sleeping in litter pan, pooping everywhere else

[blwinteler]

When I got my bunnies (9 days ago), I was assured they were litter trained. I got a corner litter pan, since I've been reading like crazy and that seemed to be the main recommendation. They sleep in the litter pan and poop all over the rest of their cage, and they poop a lot! I have a wire bottomed cage with a tray underneath, since I don't want the poops and pee to get in their hair (they are angoras). Is this behavior just because they are in a new habitat? How can I retrain them? Would a different litter pan, like a rectangle that takes up more space, help?

:bunnybutt::litterhealthy:

 

[PaGal]

Bunnies due tend to mark new areas with their poo. My bun did it up till about 7 months old and then slowed and stopped. I took in two females and he started again. They are simply marking their territory. Most owners consider their buns litter trained as long as they pee only in the box.

A larger litter box can be helpful. I can't imagine any of my buns successfully using a corner pan. You can use a cat litter box, a baking dish or a plastic storage tub. All of these items have been used as litter boxes. With my two girls I use a large plastic storage tub with low sides. It is low enough for them to easily hop in, high enough to keep the litter in well and big enough they can both sit and eat their hay from the hay rack hanging above the litter box. This box fits completely across one end of the cage. I used a cat litter box at first and one would sit in and the other out to eat and the one out would pee and poo where it was.

If you haven't already done so it helps to hang the hay rack above the pan so they can sit in the pan while munching.

Pick up any poos outside the pan and place them into the pan.

If they are not spayed/neutered then having that done may improve their litter habits as well. Good Luck!:happybunny:

 

[blwinteler]

Thank you, PaGal. I will get them a bigger litter pan and see if that helps. They are both neutered. They mostly keep poop in their cage, at least, though they have "marked" a few areas of the apartment that they decided they liked.

 

[J.Bosley]

Rue was a brat with litter training... haha! I got rid of her corner litter pan and got a nice big cat one from the dollar store. Switching to a larger litter pan and adding some hay in it for her to munch on did the trick!

She now ONLY goes in her litter pan :clapping:

 

[blwinteler]

So, I gave them a bigger pan and put it in the corner where Bugsy backs up to pee. Apparently, he thinks I moved the corner because he backs up to the outside of the pan to pee. . . Or at least he did until they started throwing the pan around. I swear that they were playing catch with it this morning. They also sleep in it together, which is pretty cute.
Now what?

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Peter spends so much time in his pan, we now call him "Peter Pan". I pick up his pan and put it on the floor and have to prod him to get him out so I can clean and he can exercise.

 

[ArmyGuyDan]

now he is either in his pan or stretched out on his carpet