Need help potty training a baby bunny!

[Shady]

So I recently got a large cage for my 8 week old bun and I just finished setting it up earlier. I’ve put all her food and water on one side and I have a hay/pellet feeder right in front of a makeshift potty tray because I know she likes to eat and do her business at the same time.

My issue is that I just watched her climb on top of the hay section of the feeder, hang her little butt off one edge, lift her little tail, and just pee in the corner of the cage where her potty tray isn’t placed. I’m honestly so confused and shocked because the sight was so funny, but also very disappointing since I put so much effort into trying to potty train her. I don’t have access to litter yet (money’s tight at the moment) and honestly, I don’t know if using litter will even make a difference since she’s not fixed yet, she’s too young. Does anyone have any tips? I’d upload some photos of what everything looks like, but I’m using my phone and my laptop is ancient.

[kurottabun]

Bunnies usually have a favourite spot (particularly a corner) to pee, and this may not necessarily be the spot that you put their litter box in.

Observe and find out where her favourite pee spot is in the cage and place the litter box there instead. If she pees anywhere else, soak the pee up with a paper towel and put it in her box. Even if she’s not spayed yet, she can still be litter trained – although there may be some territorial pee or poop around sometimes.

You may have to retrain her again when she is spayed, but in the meantime litter training her is still better than just doing her business everywhere all the time.

[Shady]

Thank you so much! Before I got her cage, I had her placed in a foot and a half bin just temporarily and she peed once in the cardboard tray I cut out for her, but then she just started being spastic about it and peeing everywhere else. I’ve just cleaned her cage and put everything back, soaked up the urine and placed it in the tray with a few adjustments and improvisation before seeing your response so I’ll try and see if she favors that specific corner tomorrow. Hopefully it works.

[Sirius&Luna]

It sounds like you haven’t had her for very long, so I don’t think its surprising that she hasn’t learned yet. It takes time and patience, not all bunnies automatically pick it up. Just keep persisting!

[Shady]

Yeah, I’ve only had her for a few days now. Mom brought her home on the 1st from an Easter party.

She did the same thing a few hours ago– climbed up onto her feeder and peed over the side so I’m going to try repositioning her tray and see if that helps.

I’m a little worried though because I don’t think she’s eating as much hay as she should be… it might be dental issues as I’ve seen from other posts on here, but would she be in any pain if that was the case? Because she seems very, very happy, binky-ing and flopping all over the place. She has a few strands of Timothy hay every now and then.

Also, are there any brand of litter you guys would recommend? Should I go out and get it from PetCo/PetSmart or should I get it off Amazon?

[Sirius&Luna]

An Easter party… :/ Bunnies should not be Easter presents, its so irresponsible. Obviously your bunny has made it to a good, caring owner, but many others won’t be so lucky.

What is the rest of her diet like? Can you explain this hay/pellet feeder that she keeps climbing on? I’m having trouble visualising it! It might be best to remove it for now, since she seems to be making a habit of it, and just putting a pile of hay in a corner of her litter tray, and giving her a small bowl of pellets it will also encourage her to poop in the litter tray if the pile of hay is in there.

When people say baby rabbits need ‘unlimited’ pellets, in practice this doesn’t often mean giving them unlimited, as it does effect their hay consumption. When my most recent rabbit was a baby, I would give him about 1/8 a cup, twice a day, and he wouldn’t get through them all – however as soon as he started eating them all, I reduced it so it wouldn’t interfere with him eating hay.

All of that said – I think its best to take new baby buns to the vet for a check up anyway, especially one that has come from a questionable breeder. The vet can confirm sex, check teeth, eyes, nails, coat etc, and will also be able to give diet advice, and confirm if you need vaccinations in your country.

Litter – I use paper based pellets, but lots of people use wood pellets, a non-clumping type is essential sawdust/wood shavings should be avoided. It should just be in the tray, not the rest of the hutch to avoid confusion. 

[Shady]

I was fully aware of the care and responsibility of taking care of a rabbit and I spent days researching before so I didn’t get her as an Easter prize/present, don’t worry.

The hay/pellet feeder has a section to stuff in the hay that’s kept towards the back end and it’s guarded by a fence to keep it in and there’s this elongated bowl area just below to put the pellets in, you can attach it to the wires of the cage and it just hangs securely. I’m so horrible at explaining things but if you wanna see what it’s like, just google “hay and pellets combo feeder.” Sorry.

