litter training help for first time bunny mama

[lulu the bun]

I have a female bunny around 1-2 months old. She has a litter box in her cage. She pees in there a majority of the time, but occasionally pees in another corner of the cage. She has also peed on the carpet a few times. I always wipe off the pee and put the soaked tissue in her litter but she still does it occasionally. What can I do to make her pee in one spot only?



The true problem is her poop. She poops in her litter box, but not so much. She likes to poop all over my room in trails while running around and playing (for marking territory, I guess). When will she stop doing that? Can I train her to stop? I know that people say it will get better after rabbits get fixed, but she can’t get fixed for another couple months because she is so young.



She also poops all around her cage. Why does she poop there when she has a litter box to go to? She has used the litter box before, so shouldn’t she know that her poop belongs there? I read that rabbits are very clean animals that like to keep all of their pee and poo in one spot but she hasn’t been doing that quite as much.

Any advice would be helpful

[Sarita]

I would suggest reading this:

https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO…fault.aspx 

[bmt87]

I think the link Sarita was trying to post was this one: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/5/PID/940/Default.aspx . Hopefully that one isn’t broken… if not, a forum leader should stop by and fix them so you can get the info. It’s under the top in the BinkyBunny header under “Bunny Info” and there is a section on Litter Training.

I wanted to also add to that column that at such a young age litter training can be really hit or miss. A lot of bunnies are not fully trained until they are fixed – which is HIGHLY recommended. There is also a section on that under “Bunny Info” called “Bunny Gone Nutty?”.

Good luck – the biggest thing is not to get discouraged! When Lola was as little as your bun she did the same thing with the poos and I honestly think it’s kind of like an infant human in that they just don’t realize they are actually going yet. You can try filling a litter box (I just use Rubbermaid containers) with litter (I use Carefresh) all on the bottom and a big bunch of hay on one side…it encourages them to poop while they are eating and they get the hang of it really quickly. Most of the time they end up training themselves this way and it’s not a difficult task at all.

Hope that helps a little.

[Hailey]

Hey guys, just thought I’d contribute by adding a couple tips– don’t forget that rabbits do not understand discipline, so don’t yell at her or bonk her on the bum, but putting her in the cage for a while could help her associate peeing outside her box with losing her freedom. Also know that rabbits will almost always go to the bathroom in a corner of their choosing, so look in her house and find which corner she’s been going in and move the litter box there. Another thing, she probably won’t be fully litter trained until she’s a little older, an adolescent, because baby bunnies pee a whole lot more than they do when they grow up. If you get her fixed when she is old enough she will be much easier to train and should stop going outside of her box. Lastly, never use litter for cats, because it is toxic for your baby bun. Don’t forget to study her closely and when she goes into her litter box, reward her with a few strokes on the forehead and a little bite of roughage– this will make her want to go in her litter box because she will associate it with reward and/or praise from her mama!
I hope this helps also, we all know how frustrating cleaning up pee can be! Good luck!

-Hailey&Peanut

 

edit: forgot to add– You might want to buy another litter box for your room or wherever she roams, so at least she has the option in case she has an accident because she would rather not be locked up in her cage. On the other hand, it’s recommended you don’t let your bunny out of the cage for too long so that they have a much greater chance of learning the litter box a lot sooner. Buns are very clean creatures (you probably notice they clean themselves a whole lot) and they won’t want to be living in a real dirty environment… so they will eventually teach themselves over time. Be patient with her. 

[AnnaNutBread]

Great post Hailey & Peanut!

[Hailey]

 
Thank you AnnaNutBread!

 

–Hailey & Peanut

[LittlePuffyTail]

1-2 months is very young. Most bunnies at that age don’t really get the whole potty thing. Keep at it, cleaning up her area and giving her several litter boxes filled with hay in the areas that she chooses (where she poops the most). Getting her spayed, when she is old enough, will also help.

[Author]

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