Hello from a rabbit newbie!

[Aspen_The_Bun]

Hello! I've been lurking on this site since I got my bun Aspen almost 4 months ago. I've used the LennonTheBunny Youtube channel for a lot of the basics, lots of good info there. I got her after she was dumped in a neighbors yard. She hopped into the live trap very quickly and seemed very happy to be in a safe place, despite being nervous around people. Today she is a happy spoiled bun who free roams when were are home to watch her. Since where home a lot she gets a lot of free roam time. ☺ I wish I could let her roam 24/7, but we have kitties and two dogs. Neither are interested in hurting her, but one of our kitties does try to play, and I'd be nervous she'd scare her. Plus, they like to use her litter box if we don't keep them out of her pen. If we are sleeping or can't watch her, she's in her home base in our little laundry room.
Aspen isn't completely potty trained despite my best efforts. She has a large cat sized litter box with stairs. Its full of an 80/20 ratio of wood stove pellets and paper bedding. Its always full of a generous amount of hay. I pick up and deodorize the are she poops in, then place that in her litter box. Tips are welcome!
Per LennonTheBunny, I feed maybe a little less than 1/4c of pellets a day? Aspen is a small bun, 4lbs, so she doesn't need very much. I use Small Pet Select for my pellets. I give her the same local hay our horses eat. I try to pick the greenest, fluffiest flakes. I give her pellets in the morning, and a large handful of organic spring mix in the evenings. She has lots of toys, and I recently added a dig box which she loves.
If anyone has any suggestions please post them! Happy to be here, lots of great info on this site.
And of course, bunny photos!


And a photo of her when I firs got her litter box.

 

[Blue eyes]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

You may be having trouble with the litter training because of the litter box itself. It looks like something my rabbits would find to be too much hassle to get in. I'd suggest taking a look at the setup here. No need for a puppy pad underneath the litter. Also, if the photo in your post shows the typical amount of hay in the box, then the amount of hay should be about 4 times that much.

From what I can see of your setup (would love to see a pic of the whole thing) it looks like you've done a fine job with it! Unfortunately, Lennon the Bunny has some questionable advice and limited experience with rabbits. I'm glad you found this forum!

For pellet amount, you'll need to consider her body condition. Less than 1/4 cup is typically fine but may need to be adjusted based on your individual rabbit. Some smaller rabbits have higher energy and so may need the extra few pellets. If she is in good body condition, then you're feeding the correct amount.

You mentioned that when she poos outside the box, that you pick her up and place her in the litter box. Not advised. Picking up a rabbit and forcing them somewhere is one way to make her resent being handled and dislike her potty box. Rabbits will typically drop the occasional poos about their enclosure. That should be expected. If they are cleaned up too quickly, it may encourage her to drop more in an effort to re-claim the space. It is the very rare rabbit that is 100% with their poos.

What deodorizer are you using on those spots?

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Welcome to the forum! I love her ears!!!!

 

[Aspen_The_Bun]

You may be having trouble with the litter training because of the litter box itself. It looks like something my rabbits would find to be too much hassle to get in. I'd suggest taking a look at the setup here. No need for a puppy pad underneath the litter. Also, if the photo in your post shows the typical amount of hay in the box, then the amount of hay should be about 4 times that much.

From what I can see of your setup (would love to see a pic of the whole thing) it looks like you've done a fine job with it! Unfortunately, Lennon the Bunny has some questionable advice and limited experience with rabbits. I'm glad you found this forum!

Thank you! This is very helpful. Aspen actually had some back hip issues I noticed after getting her. I think one of the issues was my not putting enough mats down on the floor, but maybe something preexisting? I'm not sure. I do plan on making a thread about that. Thats why I got the litter box with stairs. Since then I did move the litter box to a more open area that she likes to poop in more, so she has the opportunity to hop in the side if thats easier for her. She uses the stairs about 50% of the time.
I'll post a photo of her new setup, I'm pretty happy with it so far, seems to work well.
Thank you! Usually there is more hay in it, just not as full in the time of the photo. I'll get a photo of how much hay is usually there when I get a photo of her setup.

 

[Aspen_The_Bun]

For pellet amount, you'll need to consider her body condition. Less than 1/4 cup is typically fine but may need to be adjusted based on your individual rabbit. Some smaller rabbits have higher energy and so may need the extra few pellets. If she is in good body condition, then you're feeding the correct amount.

This is very helpful. That was another question I had. She seems to have some messy bottom issues, so I do need to change something about her diet. I'll post a thread about that as well so I don't clog this up to bad. Maybe pellet amount is the issue, that would be an easy fix. Thanks for the suggestions!

You mentioned that when she poos outside the box, that you pick her up and place her in the litter box. Not advised. Picking up a rabbit and forcing them somewhere is one way to make her resent being handled and dislike her potty box. Rabbits will typically drop the occasional poos about their enclosure. That should be expected. If they are cleaned up too quickly, it may encourage her to drop more in an effort to re-claim the space. It is the very rare rabbit that is 100% with their poos.

Interesting. I don't pick her up and put her in the litter box, I pick up her poos and put them in the litter box. Sorry if that was confusing, that makes sense though. I did read that territory marking poop is normal, though she does seem to drop more than a few here and there. Enough to where I find my self picking everything up about twice a day. She also pees outside the box about every other day, usually on a mat so easy to clean up, but in the litter box would be preferred. Silly bun.
For deodorizer I used Natures Miracle Cage Cleaner for a while, but when I ran out I used vinegar since I do prefer to go as natural as possible. Then I switched back to Cage Cleaner since it seemed to work better.
Thank you for all your help! I appreciate it. Thanks for the tips on Lennon the Bunny, I think she has good basics like cage size wise, but good to know that all of the info isn't completely accurate. I'm very happy to have found this forum as well!

 

[Aspen_The_Bun]

Welcome to the forum! I love her ears!!!!

Thank you! Me too! I love that she's mostly white, but has those light patches. She's a sweetie!

 

[Aspen_The_Bun]

Photos-


I did have to use some paper tape to hold the box together, but that visible strips are the only spots with tape. I hope thats alright! Any other suggestions so I can remove would be great to. I would be worried about her chewing on it.