Rabbit won’t use his litter box when we are asleep

[Thorsmum]

Hello all,

first time bun mum here.

We picked up our boy last Friday (12th March) and since day 2 he has been excellent with his litter training. 95% of the time he uses it until we get to night time and by night time I mean when we go to bed.
In his play pen area cage he also has his litter box and IKEA doll bed. He loves laying under the bed during the day and sitting on it to groom himself. However, Every morning we wake up and he makes such a mess on his bed but no where else.

I have tried spot cleaning his litter tray before bed and this didn’t do anything.

I change his litter tray everymorning and change the blanket on his IKEA bed every morning but not sure what else to try.

Also I know i only had him a week but don’t want him to form the idea that pooing on his bed at night time is ok.

He is setup in my front room and we keep the curtains slightly open and the balcony lights are on during the night but maybe it’s too dark for him?

all help is welcomed at this point

 

[peanutdabunny]

Maybe use an Ikea tray( for under the water bowls) And put it on the bed, the blankets on the bed are making it tempting for him to pee on it I think

 

[JBun]

Is he just pooping on the bed or peeing as well? Do you notice that he's being active in the rest of his pen at night, eating and drinking, and hopping around normally?

 

[zuppa]

Hi, sorry I didn't see your thread earlier, it is probably already fixed now but still will ask, what age is your Thor and is he neutered?

As one of solutions I would just remove his bed for the night to see how he reacts. During potty training it has to be bluntly restricted area and toilet with all the toilet smells in it and not anywhere outside of it, all accidental pee spots are cleaned with white vinegar to remove smell of pee.
No blankets or anything soft because they like peeing on soft. Your rabbit is very new so it is great that he uses his toilet properly during the day but it is just maybe new place for him and he needs to learn the rules, he is probably just confused and thinks the bed is his night toilet or something.

Other solution would be refilling his toilet in the evening, what I personally do. I have one or two big drinkers who make lots of pee and so I like refilling their toilets in the evening. For other buns usually every 3 days, for bonded pairs every other day.

I use pine wood pellets for litter boxes, they absorb urine really well so toilets stay dry and not stinky for 2-3 days. I don't use much pellets like changing more often so I put only a thin layer of pellets and some hay on top, not much. But I know some people use very large litter boxes and have like 2 inch layer of wood pellets there so they only refill their boxes once a week with one rabbit or twice a week with two. They remove soiled hay every day I imagine.

What you use for toilet, can you post some pics of your setup and update on how's it going with your rabbit? We love pictures here

 

[hthrparis]

My 1 year old bunnies are no longer using their litter boxes...well during the day they do at night they scatter their poop everywhere and sometimes pee. So I am following this thread.