Litter box and bedding question

[Mandyaqui]

Hi, my name is Amanda. I just got my first bunny a couple weeks ago from a pet store. They told me she is a Holland Lop. We named her Luna Lilly. Although I bought and read Bunnies for Dummies, I still have lots of questions that a book can’t answer. My first is this: I read that it’s not good to use Cedar or Pine shavings. Is Aspen ok? Also, if I use aspen for her bedding, should I also use it in her litter box, or should I use a pellet litter or something to help her distinguish between the spaces? She has been VERY hard to litter train so far. In the book it said to put the litter box where she goes mostly but she poops and pees EVERYWHERE. Any advise will be greatly appreciated!

I should mention that we live in a small apartment. There is no place for her to run around outside. She has a cage (about 4 feet long) and I mostly let her have the run of the house.

[Monkeybun]

Aspen is fine.

I wouldn’t use it as bedding, or anything as bedding. Just put it int eh litter box. Having bedding in the cage will just confuse her when it comes to litter training.

My buns are apartment bunnies too. Outside is just too scary for them

[kralspace]

Welcome Mandyaqui,

I agree with Monkeybun, you can just put it in the litterbox along with some hay. One of the strangest first things I learned about bunnies is how they love to lounge, snack and snooze in their litterboxes…lol

Kathy

[mia]

You bun is new to your place so her potty habits may be all over since she’s adjusting. Just put stray poo in the litter box and when you wipe the urine, put some in the litter box whether it’s soaking a few pieces of aspen with urine or just a little piece of urine soaked paper towel. Make sure to wipe the urine with something that will rid of the scent like vinegar mix or nature’s miracle.

[Malp_15]

I agree with what everyone else has said.

When I first got my lil guy I had carefresh bedding all over and carefrsh litter in his box and he was having accidents everywhere. I took his bedding away and he hasn’t peed outside of his box since. Also by him eating his hay it keeps the poops inside of it, since they poop while eating.

[LoveChaCha]

How fun!

I used to use carefresh in the litter box, but it is very expensive, so I just use wood stove pellets. I ditto what everyone else has said

I have read Rabbits for DUmmies! It is one of the very first books that I read before getting bunny

My bunny is also an apartment dweller, so you are not the only one!

[Elrohwen]

Everyone else gave you great advice! My buns don’t go outside either – I’ve tried to take them out, but they get scared and run right back in.

I’d love to see pictures of your girl! I’m a bit obsessed with hollands 🙂

[Mandyaqui]

Thanks everybody for the tips. It’s comforting to know that there are other bunny’s out there that live in apartments too. I will post a pic of her soon, moved a few months ago and camera is still packed somewhere. I guess I could use my phone…

[BinkyBunny]

How old is she? Younger bunnies or bunnies that are reaching sexual maturity can be harder to train as they are dealing with hormones that may make them mark more.

Do you notice a difference of where she does pile type poos, as opposed to scattered poos?

[Mandyaqui]

Under 6 months. She poops piles and scatters all over the place. I tryed taking out the bedding from her cage exept in the litter box like suggested and she has actually used her litter box since I did that! She also pees and poos in her bed and the cage floor still though. I’m cleaning up after her a couple times a day. I bought her a grass hay basket to sleep in and I put in a torn up old sweater of mine for comfort, but she pooped and peed there. But the fact that she is using the litter box as well makes me hopefull, before she just slept in it.

I also wanted to mention that I found a couple of rusty red colored wet streaks on the carpet. It was not the color of her usual pee, but it didn’t look like diarreah either. Just curious.

[FluffyBunny]

Until she’s fully litter trained, she shouldn’t have any grass baskets, pet beds, or anything similar to lay on. For some reason, some bunnies end up thinking that anything remotely litter box-shaped is a great place to soak with pee.

The next time she pees on her cage floor, mop a little bit of it up with a paper towel and put it in her litter box. Put a few fresh poops in there, too. Make sure the rest of her cage is clean before you do this! This is the main way that I trained (and, after bonding them, re-trained) both of my rabbits to use the litter box. Just stay patient! She’ll get the hang of it before you know it.

She’s a little too young for it right now, but when she’s a few months older, you should consider getting her spayed by a good rabbit vet. From what I’ve seen, unspayed rabbits generally can’t be fully litter-trained. Also, spaying rabbits eliminates their chance of getting uterine/ovarian cancer, which affects up to 70% of female rabbits.

If the pee is a slightly orange red color, chances are it’s just red pee. Some bunnies get it from certain types of fruits and veggies. As long as it’s not diarrhea and it doesn’t look like blood, there’s nothing to worry about.

[Author]

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