Mocha doesn't like his litterbox

[naturestee]

Hi all,

If you haven't read my previous post, Mocha is a 3.5 month old Netherland Dwarf. I've been trying to get him to use a litter box inside his cage for a couple of weeks now with limited success. He'll pee and poop in it, but he also has a second spot nearby that he likes to poop in. His prefered bathroom area is actually a wide semicircle around the food bowl which is in a front corner of the cage. His litter box (an old8x8 baking dish) is between the food bowl and hay rack where he seemed to be going the most. He usually sits in it while he eats.

Twice a day when I let him out I take out most the the dirty litter from his litter box and all of the soiled litter outside of the litter box. Sometimes Mocha hops back in and starts sniffing around his poo area, looking for the missing poo. This morning, when he was put back in and after he was done eating, he decided to move the litter box to the other side of the cage. He is still using both spots as his bathroom and every time I check on him he's proudly sitting where the litter box used to be!

The biggest problem is that if I got a litter box that would encompass his entire chosen area it would take up almost a third of the cage and have his food bowl sitting in it! What can I do? Should I just give upon having a litter box inside the cage? Oh, and he completely ignores litter boxes outside his cage.

 

[JimD]

Greetings!!

It might just be that he is still young.

Our Binkie is about 4 months old now. She is pretty much litter trained, but with the same issues as you have. She prefers to move her litter pan to variuos places in her cage. She always pees in it, but poops are another story. She has the same desire to have an "alternate poop in spot"

As long as she pees in the pan she can poop where she pleases, as far as I'm concerned.

I just litter trained Brindle in one day. She's about 1 1/2 years old now. Does ALL of her pee in & poop in in her litter pan.Such a good bunnie!

 

[naturestee]

Thanks, Jim!

It's good to know that Mocha's not the only one. I guess I'll just have to wait this out. My husband keeps trying to tell me that Mocha is a full, mature adult. This is just more proof that he's wrong. His family raised New Zealand Whites for meat when he was a kid, and I think he's confusing slaughtering age with adulthood.

 

[SOOOSKA]

Hi we have three Bunnies the brother/sister (I say boyfriend/Girlfiend) are the best. We bought them when they were about 7 weeks old, right from the start they used the litter boxes, they have two one in their cage & one in the corner of their be room (yes they have their own bedroom). We use Aspen Bedding in the litter box.



Buttercup the older one he'll be 7 years old in August, he's the cutest most loveable Bunny. For him we also use the Aspen Bedding but we top it up with his Timothy hay. We clean the litter box many times a day. He's smart enough to pee pee in areas that he doesn't eat the hay. He will not use a litter box in his cage for some reason. He's only in his cage during the night, he has the Family room during the day. You should seethe Family room, we have hay, toys, his food tray, a little couch that he sleeps on, a box that he hides in. (Can you tell it's his room).

My suggestion is to keep guiding your little one into the litter box, just be persistent and eventually it should pay off.

Good Luck

Soooska