woes of litter box training

[zoologist]

How many times a day do you guys answer litter box questions? Sorry to add to it

 

I cannot get Finn to use the litter box outside of his cage. At all. Seriously. He will go around it, go under it, move it out of the way to go behind it, but god forbid he actually uses the darn thing.

 In his cage his habits are decent. Always pees in the box, still working on getting poop in the box, but I pick them up every morning and drop them in the box and every time I walk by his cage during the day.

When he’s out I found the spot where he likes to go. So I put the litter box there. And then he started to pee next to it. so I moved it. Then he started to pee where it used to be. So I moved it. This went on for a couple of days. Then I set down a towel (AH HA! I’ll out smart the little bugger) and that worked for a day. He peed in his box. I watched him. it was miraculous!!! Then I cleaned it, and left a little bit of soiled litter in there so he would use it. Ha, I got this in the bag right? Wrong. He started peeing on the towel. So that back fired.

Now I’ve been sitting in his pen watching him and moving him to the box when he tries to pee. Today he outsmarted me and I missed him. He hasn’t been using the box so I can’t praise him.

I’ve tried hay in the box, I’ve tried care fresh, paper towels, news paper, nothing. I don’t know what else to do to get him to pee where he is supposed to. Help?

 

And I clean up the messes as soon as I see them happen with natures miracle.

[jerseygirl]

Is it the box from his cage? Or a different one you use for around the house? I’d use a different one if you’re not already.
It’s not long since his neuter so bunny hormones and marking behaviours might still be in play at the moment.

[Beka27]

Can he get back inside his cage when he’s out playing? Does he hop in and out during his playtime?

My buns won’t use an outside litterbox. They will go back to the xpen from anywhere in the house to use the bathroom.

[zoologist]

it is a different one than from the cage. in the cage we have a corner one, out and about we have a cat litter box i had in the garage. both are filled with carefresh. the one in the cage has a grate on it, the one out does not.
He doesn’t spray he pee like Tofu did. he just goes and pees. Maybe i’m confused on what is territorial and what is just bunny behavior?

Yes he can get back in his cage and he does like to hop back in and out. His cage is his safety zone, so when he hears something he doesn’t like he’s back in the cage. however he won’t go back into the cage specifically to use the bathroom.

He also likes to lay in his litter boxes despite how dirty they are.

[zoologist]

no tips? Someone else has to have a stubborn bunny!

tiny break through. Caught him about to pee outside of the litter box, placed him in it and gave him some craisins.
Put some hay in his box. he sat there munching away, jumped out of the box to poop, jumped back in to eat. ugh.

[zoologist]

Ok… now he is MOVING the litter box out of the way to pee……..

[Deleted User]

Have you thought of getting another corner litter box? Maybe the difference in size and shape is confusing him. I know it may seem odd. But we have a corner litter box in Skipper’s cage. And the shape difference between that and her square litter box tells her to sleep in the corner box and pee/poop in the square box.

[zoologist]

good idea, SM, I didn’t even think of that. He sleeps in both types of litter boxes though and doesn’t go in the corner of the pen… do you think that would matter?

[Deleted User]

I don’t think so. He might just be real picky about how he likes his litter box. Have you thought of getting a screen for the litter box? Maybe to keep him from lying in wet litter/hay?

[zoologist]

We went out of town for the weekend and left him in the care of a petsitter who didn’t clean up after him like I asked her too. His normal pee spot next to the litter box got so bad he started using the box! When we got home I downsized his play pen and so far we haven’t had a problem with accidents and he is using the box all day. Hopefully it will stay like this

[Deleted User]

Oooo!!!! I hope it works for you guys! =]

[zoologist]

me too. a little unorthodox but whatever gets the job done. I just cleaned the box 100% so we’ll see if it still sticks. I need to get a grate for the box like you suggested!

[Deleted User]

I have actually bought two different types of litter boxes with a screen. The one from BB and the one from BusyBunny. Skipper uses both. But I noticed that she spends more time in the one from BusyBunny. Probably because it’s bigger but I also thinks that she likes that she’s not in contact with the litter. It took her a while to figure out how to use it but I think that had to do with not putting hay in it. I know they also sell a corner one with a little plastic grate at Petsmart. It’s a decent size. But Finn seems a little big so I’m not sure of his fit with the box.

[zoologist]

The corner box from petsmart is what Finn has in his cage he hasn’t used it since he started using the other box.

So far so good with no accidents! Only 5 stray poops today.

[Author]

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