Ok, so how do you litter train your bunny kids?

[gentle giants]

I have only had one rabbit as a house pet, andhe was definatly not litter-trained. He had to have closesupervision every time I let him out to play, and he sprayedeverywhere! I have all my rabbits in the barnright now, and what I want is to move one into the house to live withme. Do you have to start with a baby, or can you litter train a fullgrown bunny, and how do you do it? Thanks!

 

[Shuu]

It's actually easier to litter train a fullgrown bunny usually. I'd start with getting the rabbit trained while inhis/her cage in the barn. Then bring him/her inside . Start with asmall amount of space. If you let them have the run of the house or thefloor they're more likely to get confused and lose their good litterhabits. Just take it slow and be persistant. You'll have a littertrained house bunny in no time.

 

[Boricua_bunny]

These two links arevery helpful:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/behavior/litter_train.html

~Josh

 

[gentle giants]

Thanks, those articles were very helpful, I havea general idea now of what to do. I think I will try to train Sally togo in her cage, even with a large cage that giant cat litter pan wouldmake it crowded. Does that sound practical? I would simply bring hercage into the house so it would already be her territory. I would thinkthat would make her more likely to go in there, woulddn't it?

 

[Boricua_bunny]

I think she would be more comfortable goinginside her cage because it is something she is already familiar with.After, you can start putting litter pans in other places in the houseafter she is familiar with being there.

 

gentle giants wrote:

Thanks, those articles were very helpful, I have a generalidea now of what to do. I think I will try to train Sally to go in hercage, even with a large cage that giant cat litter pan would make itcrowded. Does that sound practical? I would simply bring her cage intothe house so it would already be her territory. I would think thatwould make her more likely to go in there, woulddn't it?

first off are we talking a flemish? I amwondering because of the size litter box you stated I was thinkinga smaller rabbit and had a mental image of aFlemish trying to use a small corner Pan . Youcan always try sitting the pan under hercage at first . that way you can figureout which corner she chooses to use.

I have never had aproblem training 8 weekold babies to a litter box , and I have never had ahard time training older rabbits to one either . Ina matter of 1 day I took a barn rabbit / breeder / blind andhad him trained by hte end of the day .If you put the box in their choice of a spot theywill train eaily no matter the age, Bunnys do not like to bedirty and usually only Potty in onecertain spot . Trying to change their mindsis when problems start.

 

[gentle giants]

The cage she is in is one of those that has theframe kit and the tray slides underneath. Do I still need a litter pan?Or can I train her to just go to the bathroom in her cage itself? If Ikeep her in her cage for a couple of days, then put some of her little"pebbles" and some hay in a litter pan outside the cage, would she belikely to use it? I know you're supposed to increase her play spacelittle by little each day so as not to overwhelm her with it. Also,once she is litter trained, will she still leave pebbles around, orwill they all go in the pan?

She is a giant, BTW, I forgot to say that.

 

[kgarver]

i think if she's always been in that cage withthe tray, she will probably instinctively go back to it when she needsto use the bathroom. my rabbit lived in a wire bottom cage with a traythat slides out for the majority of his life and recently i made him amuch bigger cage. since he was used to going to the bathroom in the oldcage i just attached it to his new cage making it one big cage. iworried about him getting confused but he always goes back into the oldcage to go to the bathroom. also, when he's running around in the househe will also go back to the old cage and go to the bathroom and thencome back out. i've never had other litter boxes around the housebecause he always goes back.