Starting litter training

[anneNjoerule]

 So I finally got Kya an exercise pen. It has one thin sheet and than one thick blanket underneath, double lined. I’m throwing in plenty of toys and I just filled up the litter box. I am about to get started on the whole training process and I would like any advice you guys have for me. She is a spayed, 2 year old female. She is quite used to me now and allows me to enter her space without so much as a peep. So, any thoughts? 

[Beka27]

Did she have a litterbox before? Has she ever kept one area as a potty area? Rabbits are naturally inclined to potty in one area, they poop in the same space as they’re hay, usually. So that is the best way to start.

[anneNjoerule]

Well at the shelter I got her from, I asked and they said she had iffy habits but her cage was one of the cleaner ones. When I brought her home I had her in a large cage (about 2 1/2′ by 3 1/2′) with no litter box, but she definitely poops almost entirely in one corner, and pees ALWAYS in that same corner. She seems fairly tidy…

[RabbitPam]

Just have the litter pan in that spot she’s already picked out, and put some soiled litter, or a tissue you’ve used to mop up the pee, along with her poos, into the pan in that spot. Add a litter hay in the corner to let her munch on, and praise her when she goes in. Also, if you see her needed to pee, like a butt wiggle, scoop her up and put her in the litter pan, then if she goes, give her a treat with praise.

[anneNjoerule]

Its hard for me to catch her in the act to praise her but that doesn’t seem to be a problem. I put a few of her eliminations from her free time in the box and than plunked her into the pen for the first time. She immediately began sniffing, than did some binkys than scattered poop in a few places, to mark the pen as hers. I picked these up after a while and put them in the litter box. This morning I found only a single poop out of the box and quite a pile of them in the box… Do I have a miracle bun or what? I’ll have to keep watching and giving you guys updates but so far so good

[Beka27]

Great job!!! Just keep at it. Most buns will still drop poops from time to time, but if pee is 100% (or very close to it), littertraining can be considered a success.

[anneNjoerule]

I think she’s not doing it on purpose. I think what happens is she hops in to eat the hay and just goes while she’s doing that. It works though, so I’m not complaining.

[LoveChaCha]

Great job!
Putting hay in the box and for bunnies to do their business while eating is common mine does that all the time. Talk about multitasking!

[Elrohwen]

From my experience, litter training is more about setting them up for success than it is actual “training”. If you put the litter box where she wants it and put hay in it, 9 times out of 10 a rabbit will use it. The only thing I could see causing a problem is that the floor of her pen is absorbent – some rabbits can’t help themselves on absorbent surfaces and it can set back their litter training. If she doesn’t seem to be peeing on it, then it’s not a problem, but something to think about if you have issues with her.

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