litter training HELP!!!!!!!!

[loppylove]

help, i don't know what else to do. I had abunny previous;y and he litter trained fine. now my other bunny isbeing very very difficult, and me and my boyfriennd are moving toapartment soon and if shes not traiined by then, then we might have togive her away. its very sad but its anapartment i can keep her in cage and i dunno what to do.......pleasehelp someone this i what i have tried...She is an english angora, so ihad to put wire over litter box so she doens't get litter in hair, andwhenever she poops i put it in there and when she pees i sopt it up andput it in litte box, she will be going in one corner when i putlitterbox there she will go in another corner, or middle of cage, ormove it and go. please help what else can i do, she is a little bitover 3 months and i have been trying to train her for the last 2 weekswith no luck. i don't want to give her away i feel like i amnot giving her a chance, and i am abondoning her, and she is reallycoming around and being very sweeet, but there is no otherway help!

 

[Lissa]

loppylove wrote:

she is a little bit over 3 months and i have been trying totrain her for the last 2 weeks with no luck.

I have a 3-month-old with the same problem. I have to keepher in a puppy kennel until she learns how to go in alitterbox. You might not have any luck for awhile.Young bunnies are harder to train.

 

[Shuu]

Is the cage big enough to fit multiple litterboxes? You could try two or three boxes. Also,try putting some hay inthe litter box to entice her to use it. It's true she may still be tooyoung. And make sure you thoroughly clean up any pee spots she doesoutside the litter box to the point where she shouldn't be able tosmell it anymore. If none of this works you may have a non littertrained bunny for a month or two yet.

 

[loppylove]

oh no!:shock::shock::shock::shock:isthere nayhting else i can do? how about the wire over litter box? doyou think thats whats throwing her off? she can't smell it even thoughi put it in there? Thanks for all tips

 

[Shuu]

She may not like the feeling of the wire so thatcould be it. Try taking it off to train her and just make sure tochange the litter everyday.

 

[BunOne2]

This might be of help ... the HRS is a goodplace to look for help too. It sounds like your little one is "a littletoo little" right not to be sprayed. You mentioned that you placed wireover the litter box so that she doesn't get her fur dirty ... maybespreading some hay over the wire might help ??

Good Luck!

Joyce



Expert:VisionHills Sanctuary
Date:3/2/2004
Subject:litter training

Question
hi i have two female polish dwarf bunnies that are great petas andverry cute(ashes and jessie)the only problem i have is that i have readalot about litter training and it doesent seem to work wen they pee onthe floor i wipe it up and replace the pee stain with a litter boxuseing the paper towl as a box liner they then use the floor next tothe box.i thought maybe the box wasent big enoughf so i give them boxesthat are more than big enoughf but it dident work!i never get mad atthem but this is verry frustrating because i read alot about rabbitsand chose them over cats(no regrets)but cats would have been littertrained by now.i hope to elimanate the cages altogether but this cantand wont happen untill they can be trusted to use the box.please helpall i want is for them to be happy and i know there not happy being inthe cage for18 hours a day.
thankyou Cory


Answer
Yes, it is more difficult to litter train rabbits. Cats usually trainextremely easily because of their instinct to bury their excreta, andin the house a litterbox is usually the easiest place for that.

Rabbits have an instinct to do *most* of their business in one area,but also use excreta to "mark" territory. So it's more challenging.Especially if you have two rabbits of the same sex. Even if they getalong, there is often residual dominance and marking behavior thatmakes litter training very difficult.

Are they spayed? This would be likely to help, by limiting the hormonesthat are part of the drive to dominate and mark. Spaying does haverisks, but with a good rabbit vet, appropriate anesthesia and followupcare, the operation has an excellent positive record. There are manyhealth benefits to spaying, chief among them the elimination of thepossibility of uterine cancer, which is extremely common in rabbitsover 5 years of age. (Rabbits live an average of 8-10 years, and manylive longer--I have a male who is 11 and had a female who passed on at11 as well.)

If you have not taken your bunnies to the vet before, please try tofind one who is experienced with rabbits. Many vets who are very goodwith dogs and cats are not knowledgeable about rabbits, especially thelatest information. The pagehttp://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/vet.htmlhas suggestions on how to find
one. There is a list of some vets athttp://www.rabbit.org/care/vets.htmland another organization's list athttp://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/PB_vets.html

You can also contact a nearby House Rabbit Society chapter or otherrabbit group for suggestions on good local vets. HRS has a page listingcontacts for their own chapters. If there is not one near you, you canlook for a nearby independent group using the HRS contacts pagehttp://www.rabbit.org/links/index.html

You are trying some good litter-training strategies, but if youhaven't read the FAQ at the House Rabbit Society site there may be sometips that would be useful there:http://rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

One problem may also be that they don't like the litter, either theway it smells or how it feels on their feet. Try putting hay on top ofthe litter as a "cushion"--this also keeps their feet cleaner andencourages them to sit and eat this vital part of their diet. If thisdoes not help, you might try a different type of litter. The littertraining FAQ has info on various types of safe litters.

