Advice needed...Bunny not litter training...

[jkarn]

Hi everyone, I don't have time to log on here very often, but I so much appreciate your advice when I have a problem or question!

Two issues:

1) We've had Charli since Christmas, she is a Holland Lop, 13 weeks old now. I thought litter training would only take about a month tops, but Charli is not using her litter box as much as I would like.She is peeing in 2 other corners in addition to the litter box. It is a pain to keep wiping it up everyday! I bought a deep plastic bottom cage for her because I thought I'd have a bunny who litter trains. Right now I wipe up the pee w/ paper towel, squirt the area w/ vinegar solution, and hope for the best. Is there anything else I can be doing to discourage the peeing everywhere?Something I can buy that will discourage this behavior? The cage is huge, 4ft x 2ft, maybe this is the problem? I can't afford to buy anothercage! I have her water bottle and bed (a hand towel) in one corner, her pellet dish in another corner, her triangle shaped litter box in another corner, and her hay wheel in another corner. She never pees in the corner by her bed, but she pees in all the others. After cleaning out the litter box every other day, I save some of the dirty litter for putting on the top so she'll sniff it and keep going in the litter box, but she'll still pee once in a while in the other corners I mentioned.

2) Not related to the litter training, Charli bit me this morning when I opened her cage and tried to clean out her poops...shebit me anothermorning too. Could it be because she's hungry or was she after me for invading her cage??? Could her hormones be kicking in already? Sheesh. Normally she never bites...very sweet but this irritated me!! She was just laying there, ran up to the door when I approached her cage, then bit me when I put my hand in! I don't get it!

Sorry this is so long, but the litter training is frustrating me, I don't know what to try next. I have tried moving her litter box to the other areas she pees, but she still will pee elsewhere. How long does it take???????????? I thought bunnies like to be clean and won't pee near their food!!

Thanks,

Jules

 

[aurora369]

At 13 weeks, she's definitely heading into bunny teenage hood, lots of raging hormones. I would look into getting her spayed as soon as possible to help with the hormones.

Your cleaning regiment is good. That is what I do when litter training. I wipe up the pee with a tissue, put the dirty tissue in the litter box, and then clean the cage bottom with vinegar.

I find that with bunnies, they can seem like they are not getting the hang of litter boxes, but then all of a sudden they just seem to get it. I had two older girls that had been in a wire bottom cage for years, and it seemed like they would never get the idea. I had to put one litter box in each corner, and clean up their pee 3-4 times a day. But then magically they got the idea, and from that point on, they where my best litter box users.

Have patience. She will get it eventually. Spaying will help alot.

With young rabbits, I also find that forcing them to eat while in their litter box, helps them to go in their litter box. I have the hay rack over the litter box so they can only get to it by sitting it their box. Same with pellets and water if possible. Eating is like reading a newspaper, gives them something to do while going to the bathroom.

--Dawn

 

[jkarn]

Thanks for the great advice. If I put a hay rack above her litter box, what should I put in the corner where her hay wheel was? I already have a towel bed/water bottle in 1 corner, her pellet bowl in another, and the litter box in another corner, that leaves 1 open corner for her to pee in...or should I not worry about that? Obviously, she pees in a corner regardless of what's there. Except for her bed, she doesn't pee in that corner.

She also tends to not pee in her litter box at night, this is when she has her tendancy to pee in the other areas of the cage.

 

[aurora369]

So she's not peeing on the towel? Most bunnies I have will pee on soft blankies or towels so I can't use them.

You can try using more than one litter box or leave the corner empty. With my girls, I started with one litter box in each corner. In the end they chose to use two as potty's and two as beds. So I started only putting litter in two and only hay in the other two.

--Dawn

 

[jkarn]

Wanna hear something else strange? During her play time outside the cage, she NEVER once has peed on the carpet! We put her litter box in the same corner of the room, and during this supervised playtime she NEVER pees on the carpet! This is a good idea...maybe I'll start putting litter boxes in every corner except for her bed.

Where did you put your rabbit's pellet dish w/ the 4 litter boxes?

 

[aurora369]

My photo gallery is broken at the moment, so I can't show you a picture but I'll try to describe it. I used a dish that could be attached onto the side of the cage.

Another time I was fostering, and had Mom and babies to deal with. So about 1/4 of the cage at one end was a giant litter box. The food and hay where attached to the cage over the litter box.

--Dawn