Cage & Litter Box Question

[Lovedrop]

Hello everyone, I'm new here! My name is Jessica and I have a six month old male dwarf Lionhead rabbit named Boh. Originally he was living with my boyfriend, but he recently moved to a building that doesn't allow pets, so now Boh is with me!

When my boyfriend bought Boh, he didn't really know much about rabbits, and just bought what the pet store told him he needed. I've done a lot research and changed Boh's diet around, and gotten him a better cage setup.

One problem is that the cage my boyfriend bought only opens from the top. Boh is still getting used to me and doesn't like to be picked up, so in the mornings I take the top (wire) part of his cage off, so he is free to hop out and explore. However, the base of the cage is quite tall, and if I place books/a box for him to use as steps, he avoids them. I am afraid there might be an issue of him getting hurt from having to hop so high! Sometimes his feet will hit the top of the cage base, and he doesn't land smoothly.

Another issue I'm having is knowing how to go about litter training Boh. While his cage is quite large for him, none of the litter boxes I've found have been small enough to fit inside and still leave him lots of room to hop around. I know it is ideal for a rabbit to be allowed to roam around outside their cage, but I'm really nervous about this and would like to wait a bit longer before I give him free reign of my room.

Sorry about the long post, and thank you in advance for your help!

 

[kirbyultra]

Hi Jessica. Welcome to RO! Your boyfriend's loss is your bunny gain

I can sort of picture the type of cage you have. I think I have seen them before. It has a plastic base and a wire top right?

Those cages are somewhat notoriously difficult to work with unfortunately. Litter boxes are usually cat-size and the standard size is about 15" at its longest point and by the time you put that into the cage, half the space is gone. The only tiny baby litter box I have found was a purchase I randomly made while traveling in Hong Kong. But even then, it was a significant amount of space consumed.

The good news is that your bunny is young and a dwarf lionhead at 6 months old should be about 2-3 lbs, still pretty ok, even with the box inside. He won't be zipping around inside as much due to the reduction in space but having a small enclosure will almost guarantee success in litter training. The important thing is for him to know where he is supposed to go. When you're ready to give him a bigger space, he'll have already been trained to go in the box.

I would suggest for now, buy the smallest box you can find and put it in the cage. Place some newspapers and whatever litter you end up using (just don't use clumping cat litter or litter that has cedar, clay, or chemicals of any sort -- bunnies might eat their litter). Most importantly, put hay into his litter box and he will most likely eat and poop in the box (sounds bad, but this is what they do). Pick up his poops whenever you find them outside and put them into the box. If he urinates outside of the box, wipe it with some paper towel and put the soaked paper towel into the litter box. If you do this long enough, he should soon know where he's supposed to go.

There are a lot of things to consider if you decide to expand the space. It is important to decide how much room you're going to give or if you want to give Boh free range of your entire home. If you're going to free-range him, you should be sure to bunny-proof your home so he can't chew on things that are important to you (books, papers, electronics, anything that you don't want bunny chew marks on) or harmful to him (electric cables, telephone wires, computer cables, chargers, keyboard cables, harmful food items, etc.). If you decide to go the route of getting him a bigger cage, check out our Housing section for ideas. Lots of people build their own using "NIC" cubes or they buy puppy exercise pens.

As for getting in and out of his cage bottom, if he's avoiding the books, perhaps he hasn't understood their purpose yet. It may take him a few days to realize what they are for. Or, pick him up and put him on the books so he knows how to get off of them. When he gets older and bigger, he shouldn't have much trouble getting in and out

 

[bunnybunbunb]

At Dollar Discount or Food City you can get cat litter boxes that are about 12 x 8 or so. They are perfect size and I use them for all the buns that have litter boxes. They only cost $1, too! A great deal. I also get the double dog feeder bowls they have, which are also a dollar each and whole about 2 1/2 cups.

I have the cage you seem to be explaining. It was gave to me by a family friend. They had cut the front wire out and put it up against another petstore cage who their guinea pig could have more room, however, he was way to fat to jump back and forth xD You could cut a doorway and get wire to make a door for it. If the buying the small peice of wire is out(around here you can buy as little as you need from livestock feed stores) you could simply cut the door and when you wanted him closed in it put it against a wall - which is what I have been doing thus far when I have to use them.

 

[elrohwen]

I would look around for litter boxes more - I was able to find one with a width of about 10" that was small, but large enough for my 5.5lb bun to squeeze her butt into (it was the only size that would fit through the door on the cage she came with).

And I wouldn't worry about taking up too much of his cage space with a box. Many bunnies like to lay in their litter box and spend time there, so it's not wasted space.

 

[tonyshuman]

They make litterboxes for ferrets (corner-style) that are smaller, and they even make ones small enough for hamsters, so I think you could probably find one.

Some pet stores also sell ramps. You can find them sometimes better in the bird section.

 

[bunnyluv96]

I bought a corner litter box and it fits snugly into the corner, it attaches to the wire on the cage. It is small but would be just right for a young/baby bun. You might keep an eye on him as he grows and might have to get a little bit bigger one, but they sell cat boxes at walmart that are pretty small. Just watch what corner he picks to go pee in, and try putting the litter box there with some hay for him to munch on. That's what I did and it worked great! Good luck!

 

[Lovedrop]

Wow, thank you all so much! I'm really thankful I found RO, because unlike most sources on the internet, I know information I get here will be reliable, because it's coming from people who care about their rabbits.

I will be sure to post some pictures of Boh soon!