Poops

[lavendertealatte]

Bunster is great at using his litter box for pee. Is it possible to train him to also keep his poops contained there? He poops anywhere in his cage and will also poop in the pen a little if he is left there for awhile. I generally sweep it up at least once a day.

https://rabbit.org/faq-litter-training-2/
has some "tricks" which basically entail making it clear that the cage is the bunny's territory.. has anyone had success?? I follow all these except I have cleaned his cage when he is in it and reach in for food bowls and such. I wonder if I start to wait for him to come out if it really will make a difference.

 

[doodlebugger]

We have had five rabbits, and none of them kept all of their poos in a litter box except one, and even then, she doesn't do it 100% of the time. Part of the issue is that sometimes the poo sticks to their fur and it falls off when they hop around. Sometimes a rabbit will poo while they are sleeping. Sometimes a rabbit will poo as they are walking and hopping around their cage. We do sweep up their poo and put them in their litter boxes, just so they will be encouraged to keep using it. But I think it will be something you will always have to do. Just part of the "fun" of being a rabbit owner.

 

[Blue eyes]

I am a big advocate for allowing a rabbit's cage to be his sanctuary, his place where he knows he will not be disturbed. I keep water and food dishes near the opening to minimize my hand's intrusion. I clean the cage when bunny is not in the cage.

Since I've been more diligent with this (since the last 3 to 4 rabbits) I have had practically zero poo pellets outside of the cage. Can't even remember the last time I've seen a stray poo. I know there hasn't been one in the last four years (when we moved). [I cannot say this about the prior 10 or so rabbits I had when I did not do this. They always had the stray poos.]

That said, I know better than to make too broad a generalization based on that limited experience. Perhaps I was just fortunate. It seems that some rabbits are just more inclined to be good in that regard than others.

My suggestion would be that if you do decide to give it a try, to be very consistent. Don't make exceptions to your new protocols. And give it a couple months of consistency. I would be curious to see how it works out.

 

[lavendertealatte]

Hey BlueEyes, right now we close Bunster's cage at night so he doesn't have access to his x-pen. This is a continuation of the routine we established since we first got him. He hops in by himself in response to a cue and his feeding routine. But I wonder if this would prevent him from claiming it as his sanctuary? He seems particularly desperate to get out in the mornings, it's like I can't open the door fast enough and if I lag he will start pushing with his head quite forcefully. Should I allow him access to the x-pen at all times? I do not want him to poop in the x-pen if possible, just in his cage and I wonder if it would affect that, for better or for worse.

//edit//
don't know but probably the timing when i decided to do this experiment is the worst, cause I think Bunster is probably about 5 months old now and hormones are probably in high gear right? I've also been giving Bunster more free time in the x-pen in the past week or so, opening it up in the mornings and letting him stay there all day whereas before I was only opening it in the evenings... so there's that confounding factor. Today there were poops everywhere in the x-pen when I came home this afternoon which was a first! I am perplexed! I also give him pellets in a box that he can dig through. I wonder if it matters where his pellets are. I have heard about hay and pee going together, but nothing about pellets... Anywho, I am rather impatient with experiments .. we will keep on ...

 

[Blue eyes]

Ooohh! If he's hormonal, I wouldn't even bother with experimenting. There wouldn't be much point and may just frustrate you. Any and all potty training can go out the window with the onset of hormones. You could keep trying, but then it would be tempting to assume this tactic just doesn't work -- no surprise with hormones involved.

Maybe don't worry about the training until after he's healed from neutering.

 

[lavendertealatte]

Yeeeaa we haven't set an appointment to get Bunster fixed yet.. and I'm also starting to suspect Bunster may be a she and not a he.. since he hasn't sprayed anything. Which also makes me nervous cause I hear spays are complicated procedures. I sent a message to a vet about two hours away since it seems the local vets here aren't very experienced with rabbits and asked a lot of questions (success rate etc.. :O) hope to hear back. They are very.. expensive.. though, at least several hundred.

There is a local vet here that does not see rabbits but will spay/neuter them. That's kind of odd to me.. what if something goes wrong? Then they cannot see them? How does that even work... Is this even a good option?

 

[Popsicles]

A spay in a rabbit should be no more complicated than in a cat or small dog, and it is only the anaesthesia that is riskier. Still for a rabbit sensible vet the risk of anaesthetic death is less than 1%. I do find it strange that this vet will operate but not treat, could you maybe ask why that is?
(Also my male rabbit never sprayed so don’t worry, he might still be a boy!)