Good luck and thanks for being so committed to your rabbit companions!

Gina

 

[loppylove]

Shuu wrote:

Shemay not like the feeling of the wire so that could be it. Try taking itoff to train her and just make sure to change the litter everyday.

the reason i put wire over litterbox is to prevent it from sticking tofur, casue then its really difficult to get it out (i use carefresh)

 

[loppylove]

BunOne2 wrote:

This might be of help ... the HRS is a good place to lookfor help too. It sounds like your little one is "a little too little"right not to be sprayed. You mentioned that you placed wire over thelitter box so that she doesn't get her fur dirty ... maybe spreadingsome hay over the wire might help ??

Good Luck!

Joyce



Expert:VisionHills Sanctuary
Date:3/2/2004
Subject:litter training

Question
hi i have two female polish dwarf bunnies that are great petas andverry cute(ashes and jessie)the only problem i have is that i have readalot about litter training and it doesent seem to work wen they pee onthe floor i wipe it up and replace the pee stain with a litter boxuseing the paper towl as a box liner they then use the floor next tothe box.i thought maybe the box wasent big enoughf so i give them boxesthat are more than big enoughf but it dident work!i never get mad atthem but this is verry frustrating because i read alot about rabbitsand chose them over cats(no regrets)but cats would have been littertrained by now.i hope to elimanate the cages altogether but this cantand wont happen untill they can be trusted to use the box.please helpall i want is for them to be happy and i know there not happy being inthe cage for18 hours a day.
thankyou Cory


Answer
Yes, it is more difficult to litter train rabbits. Cats usually trainextremely easily because of their instinct to bury their excreta, andin the house a litterbox is usually the easiest place for that.

Rabbits have an instinct to do *most* of their business in one area,but also use excreta to "mark" territory. So it's more challenging.Especially if you have two rabbits of the same sex. Even if they getalong, there is often residual dominance and marking behavior thatmakes litter training very difficult.

Are they spayed? This would be likely to help, by limiting the hormonesthat are part of the drive to dominate and mark. Spaying does haverisks, but with a good rabbit vet, appropriate anesthesia and followupcare, the operation has an excellent positive record. There are manyhealth benefits to spaying, chief among them the elimination of thepossibility of uterine cancer, which is extremely common in rabbitsover 5 years of age. (Rabbits live an average of 8-10 years, and manylive longer--I have a male who is 11 and had a female who passed on at11 as well.)

If you have not taken your bunnies to the vet before, please try tofind one who is experienced with rabbits. Many vets who are very goodwith dogs and cats are not knowledgeable about rabbits, especially thelatest information. The pagehttp://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/vet.htmlhas suggestions on how to find
one. There is a list of some vets athttp://www.rabbit.org/care/vets.htmland another organization's list athttp://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/PB_vets.html

You can also contact a nearby House Rabbit Society chapter or otherrabbit group for suggestions on good local vets. HRS has a page listingcontacts for their own chapters. If there is not one near you, you canlook for a nearby independent group using the HRS contacts pagehttp://www.rabbit.org/links/index.html

You are trying some good litter-training strategies, but if youhaven't read the FAQ at the House Rabbit Society site there may be sometips that would be useful there:http://rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

One problem may also be that they don't like the litter, either theway it smells or how it feels on their feet. Try putting hay on top ofthe litter as a "cushion"--this also keeps their feet cleaner andencourages them to sit and eat this vital part of their diet. If thisdoes not help, you might try a different type of litter. The littertraining FAQ has info on various types of safe litters.

Good luck and thanks for being so committed to your rabbit companions!

Gina

Thanks for all this ill try it!

 

[loppylove]

so im guessing noone has littertrained an english angora?

 

[Shuu]

Wait until more people get on the forum. I knowthere are a couple people who have Angoras or Jersey Woolies but theyprobably aren't online right now.

 

[naturestee]

I've never had a problem with Carefresh stickingto my rabbits, but they have short hair. Lissa's baby is aJersey Wooly and her older girl is a lionhead, so she would know whatlitters stick more than others. Amy has an angora, but Ithink she keeps him on a wire floor and his fur cut short.

What do you clean the urine up with? If you just wipe it up,then she can still smell it. Vinegar will clean it up nicelyand get rid of the smell. I wipe on a little vinegar with a papertowel, others use a spray bottle with diluted vinegar.

One of the things I've found that helps a lot is to put the hay rackover the litterbox and the food bowl next to it. My rabbitslike to eat and poop at the same time. Multiple litterboxesand constant cleaning will help give her the idea, too.

It may seem hard, but just keep working with her. Two weeksreally isn't all that long, especially since her hormones are tellingher to claim territory with her poop and pee.

