Refusing to use the litterbox

[BunsAndDolls]

Toby has taken up the annoying habit of not using his litterbox.  When he and Hershey were sharing a space, there were two litterboxes – one inside their cage and the other just out, in the corner.  Toby always used the one in the cage and Hershey always used the one outside.  After Hershey passed, I rearranged the area, but was sure to leave the litterbox in the cage for him.  He stopped using that one and would only use the bathroom in his dig box.  I took the one out of the cage and set it up out where the dig box was.  It is in a bigger plastic bin (one of those under-bed boxes)…litter box on one side, the rest filled with hay.  But he would only poop and pee IN THE HAY.  Again, I tried to outsmart him and just switched the sides.  I mixed the litter with sawdust and filled half the bin, and put hay on the other side…EUREKA!  It worked!  ….for a week.  Now he only goes to the bathroom in the hay again.  

I’m VERY thankful that he’s still only using the bathroom in specific containers and not all over the place….but WHY has he suddenly started using it on his hay???  

[Elliriyanna]

have you tried a hay feeder? that would eliminate the oppurtunity to ” relieve himself” in the hay

[BunsAndDolls]

I have…he just pulls all the hay out of a hay feeder and spreads it all over the floor, lol.

[LBJ10]

Bunnies do like to eat and do their business at the same time. Perhaps have a similar setup, but smaller? You know, so there isn’t so much hay at a given time. If the area is small enough (smaller “big” box with litter box on one side), then he might be forced to sit in the litter box just so he can eat the hay comfortably.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I’m having a hard time imagining what you are describing-if he’s consistently going in one corner-can you put the litter box there and put hay in the box?

[jerseygirl]

I would just put his hay straight on the litter. That’s what I do for all mine but I get hay by the bale and it’s not expensive.

If you’re worried about too much hay being soiled, maybe you could source some nice, clean straw, put that on the litter and the hay at one end.

What type of litter do you use?

[BunsAndDolls]

I may try moving the hay into a smaller container. Right now it is pretty much half and half – litter on one side and hay on the other. Swapping the sides doesn’t help, I tried that already, lol.

Here’s a pic to help visualize what I’m talking about. There’s a different litter box now, not that triangle one. Same concept though. Litter box on one side, hay on the other – all inside the bigger box.

[LittlePuffyTail]

When I tried giving hay and litter separate, they used the litter box but also pooped and peed on the hay. So I just got a big litter box, put a layer of yesterday’s news and and put hay on top. Olivia will sit and poop and pee on one side of the box and eat from the other. I dump it all every second day.

[BunsAndDolls]

jerseygirl – I use FelinePine or ExquisiCat litter.

It’s just so weird because he’s never had an issue with the litter box before. He was SO easy to litter train, lol. We haven’t changed litters or anything, so I suppose he’s just moody. I’m going to try putting more litter and less hay. If that doesn’t work, I’ll just starting putting less hay at a time and refilling it more often…maybe that’ll keep the waste down. I’ve been changing the hay out every day, since he’s using it like that, but that’s a lot of wasted hay and I can feel my wallet cringing, haha.

[Sr. Melangell]

Could it be bunny is moody because of a storm coming? Olly will throw his litter tray days before it rains, then I’ll set it all up again and stroke him then when the rain comes he’ll do it again or throw it or dig everything out of his tray and use something else like his food bowl.
Olly has his litter in his tray, but hay or hay cookies goes in a cardboard box he sleeps in (He eats it too) but after a downpour he will go back to using his tray.

[BunsAndDolls]

That’s actually entirely possible…it’s been threatening to storm all week and has rained all AROUND us, but we haven’t gotten any of it at out house.

[Sr. Melangell]

I know what you mean, it threatened to rain yesterday but didn’t and Olly started acting weird with his tray.

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