New litter: pee but won’t poo in it

[MissKris&Koji]

Gah. Okay. I’ve given it 5 days. Koji mostly refuses to poop in his new litter. We first had that Green Aspen pelleted aspen, he liked it. I had a huge bag of YN to use up so we went through that, again liked it fine. But I wanted to go back to wood so I picked up Feline Pine thinking I may get Equine Pine cheap if he likes it rather than trying to hunt for fuel pellets year round.

Well, he seems to be peeing in it. Not seeing puddles, and there are “crumbled” spots in the litter if you know what I mean. It doesn’t get darker where wet or totally degrade like the other 2 we used. Anyhow, at first it was an all out refusal to poop in it (I switched just one of the 3 boxes at first but some pee). He would leave poos in the pen in stead, and in the other boxes. Well I put some in there for a couple days and waited, nothing changed.

Finally 2 days ago I switched the other boxes to it cuz I had run out of YN. Some more success with him pooing in the litter, but still leaving piles in the pen and kind of turning up his nose at it.

Should I just wait it out? Or should I go pick up a small bag of YN to mix into the pine and hope he gets the hang of it? I have a whole 40lb bag of this stuff so…. I don’t want to give up on it haha. Especially since it’s so easy to find, and potentially can get Equine Pine instead. I just thought for sure if he’d been on wood pellet litter at his foster home, and at first with me, this stuff would be fine.

[Sarita]

I say give him what he wants. Also have you tried mixing the litters? Maybe that will help too.

But in the end, if you want him to use his litter box, you are probably going to have to use what he will use. Finicky rabbit!

[MissKris&Koji]

I didn’t try mixing the two together. I will have to get another bag of YN to do that. I just don’t want to use YN because I have found staples in it (twice now). I put the litter in by hand always so I should catch that but…. it just worries me, you know? But maybe I will try that to see if he will take to the feline pine, and if he doesn’t then we’ll have to figure out something else.

I’m a bit encouraged that at least some of the poops are landing in the box currently. Progress seems hopeful. I was thinking perhaps because these pellets are harder that may be what he doesn’t like, but if that is the case I’m surprised he’s peeing on them, and some poops on them too. I guess I will try doing a 50/50 mix tho for a bit, and slowly try to reduce the YN in it and see how that goes.

[Beka27]

It would be worth a shot to mix the two litters! If his habits improve, you might be able to slowly “wean him off” of the YN by reducing the amount slowly. Does he get hay in the box?

[RabbitPam]

Sammy was very, very finicky about brands of litter, and I had to cave to her preference. It’s helpful to buy the small bags when trying new products to get the reviews from your bunny. I remember donating a large bag of Feline Pine to a friend with a kitten when Sammy said she didn’t want it. (kicked it out of the pan and around the cage, than ran out until I cleaned it up. Divas. Sheesh.)

But once I got the kind she liked (Aspen pellets and/or aspen shavings) she is super good about going in her litter pan.
Pleasing them about the few things that are important to their lives is usually worth it in the long run. Even if I do make a special trip to the only pet store that sells Aspen pellets – about 10 miles away – to stock up on a couple of huge bags. Which I need to do this weekend….

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