Refusing the litter box

Musta-Eyolf-Pedes · Jul 26, 2015

I've had my little guy for a couple of weeks now and he's settling in very well, except for an utter refusal to use his litter box. It's a corner box with soft recycled paper litter and always has fresh hay inside. He'll go in to eat hay but leaves the box to leave droppings all over the space I have him in. I always scoop them up and put them into the box (him too if I catch him peeing).

What else can I do to encourage litter box use? I won't reward for bad behavior but as far as bathroom habits there's no good behavior to encourage with rewards. In addition, if he isn't trained soon the people I live with will make me give him away.

What can I do?

minimoomin · Jul 26, 2015

Generally bunnies go into the corner to use the bathroom, and they usually pick a certain corner, so if he's peeing somewhere else move the litter tray to that corner. Also if he pees out of the litter box wipe it up and put it into the litter box so it smells like him. Also could the litter box could be too small?

Musta-Eyolf-Pedes · Jul 26, 2015

minimoomin said:
Generally bunnies go into the corner to use the bathroom, and they usually pick a certain corner, so if he's peeing somewhere else move the litter tray to that corner. Also if he pees out of the litter box wipe it up and put it into the litter box so it smells like him. Also could the litter box could be too small?

He actually isn't just picking a corner. It's just wherever he happens to be standing at the time. I'll try that and no, he's still a baby (hasn't even been sexed yet) so size isn't the issue.

minimoomin · Jul 26, 2015

Musta-Eyolf-Pedes said:
He actually isn't just picking a corner. It's just wherever he happens to be standing at the time. I'll try that and no, he's still a baby (hasn't even been sexed yet) so size isn't the issue.

How old is he? Sometimes they take awhile to get the hang of it 😊 Good luck!

hamsterdance · Jul 26, 2015

I've found the corner style boxes, unless they are very large so that the rabbit can hop around in them, aren't generally very accepted by buns. In my experience the rectangular cat boxes work much better. (My first bunny started with a triangle box made for rabbits and wouldn't use it)
Also if they are young they may not be old enough to be boxed trained. How old?

JBun · Jul 26, 2015

He's a baby still, so it can take some time to litter train. Really the only way is to keep him in a smaller area for the majority of the time, then as he catches on you can gradually increase his area. You will need flooring that is easy to clean up, like a tarp or textured linoleum, until he is trained. You can also put a bunch of litter boxes covering the whole floor in his area, then gradually pull one out at a time to see how he does.

This link has some helpful tips as well.
http://www.therabbithouse.com/behaviour/problem-litter-training.asp