Help! Litter training!

[Arwen]

Hello all! Its me again! Ok, so here's my problem. I've been trying to litter train my rabbit for a while now. I've read many posts on litter training. So, I took her to get spayed and also had her checked for a UTI which came up negative.

How long does it take for a rabbit to litter train? Maybe I'm just being impatient? She was spayed on May 3rd and I haven't seen any sign of her using her litter boxes.

I've tried moving her box to her favorite pee spots and she just picks the opposite corner. So I move the box back then she goes to old corner so we just go back and forth on that :X. I have soaked her urine on a napkin and picked up her poops and put them in the box. What am I missing?

Do some rabbits just not get it?

She really needs to be trained because the hutch I bought her is designed for a litter trained rabbit; it has no pull out trays. Everyday I have a big mess to clean.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

How big is the litter box? compared to her and the cage. Some rabbits won't use a litter box if it is too small for them to fit in. If it is too big, she might not feel that it should be a litter box.
It might help to get a second box, one for each area that she likes to go.
Is there hay in the box? My rabbits like to eat hay and pee in the box. I have found that the placement of the hay in the box does matter. If they can nibble hay without being in the litter box, they might pee out of it.
Having just been spayed could mean that she is not 'ready' to start using the litter box. She could still be wanting to pee to mark territory.

I would clean the whole cage very well with a cleaner for urine. Then put some slightly used litter in the litter box. Eliminating the urine smell should help her to realize that she should pee in the litter box where there is some smell.
Some rabbits just take longer to learn to use the litter box than others. Keep trying and hopefully she will get it.

 

[kirbyultra]

If she was spraying urine due to hormones, you may not see significant improvement until she's less hormonal post-spay. Could be a few more weeks after the spay. Sorry it's not an instant thing!

 

[Arwen]

Boo I want instant!:nod lol. I have two litter boxes one on each side of her cage, she does occasionally hop on them and her whole body does fit so I assume they are a good size for her. They are the real big corner ones.

While she was at the vets I cleaned her cage real good with vinegar. I have also tried the dirty litter thing. Someone else from another post also told me it could take awhile. So guess I'll just have to keep working with her and be patient.

She also hasn't let me pick her up since being spayed. Wonder if that's normal?:?

 

[Rattiemattiesrattery]

I let my bunnies train themselves.

here is what I do pretty much:
Give them a litter box in any corner, then attach their food dish to the cage above the litter box (like in the back corner of it.) and then add the hay to the opposite side of the litter box. Then if they poop outside of the box, sweep it up and put it in the litter box.

Within a week generally they will only go in the box. Even if I move the food dish. (I give them their greens away from the litter box and they will usually do their business in the box rather then where the greens are.)

 

[Arwen]

With the design of the cage, there wouldn't be room to attach a food bowl above the litter box. I have the high backed boxes too. I tried to put the hay in the box like other people do but she just sits outside the box and grabs the hay.

 

[elrohwen]

I would honestly get rid of the corner ones. I have known many bunnies who had litter training issues with corner boxes suddenly be perfect when given rectangular boxes.

 

[zednon]

I feel lucky it just took my rabbit 3 days, the trick was she didn't like hay in her box. she won't use the box if there's hay in it, she'd rather have the hay in something next to the box. she likes to eat it up, aposted it down.

I had an unspayed female in high school, she just pick a spot I'd only clean that side of the cage, she didn't do this untill she was at least a year though. But she never pooped or peed on the otherside of the cage after that.

 

[kirbyultra]

What is inside of the litter box? I've had a bun who didn't care for the litter I was using and she used it 0% of the time until I remedied it.

Other thing that seems to happen is some buns need litter boxes in every imaginable place until they get the hang of using it, then litter boxes can be taken away one by one.

 

[Arwen]

The reason I have corner ones is because they take up less space. If I get a rectangle one, it'll take up too much room.

Bummer these corner ones were 15 bucks a piece. I am spending so much money on this rabbit!:nerves1. But you guys are the experienced ones which is why I am here so I will find a rectangle one anyway and see what happens. She's only in her hutch at night anyway.

Anyone know where to buy that grate stuff so I can put a grate in it? Maybe its the grate she doesn't like?:? My corner ones have grates.

To answer your question Kirby, I use wood pellets. I have 2 boxes for her right now and adding a 3rd would leave her no room at all.

 

[kirbyultra]

That is actually fine if she has no room. Especially if you have grates over some or all the litter boxes -- she won't get herself dirty standing in a litter box that way. The idea is to associate pooping with the litter boxes and having the wood pellets is a good way to identify the smell for her. Over time you should notice that she is using a certain box more often than others and you can start removing those away.

Eventually you could probably get rid of the grate if you see that she does not like it. Grates are a good option for those buns who dig in their litter and make a mess, or those to squat and sleep in their wastes. If your bun doesn't do that, you can remove them. I thought about grates for my buns when they were really fascinated with tossing litter at one point but they eventually got bored with it so I didn't bother with the idea anymore.

 

[Arwen]

Thanks! I won't worry about the room and will try a rectangle like elrohwen said. Thanks all, I'll see how it goes.

 

[elrohwen]

Let us know! Sometimes having a larger box makes all the difference. You can get rectangular cat boxes for just a few bucks (I think I got my last one for $4). And I agree that she might not like the grate. I would try without it for a while and as long as she's not making a mess with the litter don't worry about it.

 

[Arwen]

Should I try the small size cat box or the regular size?

 

[kirbyultra]

I find that with litter boxes, you can't go wrong with bigger. Smaller boxes sometimes deter bunnies from hanging out in it.

 

[elrohwen]

How large is your bun? I think the smallest size for any bun is around 14" x 14". That size is appropriate for a holland or a mini rex or something. I think you said your bun is a full sized rex, so I would definitely get her the big box.

 

[Arwen]

Yes she is a regular sized rex. Next time I go into town I will get her a couple cat boxes.

 

[Arwen]

Well I got her the big cat box and she is still pretty much clueless. But others have said that it can take awhile but I still want to know....

Do some rabbits never litter train?

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I'll put it to you this way,
My girl Evie could be considered impossible to train. Spayed late, kept in dirty, small conditions,no litter pan for first 1-2 years of life.

She believes that hay is great to pee on AND eat, and all corners need to be marked. This makes it hard to keep her in anything but a regular petshop cage.
However, I've made her cage work for her, by working within her current actions. I've duct-taped all corners of the fleece, so they wipe clean.
I bought a HUGE bottom drawer from an old plastic shelvnig unit at value village, and it fills the entire bottom floor of the condo. She is slowly learning to only poop and pee there. I put the hay there, and she finds it

So far, this setup is working. I found that I had to step back from making her poop where I wanted her to, to just accomodating her.

All that said, I think your girl will step up in a few weeks. Just keep tossing the poops back in the box.
Don't keep the box too clean.
Hang up a rack of hay over the box; buns seem to like to munch hay and poop

I

 

[Haley]

I definitely agree with putting the hay in the litter box. At Midwest Rabbit Rescue they often use milk jugs hung upside down with the bottom cut off completely to stuff hay in and the top of the jug (which would be upside down) cut open a little so the bunny has to get it that way. If you put it in the back corner of the litter box and hang it up a little bit then they have to stand in their litter box to get it.

I also put food bowls in my litter boxes for my messy bunnies. I use ceramic bowls so they are heavy for them to flip and put them in the corner. This works great for me.

If all else fails, try puppy pads or newspaper to line the bottom of the cage and change it often. Hopefully it will get better as her hormones die down but some bunnies are just not great with the litter box.

Are you keeping her inside? What is her cage like?