Rabbits & Roomba

[Mjacqu6]

I actually found thread on here from 2008 about Rabbits and Roombas with a bunch of people basically stating that the rabbits get used to it and its not an issue… but I just wanted to re-open the discussion.

I have been trying for YEARS to litter train one of my rabbits. He only urinates in his box now, but he still leaves pellets everywhere. I think the biggest problem is that this bunny is a rescue and he has never been comfortable with us picking him up. He loves to be pet and he love to sit with us, but the minute he suspects you are trying to grab him, he will run and hide for hours. When we do have to grab him to clip his nails every so often he kicks, fights and squeals the whole time. We always do him last because after the racket he makes all of our rabbits make themselves scarce for a long time.

All the litter training tutorials I have read have said you need to pick them up and put them in their box when they poop on the floor. I tried this for about a week- but it devolved to me chasing him around the house and I am sure that even if I eventually caught him, he wouldn’t make the correlation between the initial act and being picked up so I gave it up.

I spend 20 minutes in the morning and the evening cleaning up after him and had the brilliant idea to get a Roomba that would roam around all day and do it for me… but I am concerned about how my Rabbits will react. From what I have read, it seems they will be terrified at first but get used to it. One person here even said the rabbits will eventually let it bump into them and roll away without moving. 

I am mostly concerned because I read an article about a South Korean woman who fell asleep on the floor and had to call the authorities to get her hair out of her Roomba… not something I want to happen with my little guys. 

Does anyone have any experience with Roombas around Rabbits?

They are kind of expensive and I wouldn’t want to buy it and have it live in my closet because my boys are terrified of it or because it tries to eat them.

Alternatively, litter training advice for a rabbit that can’t be picked up would be appreciated as well. 

Thanks-

[Eepster]

Posted By Mjacqu6 on 7/25/2015 5:09 PM

All the litter training tutorials I have read have said you need to pick them up and put them in their box when they poop on the floor. I tried this for about a week- but it devolved to me chasing him around the house and I am sure that even if I eventually caught him, he wouldn’t make the correlation between the initial act and being picked up so I gave it up.

You don’t pick up the rabbit and put it in the box, you pick up the poops and put them in the box.

[Mjacqu6]

Here is the tutorial I have been following: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/5/PID/940/Default.aspx

To be fair, this one says not to pick them up but to herd them into the box when they go. I have seen others elsewhere that say to move them to the box when they poop.

I have tried everything. I always move the pellets to the box and have even tried multiple boxes in places he leaves the most.

There is no place he seems to favor. He just goes everywhere.

[Author]

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