Questions

[JLoother]

Hey everyone, this is my first post and I had a few general questions about my new holland lop.

I got Yavin a week ago and he was neutered the day before I got him, they said he was around 3 years old. I expected some abnormal behavior after the surgery as I’ve read, but he’s been a pretty mellow guy, never freaked out around my dogs and even flopped his third day home!

 My questions are about litter training. When can I expect him to start picking up on good habits? He’s been leaving his pellets everywhere, I assume in order to mark his territory, and same with urinating. I’ve been cleaning the urine spots and placing the pellets in his box. Should I keep doing this and hope he picks up on it?

He also doesn’t seem interested in hopping up to his upper level I built in his C&C pen. Is that just from the surgery?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Michelle&Lolli]

Hi!

First off, you WILL be able to get him litterbox trained. I promise! However…..as you have other pets, he may not quit leaving his poop everywhere to mark his territory. Here is what worked for Lolli:

Her pen was located on an area rug. When she’d pee and I caught it, I’d sop it up as best as I could and then leave it in her litterbox. I had given her an old pillowcase to lay on/play with that I ultimately had to take away because she kept peeing on it instead. To this day, she will pee on fabric I give her in her pen. So start with the paper towel.

Is Yavin in a pen or a cage? If he’s in a cage, I do recommend a pen as well. Ahem…do not put bedding all over the cage. I did this with my first bun Eddie and got SOOO incredibly frustrated because he’d poop and pee all over his cage. And I’d get the “DUH mom!” look from him. So if he’s in a cage, keep any litter/”bedding” (such as carefresh) in his litterbox only.

Last but not least, if you are keeping his hay separate from his litter box, try putting some on his litter and see what happens. I was so against this at first cause it’s just….well, gross. lol But rabbits really do like to eat and potty at the same time. I was getting frustrated with mine because they’d pee when they were at their hay box….OUTSIDE the litterbox. So after more frustration, I finally gave in and no more peeing. Really…they can outlast even the stubbornest person.

As for the poop, all you can do is keep picking it up and putting it in his litterbox. But like I said, he will most likely continue to leave poop in places for territory purposes. Lolli knows that she needs to do most of her pooping in her box. But she still leaves them around her pen. I gave up a long time ago and settled for her not peeing outside her box. LOL No really, she is really good about her habits.

Some rabbits don’t like to climb or hop. Lolli doesn’t like her feet off the ground. I am sorry. I am not familiar with you guys! Have you had him long? If he didn’t like to hop up/climb before his neutered, then he won’t do so after. But if he did, he is probably sore and doesn’t feel like it.

[JLoother]

Thank you for the reply!

He’s in a pen in my room. About 5 x 5 and I have his litterbox in one of the corners he seems to enjoy most. My dogs aren’t usually in the room at all, but I can understand the need for territorial poops.

I have a good amount of hay in his box for him to munch on while he does his business. But at times I catch him dragging hay out of his box and eating it right next to the box! Granted, I’ve only had him for a week so there’s a lot of time to get him going on good habits.

Here’s a picture of him Flopped out =)

[LittlePuffyTail]

It will take a few months for his hormones to mellow out from the neuter, his litter habits will probably improve when they do.

[JLoother]

Thank you for the reply! Looks like there will be a lot of laundry in my future until his hormones level out haha

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