue, litter too dirty, litter too clean, new animal in house, bunny puberty and many other little things. The more info you can give the more suggestions we can give.
Bluegrass is fine for bunnies. -
Hi, Julia. Welcome.
Until you said he slept in his litter box, I was actually going to ask if it was too small. It may be an uncomfortable shape. (My bunny does better now with a rectangle instead of a corner box as she’s gotten bigger.)
The also may prefer one type of litter over another.
But first, try to get him to associate the box with going in it. When he urinates outside the box, wipe it up with a little paper towel, and put the soiled towel right back in the box. Scoop up all the poos into the box as well. Then put the hay in one end, so he smells where to go in one side and can munch hay while there. If it’s too clean (completely fresh litter at first) they don’t recognize it as their spot for going.
And he may just want it moved over slightly. They tend to pick a favorite corner in their cage, so you need to put the pan under them.
If you post some pictures (we LOVE pix) we can see to help. -
Hi guys. Thanks for the warm welcome
Downy is about 7-8 months old. I’ve had him since March of this year. He is not yet neutered, but I am working on that…funding the operation is an issue. In his cage, I use a very large rectangular box. He use to go in it faithfully, but recently stopped, and I think he holds it until he comes out of the cage because there aren’t any poos on the floor of his cage. When I clean the boxes, I always leave a few droppings in there so he knows that’s his spot. The thing that gets me is that aside from the occasional one or two he’ll leave in the middle of the room, he knows exactly where he is supposed to go, because all of the mess is in one small area right next to his boxes. Right now, he is basically free-range with the run of two connecting rooms, but based on what I’ve read, I should start keeping him confined to a small area until he is reliably going in his box. Also, I am going to switch to using Yesterday’s News and see if that helps. -
Well that makes sense! I didn’t even think that puberty could be the issue. I haven’t seen him pee outside of the box, but he very well could be. My carpets are very dark so it’s hard to tell, but I think for the most part he pees in the box. I wouldn’t care if he left a few poos outside, but it’s more like 30 poos outside
. Any idea why he’s not going in his litterbox in his cage at all? Thanks! -
“I haven’t seen him pee outside of the box, but he very well could be. My carpets are very dark so it’s hard to tell, but I think for the most part he pees in the box.” … Walk around barefoot… you’ll find out!
Also, the second litter box could help; some buns just like haveing one for their bed and one for their potty. Instead of a second litter box in his cage (becasue Leroy’s always been very good about using the toilet and I didn’t want to mess that up) I bought a smallish faux sheepskin cat bed for him. He LOVES it, does flops in it all the time, and that’s where he sleeps, when he’s in his cage. I just bought him another one for his corner of the living room, like his own personal couch!
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Posted By Barbie on 08/17/2009 01:19 PM
“I haven’t seen him pee outside of the box, but he very well could be. My carpets are very dark so it’s hard to tell, but I think for the most part he pees in the box.” … Walk around barefoot… you’ll find out!
Also, the second litter box could help; some buns just like haveing one for their bed and one for their potty. Instead of a second litter box in his cage (becasue Leroy’s always been very good about using the toilet and I didn’t want to mess that up) I bought a smallish faux sheepskin cat bed for him. He LOVES it, does flops in it all the time, and that’s where he sleeps, when he’s in his cage. I just bought him another one for his corner of the living room, like his own personal couch!
That sounds like a good idea because my Downy is a couch potato. Also, I switched his litter to Yesterday’s News, and he hates it. I don’t think he likes the feel of it on his feet, so now he’s not using the litterbox at all D:
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