some success with litter training!!

[Pam2]

Hi to All of you who have been posting ideas for me the last couple of days:

I tried out your ideas and last night cleaned out my rabbit’s cage and left the floor totally bare. I couldn’t help but put in a couple of toys, I felt too bad to leave him with nothing.

In his corner  type litterbox I put the “training pearls” which he had used a little bit in the past.

This morning, I was almost afraid to look in his cage, thinking that the mess would be horrible. BUT, there was not a drop of pee on his floor! Of course there were the dry poops all over, but nothing horrible. It was the easiest clean-up I’ve had so far. I am hoping this is a good sign and he will be start becoming consistent.

So now for my next couple of questions:

1. I think eventually his litter box will be too small for him. It’s okay now because he’s still a baby, but down the road he’ll probably need a bigger one. Do I just leave everything exactly as is right now and not make any changes until I see he’s more consistent? Or do I try and make the change now to a bigger box, while he’s still learning?

2. Also, the litter I am using is very expensive, about $7.00 a bag and the bags are small. I would prefer to try Yesterdays News. Again, should I slowly introduce some of this in with the litter he is using now while he’s still learning, or again, leave everything as is until he’s been consistently using his litter box for a couple of weeks? Also, What do you think is a good time frame(2 weeks? a month?) that I’ll now he’s really got it down?

3. Is him being fully trained mean even his dry poops will be in the litter box? Or is ist just when they pee in it? I’m not sure what I should be expecting from him.

Thanks again to everyone who had the patience to keep writing to me and giving me so many great suggestions. I so appreciate your time.

Sincerely,

Pam

[RachelB]

Pam-
Glad to hear that you are having some success!!! A really clean cage helps with the litter training process (if they dont smell pee anywhere but their box the are less likely to pee elsewhere).

I tried and tried and tried to get Sammy to use one of those corner boxes for about 2 weeks…. with no consistant luck. He would use it one day, then not use it the next. I tried different litters, different placement, keeping it clean, leaving it dirty, etc, etc. Eventually I gave up and got him a larger litterbox…. and what a change!! If you know that you are going to eventually have to get another box I might just take the plunge and “train” him with the larger one.

As for the litter question…. I think litter type is a personal preference (both for you and your bun). Some bunny’s prefer one type over another (I think there is even a bunny on here that will only use blue colored litter… hehe). Here is the link to a pretty good discussion of what litters people use and why…. https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aff/2/aft/64798/afv/topic/Default.aspx
I use folded newspaper with hay overtop. Plus: Its cheap (I get freenewspaper from work and use coastal hay which I buy by the bale), easy to compost, the bunnies love it. Minus: Needs to be changed every day (with one bunny I could let it go 2-3days before it got stinky).

For me fully trained is 100% pee in the box, 95% poo in the box. Some poo will escape when they hop out of the box (stuck to their feet)…. so there are usually a few scattered about. But this is different than poops all over the edge of the cage (which is a territorial thing) and should lessen over time.

One thing that I found helped with the territorial poops was to respect their cage as “their” space. I never reached into the cage to clean or rearrange it while they were in there (I did the cleaning while they were out at play time), I also never picked them up and set them back into the cage. Always just put them down near the door and let them hop back inside. I think theres a better discussion about that in the FAQ section.

BTW… in your other post when I said “then all the fun begins” I meant it as a good thing. After you get done litter training them then you are able to really relax and play with them.

Good luck!! –Rachel

[RachelB]

Osprey wrote this which is in that link about litter…..

Carefresh: Personally, I hate carefresh. I think it is appropriate to use for a litter box where tiny babies are present, and maybe for post operative bunnies, but for regular usage it is expensive and does a lousy job of odor control, quickly becoming a sodden mess that reeks of ammonia.

Pelleted pet litters: There are several options here. I like the Green Pet Aspen Supreme pellets for superior odor control, but these have a very woody smell that you have to like to use it. Cat Country/Critter Country is also a good choice. This is made from wheat straw and does a good job with controlling odor and is safe for bunnies. Feline Pine (sawdust pellets) and Yesterday’s News (recycled newspaper pellets) are good choices too, and are widely available. Avoid the corn cob litters and anything labelled as a clumping litter, these are supposed to be bad if bunnies ingest them.

Wood Stove Pellets: These are a pellet made for fuel for pellet burning stoves. They are made from compressed sawdust, and much less expensive than any of the litter pellets, they cost around $8 per 40 pound bag. Many rescues use these because of the price differential. I compost all of my bunnies’ soiled litter, and these take a long time to decompose. If you find them, make sure they have no hydrocarbon accelerants, and are pure 100% sawdust with nothing added.

Horse Stall Bedding: Similar to the wood stove pellets, these are also made from compressed saw dust. The pellet sizes are smaller and less regular than the stove pellets, and these are made from lower quality sawdust. This can be found at feed stores and places like Tractor Supply for around $6-$8 for a 40 pound sack.

Newspaper and Hay: If you are willing to change the litter every day, you can go the very inexpensive route of lining the bottom of the litterbox with newpaper, then covering it with a coating of hay. This setup is very cheap, particularly if you can get baled hay, but offers no odor control at all. You need to use the hay, or your bunny’s paws will turn black from newsprint. Many shelters go this route because it is super cheap.

[jerseygirl]

This sounds promising. Some bunnies will always leave some poop outside the box but it’s pretty easy to deal with. You may find he improves with age and post-neuter. Type of litter doesn’t always contribute to the success but some bunnies seem very particular about it. I would guess it was due to the bare cage floor and specific toilet area that has brought about this success. Rabbits like to be clean. Maybe try the bigger box and different litter but continue to keep areas defined. i.e. bare floor, food and water area, toilet area. If you do this, put some of the other soiled litter in the new litter box to reinforce that that is the toilet.  In my mind, I would attempt change him over in box and litter type now while he’s learning in case he becomes set on using the pearls only.

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