Expectations With Litter Box Training Of A 8 Week Old Bun

[texaschewy]

I brought home my 8 week old Holland Lop buck. I know it depends on a lot of factors, but what have you guys experienced with the progression of pooping and peeing everywhere, to mostly using the litter box? I've had him for about a week and he's using it about 1/4 of the time. I think that's okay considering all that is new to him. He eats out of my hand, let's me pet him all over. He has two little dogs and a cat to get to know. He does have an area during the day that is about 3ft x 6 ft. To wander about. Thanks for any input.

 

[miyumiyu]

Hi there! I got my male Flemish at around the same age, and at first he was a real pain to train. He'd go in his litter box, but he'd also pee and poop on my floor quite often. The peeing completely ceased after about a month and a half. I don't know if this is the average length of time or not, I do know that younger rabbits are notoriously hard to train. Confining mine to his cage a bit more than usual helped, because it gave him a specific area that was -his-.

Even after he was trained, he'd still pee on my bed, but that was the only place- I assume it was because he was trying to mark my territory as his own. He would still leave poop lying around on the floor as well, for the same reason.

He's about 8 months old now and just got neutered two weeks ago, and both of those habits have stopped as well. So don't worry if you're only able to train him to pee in the box at first. Getting him fixed will more than likely stop any other unsavory litter habits, later on.

 

[bright_eyes]

I got really lucky with Breezy, I brought her home at four weeks old as a type of "rescue" and she used the litterbox exclusively right away! However, this isn't normal. Young rabbits, as said above, are usually harder to litter train. Neutering and spaying certainly helps, and individual rabbits may take longer to train than others. Just stay consistent and your patience will pay off!

 

[missyscove]

What sort of set up does he have? It really helps if you don't have any bedding anywhere but inside of the litterbox.

 

[texaschewy]

He's on the vinyl floor. No bedding on the floor. I put a little of the paper towel I clean up pee into the litter box and some of his poop pellets. I did catch him raising his tail once today while I was sitting with him and put him in his litter box before he peed on the floor. He stayed in it and peed there.

 

[Azerane]

A new rabbit of any age likely won't be litter trained the first week you bring them home, even if they were before, simply because they poop and pee in their area to mark their territory.


I think you're off to a good start though, the fact that he's using his box at all is a good sign, you just have to be persistent with cleaning up after him and moving poops to the box. When you clean the box out, I would also add some poops to the clean litter as a reminder that it's where he's meant to go.