At my cousin’s house, her original home, they’d give her hay and pellets (I’m not sure what kind or if they were unlimited or monitored) and some veggies, but I’m scared to give her veggies yet myself because I read somewhere that she was too young. I’ve been giving her unlimited Timothy hay and alfalfa pellets, but I think she may be a slow eater because she doesn’t get through much of the pellets in a day, though she frequents those more. When I first got the hay, I placed it in one area of her temporary bin and she actually peed on it as well as the other corner across so I’ll try putting some hay in the tray now! She likes to nibble on things and toss the hay around so it seems her teeth are pretty strong.

I wish I was able to afford the vet visit, but they charge $90+ just for a physical and the exotic vets in my area seem questionable from the reviews I’ve seen. I’m scared to even ask how much they charge for neutering, but I’m trying to save money for both.

I think I would prefer to use wood based pellets just for my own comfort cause I’ve seen that it’s okay for them to ingest it, but what you said is actually worrying because my cousin kept her bunnies on wood shavings. Why is it bad exactly?

[Deleted User]

Bunnies are expensive. An emergency visit for an issue like GI stasis can run you sometimes over $1000. But they need to see a vet to check their overall health at least once a year, especially new bunnies, and especially if teeth are a potential issue. Bunnies with teeth issues can stop eating and if a bunny stops eating they can go into stasis and die. Also, days of research isn’t really a lot of research. There are so many intricacies to bunnies and so many conflicting opinions on diet and care that days isn’t nearly enough time to have done a good amount of research.

Wood shavings are bad for bunnies because it can affect their lungs. Also, when your bunny’s hormones kick in he will more than likely lose litter habits anyways and will need to be retrained after being neutered. Keep her food and hay near the litter because most buns poop where they eat, so it will help a little. You can also nudge her into her litter box if she’s peeing slightly over.

[sarahthegemini]

“I put so much effort into trying to potty train her.”

What have you actually done other than just putting her hay rack near her litter tray? And why don’t you have litter? I’m sorry but if money is so tight that you can’t afford litter, you really shouldn’t have got a rabbit :-/

[Shady]

Seems like someone’s in a bad mood this morning.

My rent is more than I’m being paid from my job. Just because money is tight does not mean I’m unable to care for her. Not everyone is blessed with fair paying jobs and financial stability, some of us just have to make due and the fact that we try is okay.

I’ve gone out of my way to make sure she’s getting proper care, the right diet, correct housing, and I’ve used all the tips and tricks I’ve learned from this website and everywhere else to do what I can.

[Deleted User]

It’s the truth. If your rent is more than your job pays you, you can’t even afford to support yourself it sounds like. You can’t just make due when another life is in your hand, especially one that you only researched for few days and got from an Easter party. How are you going to support a bunny if they become sick. Or even a basic vet visit that you can’t afford. We’re not trying to be mean, but again, bunnies are a lot of money and a lot of care. Litter is a basic essential, that even a small bag is only $10-$15. If you can’t afford that how can you afford an emergency vet visit, or a spay because female bunnies absolutely need to be spayed for their health. Again, we’re not trying to be mean.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Shady on 4/05/2018 9:25 AM

Seems like someone’s in a bad mood this morning.

My rent is more than I’m being paid from my job. Just because money is tight does not mean I’m unable to care for her. Not everyone is blessed with fair paying jobs and financial stability, some of us just have to make due and the fact that we try is okay.

I’ve gone out of my way to make sure she’s getting proper care, the right diet, correct housing, and I’ve used all the tips and tricks I’ve learned from this website and everywhere else to do what I can.

Don’t know who that comment was aimed at. I’m not in a bad mood. I was asking for you to specify what you’ve done to potty train her .

And unfortunately, rabbits are not cheap pets. Therefore it seems awfully silly to get one when you cannot afford something as basic as litter.

[kurottabun]

As you probably already know, vet care is probably the most expensive as they are considered exotic pets, so that’s really something to consider if money is tight. Would still like to commend your efforts in coming here and asking for advice though – at the very least you are educating yourself on the needs of a bun and trying your best to follow through.

I think I know which feeder you are referring to. I’ve been using a hay rack that is attached outside the cage, so the bars of the cage are equivalent to the “fence” of your feeder. Recently I found out that my bun hasn’t been eating as much hay as he should, so I took the advice from someone on this forum and moved the hay to be on top of his litter box instead. He started eating a lot more – that was when I realised he prefers eating from the ground rather than from a rack. Perhaps your bun is the same.

Personally I use wood pellets as litter. I’m not from the US or Europe so I won’t know the brands, but it should be quite affordable.

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