spazy cage behavior and litter habits

[Tala]

 Hi everyone.

I got Henry about 2 months ago, he’s neutered and about 4 years old. He has free reign of my living room and his cage is a front opening dog crate (I’m attaching a picture). This is the cage he came with, however, the woman I got him from had it didn’t let him run free (she had 3 cats), and had made sides for it, and the whole thing was filled with carefresh. Even so, as a caged bunny he was litterbox trained, and she had a small corner pan. So now that I have him and let him run around, I’ve upgraded him to a larger square little pan and fill that with carefresh, cover the floor of the crate with newpaper and a towel. The first couple weeks I had him, he was great. Then he started kicking the litter out of his box. Annoying, but ok, its his box, his cage, it doesn’t look nice and clean but oh well. I’ve tried to figure out if he does this when its too dirty (nope, doesn it most to newly changed litter), or when there is too much, or too little…the only thing I’ve come up with is that he’s just silly. Then he started rearranging the towel in the back of the cage next to the litter pan, and he likes to push it aside and rip up the newpaper underneath. Again, its kind of annoying, but its his cage so I figure I’ll let him be. But this past week, newest development, is that while he is still using the litter pan, he is ALSO peeing and pooing in this other back corner, on the newpaper. THIS is more of a problem to me – I’d really prefer him using the litter.

Any ideas? Should I just try to find a litter box that can span the whole back of the cage? If I move the litter pan to that corner of the cage, he just pulls at it until its back on the other side of the cage…

 

 

[Moonlight_Wolf]

A lot of people seem to have this problem, some solutions are that you could get a new litterbox that clips onto the side of the cage, or you could drill a hole in your previous one and tye it to the side of the cage.

Also for the digging of the litter you could get a new heavier litter type of you could put a grid over the litter, I had the same problems and these solutions worked for me, also to help the digging you could get a higher litter box.

Hope I helped.

[Elrohwen]

I would also suggest removing the newspaper and towel for a bit. Bunnies like to pee on absorbant things, so if you take it away he might decide that going exclusively in the litter box is the way to go. you can also try blocking that corner with a hay rack or water dish or something. My bun would pull hay out of the corner next to his litter box and pee there, but then I got a hay rack that attached to the cage and he stopped the behavior because he couldn’t get in that corner anymore.

Moonlight_wolf also had some great suggestions. Getting a grid to go over the litter would be the best way to keep him from digging it out.

[bunnymama]

I am almost wondering if he prefers to pee in the other corner. My females prefer to always use a certain corner of their cage as a poop dish whether I have a poop dish there or not. Usually my girls will dig and tear at towels or fabric when they are made about something. Try moving that poop dish to a different location – that might be it and good luck…..praise always helps too when you see them pooping in the right place. We still praise our bunnies daily when they are in their poop dishes.

[jerseygirl]

The little gap between the box and crate side probably feels similar size to his corner box too. I don’t know why but rabbits seem to like to squeeze there behinds into these small spaces. What about if you put the box lengthwise along the crates end so there is only a really small gap?
I ditto Elrohwen too – take out the paper + towel and keep floor bare for a while. Or leave the towel in a heap to give him something to dig at. Does he toss the litter out then lie in the litterbox?

[Tala]

I will definitely see what happens when I leave the floor bare – but the thing is, he isn’t soiling the towel…in that back corner, he pushes the towel out of the way, and rips up the newspaper. I guess he is soiling the newspaper back there though. Also, its not that he’s rejecting his littler box – most of the time he IS using it, its just that he seems to be doing both.
Thanks for the suggestions!

[Elrohwen]

I would try blocking off the corner with a box, hay rack, etc and see if that helps too. He may not feel the need to go there if he can’t get back there.

[Tala]

In regards to the kicking out litter, actually, I think he does it MORE when i’ve just changed it. Any comments on that? I suppose he just likes rearranging the litter in the way he likes it, but usually this ends up in a situation where most of it is outside…Which actually makes me wonder, maybe he’s comparing the bare litter box with the bare cage floor?

[Monkeybun]

If he’s just kicking it out to have fun, I’d suggest a box that has higher sides all around Monkey loves arranging her litter when I clean it, she has a box that has equal height sides all around it. Luckily, she’s tiny tho, so I didn’t have to get a huge honking box lol.

[Balefulregards]

It is possible that the behavior is part of his play “type”. I know that Coco – when I haven’t given her enough to problem solve – Starts throwing the litter out during what I like to think of as her “Mass renovations” . It almost always happens when the environment is – in her opinion – not stimulating enough.

Is Henry a Dutch? (Ha-ha, but no really – is he?) Because I find with Coco ( my Dutch) she can get really feisty when she is not occupied.

He may need a diggy box or somewhere he can shred and move things around. That helped Coco – and I just put a new Phone book in there when her digging re focused to the litter, so she is back to problem solving in the digging box.

[Boysclub]

is it normal for buns not to dig? i have yet to see onyx or stu dig at all!

[Monkeybun]

Some bunnies dont like digging, some dont chew, some dont do anything but nap… they all like doing different things

[Balefulregards]

Yeah – they all have really different styles. Jackson is a “Thrower” – He likes to toss willow balls and any thing else he can pick up with his teeth and throw,

Coco is a digger/Biter…so I have to find different things for each of them to keep them busy and occupied.

[Tala]

 ARG.

I’m beginning to think he just does this to irritate me.

Update on the situation:

I removed the newpaper from the cage floor, and since I last posted (was that a week ago?) it seemed to do the trick. Totally ignored the bare corner, used his litter box. This morning though, back to destructobunny. Started digging furiously at it, chewing and tugging on it until it was in the other corner. So I thought, well, if you prefer the box on that side of the cage, so be it. BUT, he’s using the same corner, but NOT the litter box. WTF. I mean, I guess the easy fix is to find myself a box to put in the way, and tie to box to the side of the cage, but I’m just wondering WHY he’s doing this. I mean, I tend to anthropomorphize my animals, but I’m pretty sure its not purely spiteful haha.

[Monkeybun]

He probably just thinks its fun, moving the box around…

[Elrohwen]

Ditto, Monkeybun. Sometimes bunnies get bored and would much rather work on their own “projects” than the things you give them to do.

[Balefulregards]

He’s bored – He needs a problem to solve. I highly suggest you look at his play style and find something to match his need.

The box is his problem – which is why he returns to it. You need to redirect him to a space where he can problem solve something he Likes – but isn’t destroying what you don’t want him to destroy

[Monkeybun]

have you tried giving him a phonebook to shred? Even my Monkey likes phone books.. she sits in her basket and shreds it for ages.

[Author]

Messages