Rabbit accidents

[nicolekline97]

My rabbit marks in a corner. It is the main place she urinates. Most of the time she is in her crate or supervised. Each morning she barely can wait to get out and go outside. Sometimes I like to make coffee or throw on a sweatshirt and have her free roaming for a few minutes. Today I caught her right after and put her in the crate where her litter is. Is there a better way to deal with accidents when they happen
? I have searched the forums for litter training.

 

[Blue eyes]

If she's gone there before, the odor will remain and draw her back there again and again. It will need to be cleaned with something that will remove the odor so that even she cannot detect it.

Is there a way to put a litter box in that corner? That would be easiest.

 

[Blue eyes]

Here's further info on litter training:
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/litter-training.html
As for what to do when she goes in the wrong spot...I'd say ignore it. Putting her back in her cage as punishment doesn't really work for rabbits. It only succeeds in making her cage a place she does not want to be. That wouldn't be beneficial for her or you. Rabbits aren't going to be "trained" to please. They don't respond the way dogs do -- dogs desire to please their human. Rabbits do their own thing.

We don't really "train" rabbits to potty somewhere. They choose where to potty. We just have to capitalize on that and create a space that will attract them (ie. a pleasant litter box they want to be in). When they have a litter box that is enticing, they choose to go in there. Once they've established that as their place to go, they tend to stick to it.

In your case, it's a matter of ensuring the original box is more enticing than the corner. That means removing the odor for starters. If her current box isn't filled with hay, try that to entice her. If it doesn't work, put a litter box in the spot she's chosen.

 

[nicolekline97]

Here's further info on litter training:
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/litter-training.html
As for what to do when she goes in the wrong spot...I'd say ignore it. Putting her back in her cage as punishment doesn't really work for rabbits. It only succeeds in making her cage a place she does not want to be. That wouldn't be beneficial for her or you. Rabbits aren't going to be "trained" to please. They don't respond the way dogs do -- dogs desire to please their human. Rabbits do their own thing.

We don't really "train" rabbits to potty somewhere. They choose where to potty. We just have to capitalize on that and create a space that will attract them (ie. a pleasant litter box they want to be in). When they have a litter box that is enticing, they choose to go in there. Once they've established that as their place to go, they tend to stick to it.

In your case, it's a matter of ensuring the original box is more enticing than the corner. That means removing the odor for starters. If her current box isn't filled with hay, try that to entice her. If it doesn't work, put a litter box in the spot she's chosen.

She has wood pellets as litter. Is bale hay ideal or more like timothy hay? Do I sprinkle it over her litter? Or use hay as litter? We could possibly move her crate to where she goes but putting her litter pan there is not ideal. Her crate is in our dining room where we are a good portion of the day. I wasn't trying to punish her but put her near her litter.

 

[Blue eyes]

She has wood pellets as litter. Is bale hay ideal or more like timothy hay? Do I sprinkle it over her litter? Or use hay as litter? We could possibly move her crate to where she goes but putting her litter pan there is not ideal. Her crate is in our dining room where we are a good portion of the day. I wasn't trying to punish her but put her near her litter.

It's a good idea to top the wood pellets with hay. They like to graze while they potty, so it encourages them to go in there. (You can see such a setup on that link.) The added advantage of putting fresh hay on top of the litter (just add more on top every day) is that it allows the litter box to go longer between cleanings.

Picking her up and placing her near her box was with the intention of letting her get the idea of where to potty. That's understandable. However, with rabbits, anytime they are picked up and placed somewhere, they typically take offense. (That's why I used the term 'punishment.' )

They don't like being 'forced' to go somewhere they haven't chosen to go. It's similar to the trick of getting them back in their cage, say, for nighttime. The ideal is to trick them into thinking they are the one making the decision to go back in.