Litter training problems 2nd go around

[Mrs.HoneyBun]

Hey there, I have a few questions for you guys. I have 2 buns, both fixed. 2yr old Honey Bun (female) and 1yr old Jax (male). My husband and I have had Honey Bun for 13 months now, she was very easy to potty train and very laid back. She was not hard to take care of at all. She was a free roaming house rabbit (at all times, day and night) for about 6 months. Well, 3 months ago, we decided to get her a friend, so we went to the pound and found Jax. He is super sweet, very hyper unlike Honey Bun. After about 1 month of “bonding” they fell in love. They have been glued together for almost 2 months now. I hardly ever separate them because they both get upset and fussy. Jax was not litter trained when we got him, but is doing very well at keeping his waste in the litter boxes. 

So there was the background, my problem is … now that Jax is doing get with the litter box, Honey Bun will not use them at all. I have them set up in my laundry room. Its about 8×4 and is in my kitchen. I removed the laundry room door and put up a baby gate so they could not hop out and still see us while in there. The floor is slick tile, I have down a medium size rug in their area with their veggie bowl, water bowl, and pellet bowl on it. Honey Bun never moves from that rug with the food. And she soils all over the rug every few hours. I have 2 small litter boxes and 1 large litter box in their room. What should I do? 

Also, I’ve tried moving the food off the rug and she eats less and will still soil near the food bowls when she does hop to them. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Sorry it’s so long, just wanted to give as much detail as possible. 

Thank you!!! 

[Megabunny]

Sounds like the rug IS her new litter box. My little one will not go off her “island” to venture anywhere either because of the floor. I’m guessing you need to get something down on the floor that she’s able to move around on. There are different materials that other people will be able to suggest, like plastic runners and maybe corroplast(?) I wonder if a cheap indoor/outdoor carpet that’s big enough to keep the litter boxes on would work? Get the floor clean before laying down a different flooring, like w/ vinegar and water, to get any residual smell off the floor and start fresh. That’s all I’ve got. I hope someone else gets on, too, with more.  Oh, and you could even try some white newspaper or something along that line on the floor. I mean, you could use printed newspaper, but feet will get stained. That may be all the traction she needs to get her moving and it’s easy to clean up.  Our local newspaper sells the ends of their rolls for cheap (used to be free). It’s just something you could try to see if you can get her back to her litter, then use something better for longer use

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