My Bun likes lying in his litter

[KatandBuns]

I adopted a second rabbit from the shelter last December as companion for my current bunny, Sahara. We picked Scooter. As an aside, we call him Gramps because he was so fragile when we got him that I thought he was way older than the shelter had estimated. As I was saying, we picked him because when we did a meet and greet, the two buns immediately hit it off. Really, Sahara picked him and she's pretty smart, sometimes a little too smart for her own good. The problem is that Gramps is... not at all smart. He does things like lying in own litter. He has an entire playpen area (about 4" x 4) outside his cage and his cage is always open. He chooses to go lie inside his cage, in his litter area. It wouldn't be a big deal except then he gets huge clumps of feces stuck to his bottom. I have to clip them out, but at times, like today, it doesn't work and I have to give him a wet butt bath. He does okay during baths because he is a very mellow bunny, but I know that the whole experience is a little bit traumatic. One of his big problems is that he just doesn't clean himself. This may be in part to the fact that he has a huge dew flap - maybe he just can't reach, but I never see him even trying. He eats mostly hay, so it's not really a sticky poop problem - it's more of a urine plus poop makes sticky poop and lounging in it makes it stick to him problem. He's a big bunny so he generates a lot of waste. I try to scoop it out every day, but sometimes it's every other day and sometimes it's every third day. It never goes beyond three days. Is there a way that I can get him to stop lounging around in his litter so that when I can't get to it every day I don't have to worry about cleaning his bottom?

 

[LakeCondo]

If you got a deep litter box, you could just add litter on the top on the days you can't clean it out. Or would he have trouble getting in & out? They do have boxes that are deep at the back but not at the front that might work.

I'm glad you were willing to take on this older rabbit. And welcome to the forum.

 

[1234bunnies777]

Could it be that he is looking for some where cold to lay for his belly? Or is it he is just to lazy to get up after he goes to the bathroom?

What LakeCondo said is a good idea because if there is enough litter the poop will fall to the bottom

good luck:biggrin2:

 

[KatandBuns]

Thanks for the input. His bathroom area is in his cage, so it's deep enough to scatter new litter on top. It's definitely worth a shot. I could scatter new litter every day to keep a dry, clean surface. I would prefer that he use a separate pan to his cage, but I'm just happy he uses his cage... most of the time - like I said, he's a little special. If he was the first bunny that I had, I very seriously doubt I would have ever gotten another one.

We opted to meet him because of his age. I wanted a companion close to the age of our current bun. Plus, because he's older I felt that he had less of a chance of getting adopted. He was by far the oldest bunny in the shelter - everyone else was no more than a year. It's so sad that someone would abandon him at his age, but at least I know that he is safe and healthy with me for the rest of his days.

 

[KatandBuns]

He may want somewhere cool to lay - that's what my boyfriend thinks. I think that he's just oblivious. When it gets warmer, I'm going to give him some frozen water bottles and see if that stops him from going into the cage specifically to lay in the litter corner.

I'm definitely going to try LakeCondo's suggestion and hope for the best.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

A couple of ours just like to lay in their litter pan. We had one in constant need of cleaning--Rex Fur--so I cut her way down on pellet and gave a small amount of veggies. This has worked very well and any clean up is done with unscented baby wipes.

 

[TinksMama]

My sister's older bunny likes to lay in her liter box all the time. She stays pretty clean though, so it hasn't been a huge problem for us. I know most people don't like using wire but maybe consider putting a wire grate over his litter box to help him stay clean. Just a thought.

 

[fribble2110]

ohh ms rhea LOVES to lay in it... She has nice warm plushy bed in her pen and she chooses the little box >.< She is a crazy little girl! She stays clean though so i dont mind! As long as he is comfy thats all that matters

 

[melbaby80]

My English Angora lays in her litter box and she comes out not so clean, infact with the pee it clings to her fur. She hates being brushed but I have no choice to wipe her area's down that has the "peed poop" off her. She cleans herself, but I think the amount of fur she has makes it difficult for her to remove everything. I feel your pain, I think she's is just plain lazy. She'll lay around, but then again with her massive amount of fur I don't blame her, she's probably hot. My lionhead is a whole different story. She will poop and pee in her box with occasional poops outside of the litter box but that I do not mind. I just wish my angora would catch on, since she seems to want to lay in her litter box and pee outside of it...:X