Not to discourage you, but my female Polish was essentially impossibleto littertrain before she was spayed. At least she wouldusually pee in her box if she was in her cage. Her poop waseverywhere, inside and out of the cage. She would also markterritory with urine and sprayed the wall once or twice- I wasabsolutely convinced she was a male until I brought her in to beneutered and she got spayed instead. Now she always pees inher litterbox and her poops are kept to her cage, but not necessarilyin her litterbox.

 

[loppylove]

Shuu wrote:

Waituntil more people get on the forum. I know there are a couple peoplewho have Angoras or Jersey Woolies but they probably aren't onlineright now.

oh ok great

 

[loppylove]

naturestee wrote:

I've never had a problem with Carefresh sticking to myrabbits, but they have short hair. Lissa's baby is a JerseyWooly and her older girl is a lionhead, so she would know what littersstick more than others. Amy has an angora, but I think shekeeps him on a wire floor and his fur cut short.

What do you clean the urine up with? If you just wipe it up,then she can still smell it. Vinegar will clean it up nicelyand get rid of the smell. I wipe on a little vinegar with a papertowel, others use a spray bottle with diluted vinegar.

One of the things I've found that helps a lot is to put the hay rackover the litterbox and the food bowl next to it. My rabbitslike to eat and poop at the same time. Multiple litterboxesand constant cleaning will help give her the idea, too.

It may seem hard, but just keep working with her. Two weeksreally isn't all that long, especially since her hormones are tellingher to claim territory with her poop and pee.

Not to discourage you, but my female Polish was essentially impossibleto littertrain before she was spayed. At least she wouldusually pee in her box if she was in her cage. Her poop waseverywhere, inside and out of the cage. She would also markterritory with urine and sprayed the wall once or twice- I wasabsolutely convinced she was a male until I brought her in to beneutered and she got spayed instead. Now she always pees inher litterbox and her poops are kept to her cage, but not necessarilyin her litterbox.

yeah i have a short haired bunny and carefresh works great,but on he english angora is sticks to her hair and makes a mess ofthings. shes in a cage so no need for multiple litterboxes, i haven'texpanded her sapce and will not until she learns. i so use vinegar, iput hay near littebox, she might have to strech so its unconfortble iwill put it on top of litterbox. yeah and my other one is a male and hehas been pooping all arounf cage to mark his space, and i don' thinkthat has helped her, so he has been moved out, and i will be puttinghay in litterbox and i hope this helps. one question...if i cut all ofher hair off...when it grows back it will grow back the same right?softness and silkiness? becasue im thinking that will help make less ofa mess. oh i hope she does learn and is not like your polish:shock:because if she does not learn i cannot keep her inapartment and will have to give her away and that would be just awfulcasue she is very sweet and nice

 

[naturestee]

Part of this might be a territorialresponse. I know that's why your male is pooping allover. Also, you haven't had your girl for that long so shemay keep marking her cage until she thinks it is sufficiently owned.

I find multiple litterboxes helps inside the cage. I have twolitterboxes for my bonded pair now, as the Polish decided she didn'twant to pee in the same place the Dutch does. A secondlitterbox solved the problem.

Oh, and from what I can tell my Polish (naughty little Mocha) was unusually bad for a "teenage" rabbit.

 

[Lissa]

I have a Jersey Wooly and a Lionhead, bothbreeds being long-haired, and I used Critter Country aslitter. It is plant fiber that kind of resembles foodpellets. You can buy a big bag of it at Petco for about $13.

 

[loppylove]

Lissa wrote:

Ihave a Jersey Wooly and a Lionhead, both breeds being long-haired, andI used Critter Country as litter. It is plant fiber that kindof resembles food pellets. You can buy a big bag of it atPetco for about $13.

is it heavy like pellets?

 

[Lissa]

Yes it is. In fact, if you didn't know it was litter, you'd probably think it was pellets.

 

[loppylove]

Lissa wrote:

Yesit is. In fact, if you didn't know it was litter, you'dprobably think it was pellets.

thats good then it won't stick to her....questionif you just changelitter and scoop out *blah* every day...it wont stick to hair right? orwill she be dragging poop around with her all day?

 

[Snuggys Mom]

I have an AmericanFuzzy Lop, so I havethe problem with the litter sticking tothe fur,too. I buy plastic craft screen at Walmart (you can get itmost anywhere). I cut it to fit the litter box and it worksgreat. I think it's used for cross-stitch or something - it's70 cents a sheet. The urine goesright through andthe cocoa puffs stay on top. I just vacuum them rightup. My rabbit doesn'thave a problem with the feelof the plastic.

It's worth a try since it'sso cheap. It actuallysaves me money because it makes the litter last a lot longer.

Laura

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Laura wrote:

Ibuy plastic craft screen at Walmart . I cut it to fit thelitter box and it works great. I think it's used forcross-stitch - it's 70 cents a sheet. The urinegoesright through and the cocoa puffs stay on top.I just vacuum them right up.

I do what Laura does too. Iget mine at the dollar store...... three sheets for adollar.







Here is my link for more information on the litter box....

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=9548&forum_id=1&page=4

Rainbows!