problems litter training

[KatelynT]

 I just got a netherland bunny a few days ago. hes very sweet but im having some problems litter training him. at the pet store they told me he was already litter trained, but hes clearly not. infact, he likes to use his litter box as a bed! so to surpass that problem i put down some old t-shirts and he now uses that to lay on most of the time. but hes still not using his litter box to go to the bathroom. the major problem im having is that he doesnt go to the bathroom in one particular spot! he poops almost everywhere and no it seems like hes pooping on one side (right outside the litter box) and peeing in the other corner where the t-shirts are. how do i fix this? please help! 

 

 

ALSO! should i let him run around my room yet! at first he would come in and our of his cage, but now he seems to like under the bed more than his cage and i have to force him back into his cage. how should i handle this?

 

thanks!

[Sarita]

Hi Katelyn – sometimes it takes about a week for a rabbit to adjust to their new home. Also if he’s a baby then it make take longer. Have you read the litter training tips that are posted in the bunny info section? I suggest you start there for some ideas and try those.

You probably need to block underneath your bed so he does not go there – otherwise he will always go there and it will be difficult to get him out from there.

[RabbitPam]

Just for starters, try putting his litter box where the t-shirt is now since he prefers that spot. Then put all of the poos, plus a paper towel that you used to soak up his stray pee with, into the litter pan. It will smell like his bathroom spot and may get him used to it. Also, put a small pile of hay in the litter box in one corner. Bunnies tend to eat and go at the same time, so hay will attract him and keep him in there. Don’t worry if he lays down in his litter pan. That’s common.

I closed my bedroom door so Sammy would learn not to go under my bed. It’s an off limits zone.

[MooBunnay]

Hi katelyn!

Bunnies really like under the beds because it is similar to a tunnel for them, and nice and safe and protected from predators. My bunnies also love spaces like that so I have to block them off from under the bed. I agree with reading the litter training tips on this website (go to the “Bunny Info” drop down menu). One way that I try to get my bunnies litter trained is by keeping the floor of their cage extra clean (cleaning it with warm water and vinegar, and vacuuming the carpeted areas) twice a day. I put all the stray into the litterbox, this seems to help enforce the idea that the litterbox is where to go to the bathroom, and NOT the rest of the cage!

[Barbie]

You asked if you should let him run around out of his cage yet… are you planning on letting him be free range or mostly free range?! if so, that’s great! However, he’s still adjusting to the new environment, so it would be best to let him gradually get used to your home by slowly expanding the areas that he has access to. Also, restricting his space will help with the litter training.

[Karla]

I don’t think you should let him out of the cage before he is litter trained. He needs to feel that his cage is his territory, and so he will also find a area in the cage to use as toilet – and only that area.

One of the basic principles is also to respect the cage as his and never lift him out of the cage or into the cage. The cage should never be a punishment. Mine have always stayed in their cage for the first 3 days, so I know that they feel it is their own private area.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Yea I agree about not letting him out of his cage before he is litter trained. The way I litter trained my two was I actually kept them in a tiny commercial cage, (poor thistle, he had to stay in that for a while). In the small cage I put a litter box and NOTHING ELSE besides water and food (I know it must have been such a bore in there. I put the hay in a rack above the litterbox because I found that thistle loved to eat and pee while Fern could have her hay on the other side of the room (Before I got thistle Fern’s hay was not in her litter box cuz I thought it was gross that she would pee on the hay and eat it O_O.

Well my Thistle boy took a LOOONG time to train, I thought he would never get trained,(to tell you the truth I was really upset, – This was during bonding and I was more worried about the litter training problems then the bonding problems).

For thistle if I saw him peeing outside the litter box then I would shoo him back into his box, and he did use his box to sleep in and Fern used to flop in her litter pan.
It was a pain in the butt to train my boy, thistle, but he DID get trained… eventually… I bet that yours will eventually be trained too!
Good luck!

[Desma]

That is so true to not let your bunny out of the cage until he learns to use the litter pan. I put a bit of timmothy hay in the corner of her litter pan and it worked very quickely in getting her trained. Just like some humans love to read a book while they sit on the pot, bunnies love to munch when they are going potty. I got Hunny just before she turned six weeks old and since she was my first and only bunny I have ever had, I read up on that and it worked very swiftly.

[megan_ann]

Posted By Desma on 10/31/2009 09:00 AM
 Just like some humans love to read a book while they sit on the pot, bunnies love to munch when they are going potty.

  Actually, I’ve had my fair share of times I’ve taken food to the bathroom. It amuses my family to no end though. My dad was like, “Out one end and in the other.” I get the feeling that most people don’t do that though…. XD

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