MY RABBIT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO LITTER TRAIN

[Chreme]

I adopted my rabbit in October and now it's March of 2022, this whole time I've been doing my best to litterbox train her but it's almost impossible. At the shelter they told me she was litterbox trained, she also came from a bad home so she was used to drinking her pee and they likely didn't give her hay. I've already litter trained a rabbit before but I've never found it this difficult, I've done everything, minimized her space, placed multiple litterboxes (she used them until she realized she got tired of using them), given her different sized litterboxes, filled her litter box with pee soaked napkins, sprayed down everything with vinegar, put hay in her litterbox, used wood pellets as litter, put her pellets in her litterbox so she eats and poops there, gave her treats when she used the box, and scooped every poo and puddle. I'm getting frustrated at this point because I'm tired of waking up to the smell of pee, and I feel like it's a joke because immediately after I clean her area up and throw away everything, I come back to a new puddle, usually, I catch her as soon as she's finishing, this sometimes she'll do it twice because I go back and forth.

She was adopted so she is spayed, and her hair hasn't grown back from the area she had her surgery. After I brought her home I thought she'd be ready to introduce to my main rabbit since I wanted to bond them, they told me that she'd be healed in 2 weeks, but failed to tell me that she actually needed a whole month because she still needed her hormones to go down, so I was okay with it. A month later I tried to train her, and that's basically where I still am. She also doesn't like to eat hay that much, she's gotten really boney since I got her because she would only eat the 1/8 cup of pellets I would give her in the morning and night; she would rather starve all day than eat hay. I make sure to fluff up her hay so that she'll be drawn to it more and I put her pellets under the hay as well. I've been giving my rabbit's orchard grass hay but she still seems to like timothy hay more (although she still starves to eat pellets, only eats this hay occasionally). The problem with timothy hay is that I get terrible allergies from it, my throat gets really itchy and I've even gotten a fever from it before, so I try to avoid it as much as possible. My rabbit used to pee and then drink it until she realized that the water bowl is always full, but I still can't get her to stop. She'll usually finish eating her pellets, hop out, and pee right in front of the litter box. I do admit there might be some things in her environment that are influencing her to do this but I don't think so; I have another rabbit in the same room as her, but she's caged to a small part of the room and they've both gotten used to each other being there, but I think that if it were the cause of her behavior she would be predominately peeing at the cage bars, but instead she's peeing on the other side of her cage, for the most part.

here's a picture for sizing purposes:


Here's her current setup:


So to sum up:
I've tried everything you've seen in a litter training tutorial, as well as some new things. My rabbit is spayed but still refuses to use her box even after 5 months. She's lost a lot of weight because she doesn't like to eat orchard and would rather starve and wait until I give her pellets, I'm really allergic to timothy hay so that isn't an option. She used to drink her pee even though there was always water, but she still has the habit of peeing in the wrong spot. I'm contemplating putting her up for adoption at this point, but I've grown attachment and I love her so much and I'm not ready to give up on her. Her name is Mushroom by the way.

 

[Chreme]

I made the space smaller so hopefully it's easier for her to learn
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[Blue eyes]

Any number of things (or a combination) could be influencing her behavior. The presence of the other rabbit in the same room absolutely could be having an effect on her. If there's a way to move the other rabbit to a different room, that might be worth trying. The location in her setup that she's choosing to pee doesn't discount the idea that it's the presence of the other rabbit playing a role.

As for all the different litter setups you've tried, the inconsistency may itself be counter productive (though I certainly understand why it was done). I'd suggest sticking for awhile with one setup-- wood pellets topped with hay. Where/how to put that setup I'll address in a moment.

I'd also suggest trying some other types of grass hay. If timothy doesn't work for you and orchard grass doesn't seem to be well liked, then try something else. Bermuda grass was a favorite of some of my rabbits. There's also brome, oat, and meadow grass as well. A feed store will often allow you to take a handful of various types if you explain that you're trying to find which type your rabbit likes. Having a hay that she likes will also be helpful in encouraging her to potty in her hay-topped litterbox. Fresh hay should be added daily even if she hasn't eaten what is left in her cage. That daily addition can encourage hay-eating (fluffing isn't enough). If old hay is left there without fresh additions, that will only serve to discourage further hay-eating.

