My baby and litter training!

[IsabellaRobyn]

Belle is my first bunny so please excuse me if I sound like a total novice, I am!

So I’ve had Belle for two weeks now and at first she point blank refused to use her litter tray!  She liked to lie in it a lot but she wouldn’t do her business in it.  I watched where she was peeing and I moved the tray there, then she’d just pee where the tray used to be so I’d move it back after a few times of her peeing there then she’d just do it again.  The next time I cleaned her out I put the litter tray in one space with some pee soaked wood shavings from before and I moved her food to the other side of it where she would have pee’d previously, then out of no where she started peeing in her litter tray!  It was the first time I’d cleaned the litter tray (after she’d used it, I had cleaned it out before but it was always dry) and the litter I’d been using was horrible and mushy where the pee had soaked it and I’m not sure if I should use it again so I just filled the tray with the wood shavings I have around her cage and she seems to be peeing in it still (and it looks a lot cleaner).  I was wondering if it’s okay to not use litter?

Also now that I have her peeing down, I was wondering if there are any particular ways to get her to do her little poops in the litter tray?  I pick up all the ones she does and put them in the tray and I’ve put her hay rack beside it so she can reach it from in the tray so she does some poops in there while she eats but the rest of the time she just does them where ever.  I know with the pee the smell brings them in, but how do you establish that connection with the poops?

Thanks for all the help I get and I do understand that it takes time with lots of bunnies I’m just looking for ways to aid the process!

[Monkeybun]

Ahh litter training. Fun times

First of all, do you have the shavings everywhere in the cage? If so, only put the litter in the box. Bunnies don’t need it everywhere, as it just confuses them.

Second, if it is pine or cedar shavings, stop using immediately. There are harmful phenols in them that can cause respiratory and liver problems that are very not good for your bunny. If you want to use a wood shaving, use aspen. But other kinds of litter are more absorbent, like woodstove or paper pellets, or carefresh.

Third, is she fixed? If not, its definitely a good thing to get done, especially for girl bunnies. Altering them can help with litter training, as they aren’t as inclined to mark everywhere, and spaying a female gets rid of that 80% chance of uterine cancer that girl buns all live with. Better to remove that chance completely, hormones are no fun anyway

Fourth, is it a corner litter box? If so, a lot of rabbits prefer the large cat litter boxes, as they have more room in them. Gotta have lots of room to lounge

And last, does she hay hay in or near her litter box? Bunnies like to eat and go at the same time, so having hay where she can only reach it in the litter box is a great way to get that litter training going. I know, it sounds icky, but they don’t think it is. Totally natural in Bunny-land.

Welcome to the life of a bunny slave

[RabbitPam]

Monkeybun’s advice is spot on. Definitely need to only use aspen shavings. Pine and cedar have long term bad effects on bunny’s health. I only use aspen shavings. I definitely would continue to use litter that’s made for bunnies. You do need to stop using the shavings throughout the cage and only in the litter pan.
Also, once soaked, drop that litter into the pan (don’t clean it out totally) so she smells her pee there, which it looks like she’s doing. Drop her stray poos into the litter pan, put some hay in one end, and praise her whenever she uses it. If you see her lift her tail, scoop her up and place her in the pan to go.

Many products are good litters to try because often a baby shows a clear preference for one kind and that will work from then on. Kind of expensive at first, but worth trying. If she already likes shavings, use the aspen. Try wood pellets that are safer, such as Feline Pine, or Untreated wood stove pellets without an accellerant.
Yesterdays News and Carefresh are good pellet alternatives. I happen to love Aspen pellets because they absorb odor 3x as much and then I cover them with aspen shavings for a soft seat for her. It’s more expensive, but my bunny is such a diva that she liked it so I stuck with it. Plus the lack of odor makes her habitat more popular with my family.

[IsabellaRobyn]

Monkeybun

Firstly; She has shavings everywhere except her bed that is just a shoe box with some bedding in it, but she runs around in my room all the time and there are none out there (well except from the ones she gets all over my carpet from her feet!) haha.  I’m just concerned that the littler I bought isn’t very good quality because it was like cement when I cleaned it the other day and usually it is little round pearls.

Second; My shavings don’t say what kind they are but they were the only kind in my pet shop, just looks like saw dust to me.  It just says “compressed wood shavings”.  It’s a Scottish brand and I can’t find any info on the internet that can tell me what kind they are.

Third; She’s not fixed as I’d like to breed her once before I get that done.  She doesn’t mark anywhere outside the cage (except from on my bed but she’s not allowed up there any more) so I don’t see it as much of a problem.  

Fourth; Yeah it’s a corner box but she seems to like it so I don’t think I need to buy a new one just yet but I’ll keep an eye out for some bigger ones.  

Last; She has hay beside it in a rack but when she’s in the tray she can eat it while she is sitting there.  I used to have some on the floor in the tray but she just mixed it around amongst the litter I had in there and lay on it haha! 

Rabbitpam

I live in Scotland so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get those products here but I’ll look out for them when I’m in some larger pet shops

 

[IsabellaRobyn]

Update! I just took out all the wood shavings (except from in the litter tray for now) and put them in a box for her to dig in if she likes so it’s not all waste. I feel like such a bad mummy for having her in all those shavings! She seems to like it a bit better now and it’s made a new toy for her to play with. I added some more hay into her actual litter tray too as well as the stuff in the rack so I’m hoping that will help her out. Thanks for all the help guys!

[FrankieFlash]

I might add if she continues to go in a different corner then the one her pan is in try putting something in every corner of her cage until she figures it out. I tried everything with bunjamin but that is the only thing that worked. He had a house in one corner, litter box in the other, a box he slept in the other, and lastly his food dish in the last.

Just a heads up, intentional breeding is not allowed on the forum but I’d like to mention that if you were hoping on keeping one of her off-spring to bond with her you might want to double-think it. Not trying to sound mean but as far as I know it’s rare to have two rabbits from the same family bond. You’d be better off taking her bunny dating at a rescue where she can pick a buddy after getting her fixed if you wanted her to have a companion. The bonding process would be way easier.

Welcome to being a bunny slave!

[CinnabunMom]

You’re not a bad mummy at all! Living with rabbits is a learning process. We all make mistakes that make us cringe when we think back about it.

[IsabellaRobyn]

Frankie
Yeah now that I’ve got all the corners taken up she’s got the idea. Also now that I took away the shavings she’s had much fewer accidents and I moved the rack so that it’s in the litter tray and it’s helping a lot ! You guys were right she must have been confused by having shavings everywhere! I know we’re not supposed to talk about it but I didn’t want people to think I was ignoring the risks and just wasn’t getting her done. I wasn’t aware that it’s more difficult to do – the breeder suggested it to me but I’m glad I know now and I’ll definitely consider getting a rescue bun, thanks!

Cinnabun
Yeah she seems so much happier now without the shavings so I’m glad I found out! Haha

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