Litter Training Problems

[srrabbitto]

 Hey all!

 

I recently got a house rabbit,  He is an awesome little fellow.  I got lots of advise before getting him on how to litter train him.  The biggest pointers I could find were basically the same as the ones on the forum here.

I kept him in his cage for 4 weeks, he has got his own corner he uses for the toilet, although I do not have a specific litter tray for him.  His food bowl and water container are right next to this area.  After the 4 weeks, I started opening the cage so he could come out if he wanted to, but he didn’t for about a week.  When he did, though, he had a great time!  He was running all over the house and jumping about and totally loving it

Now comes the problem, after about 10 days, he has started dropping pellets on the sofa and the chairs.  Not anywhere else – only the sofa.  Every time I catch him at it, I put him back in the cage next to the litter corner to persuade him that it should be done there and nowhere else!  He has also peed on the sofa a couple of times.  However, he does not seem to get the idea.  Can anyone give any suggestions?

Thanks very much!

[Beka27]

Welcome!

Dropping pellets is typically a bun’s way of marking what is THEIRS. The first question is going to be whether or not he is neutered yet.

Rabbits tend to like marking on soft surfaces (beds/couches) b/c they smell most like us. Can you limit his access to these areas?

[srrabbitto]

 Hey, thanks for getting back so quickly!

He is only about 10 weeks old so not neutered yet.  The best I can do in limiting his access to these areas is to either keep him in his cage (which is obviously not a good option) or to just gently shoo him away from the places he is pooing.

I have read that rubbing him with a towel and then rubbing the towel in these places may help as well.  Do you think this might help?

Thanks a lot!

[Beka27]

It’s worth a shot. Something else people have done is put a sheet or something down and let him mark the heck out of it, don’t clean it up for a couple days, until he’s satisfied it is his and then he stops. (BUT… then you have poop on the couch for a couple days.)

He can be neutered within the next month or so, this behavior should decrease then too…

[srrabbitto]

 Outstanding, thanks a lot.  I think the blanket on the sofa, and letting him mark it is a good idea.  So I’ll give it a go.  An will getting him neutered shortly too….

Thanks for the help, I’l get some picture up of him as soon as I can!

[Nibbles_NZ]

There have been quite a few people with the pooping on the sofa issue. He is definitely telling you it’s his. Do you let him run the entire house? I found that it is not at all easy to litter train when they get such a big space right off. I had to confine mine to his cage, then he got an x pen, then a room, not he does well but this took a little time and a lot of patience. Also, I agree with Beka, after he is neutered the marking will decrease. It will take a while though. I would suggest that you get him neutered as soon as he is old enough. I waited until my boys hormones went into overdrive (he was only 4 months old). It is not easy after that happens. Can you block him from the couch and confine him to one room or a large part of a room until he masters that? Do you have any other animals?

[srrabbitto]

 He has the run of the whole house, but generally sticks to just the living room, where his cage is.

It is a relatively small area and I can certainly make sure he goes not further that that.  As for other animals, no, I don’t have any others….

[GrumpyBun]

I had exactly this problem when mine were babies. I had a sheet that I covered the sofa with at playtime which was covered in pee, and they did stop marking after they were neutered. Freedom bit by bit was key as well. Patience will probably be the way forward – good luck!

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