What is the flooring of the cage setup? Is that fleece? Fabric? Some rabbits need a solid vinyl/lino floor before they start pottying in a litter box. A textured lino floor may encourage her to use her box-- another potential piece of the puzzle since several factors may be combining to create the issue.

I'd also suggest a larger box setup as shown here.

Keeping the poos constantly picked up can also be counter-productive to litter training. They like to scatter territorial poos in their space. Let them be (stay) for a couple days before sweeping. Otherwise, it may be causing her to mark with pee instead. Always wipe up the pee though.

If all of this is tried and fails, there are still two further ideas/thoughts. One is to shrink her space to half and fill every single space with a series of litter boxes-- all setup the same way. This would make her have no space to be except for in a litter box. There will be no place she can go to potty outside a litter box because everything will be a litter box. As she gets used to that, eventually, one box at a time can be removed provided she doesn't have pee accidents any more.

The other though is that if these are actually just random piddles, it could be an indication of a urinary infection. That would, obviously, be a medical issue that would need to be addressed.

I see you just posted a photo of a new arrangement. If the 2nd rabbit has access right next to her space, then no wonder she is peeing everywhere. I'd suspect that would be an attempt at marking territory and being keen to establish her space.

 

[Blue eyes]

Sometimes rabbits can learn from each other as well. You may want to consider another approach. That would be to go ahead and begin bonding them so they can share the same space. Once bonded, the new rabbit should have no reason to mark territory. She should also be able to share the same litter box with the other rabbit. However, I'd strongly suggest that you first remove the lids from the litter boxes. Enclosed litter boxes are not a good idea for a bonded pair because there is only one entrance. That's asking for trouble... especially with a newly bonded pair. (The fumes can also trap in the enclosed boxes which isn't good for their sensitive respiratory systems.)

Using a larger box (as shown in the litter box setup linked in the above post) will allow for both rabbits to fit in there at the same time. It may be that once the two are bonded, that the new one will settle in and copy your other rabbit (and keep those floors pee-free).

 

[Chreme]

Sometimes rabbits can learn from each other as well. You may want to consider another approach. That would be to go ahead and begin bonding them so they can share the same space. Once bonded, the new rabbit should have no reason to mark territory. She should also be able to share the same litter box with the other rabbit. However, I'd strongly suggest that you first remove the lids from the litter boxes. Enclosed litter boxes are not a good idea for a bonded pair because there is only one entrance. That's asking for trouble... especially with a newly bonded pair. (The fumes can also trap in the enclosed boxes which isn't good for their sensitive respiratory systems.)

Using a larger box (as shown in the litter box setup linked in the above post) will allow for both rabbits to fit in there at the same time. It may be that once the two are bonded, that the new one will settle in and copy your other rabbit (and keep those floors pee-free).

thank you so much for the advice, I'll defintely start trying these today, unfortunately I can't move either rabbit to a different room because I live with my parents and their only allowed in my room, but I'll do everything else.

 

[JBun]

I would say the fabric on the floor is most likely the main problem, with the other issues contributing. Some rabbits just can't resist peeing on soft surfaces. So a fabric covered floor is like an open invitation to them to pee. You'll need to try some sort of hard non slip flooring like textured vinyl flooring, like Blue Eyes suggested.

 

[Chreme]

I would say the fabric on the floor is most likely the main problem, with the other issues contributing. Some rabbits just can't resist peeing on soft surfaces. So a fabric-covered floor is like an open invitation to them to pee. You'll need to try some sort of hard nonslip flooring like textured vinyl flooring as Blue Eyes suggested.

For my flooring, I'm using a plastic mat that I got from Walmart, so it's like a tarp, It's held up by the X-pen like this because when she pees on the floor she accidentally splashes it onto the outside. So it doesn't have any fabric in her cage because I worried she would pee on it since I had that problem when I was litter training my last rabbit (he's the black one). I'm definitely going to move his litterbox to the other side of the room again though.