Will my bunny EVER be litter trained?

[CheriB603]

Hi all! New here. I am mom to 11 week old Flemmie
female Jo-Jo. I recently lost our mini-rex after several
years and he took to the litter box instantly and
NEVER had an accident or even dropped a cocoa-puff
outside of the litter box. He had the run of the house.
New baby Jo-Jo is QUITE a different story!
Though she will use the litterbox to pee in about
97% of the time, she poops absolutely everywhere
And lots of it! I clean her cage about 2 or 3 times
a day of the poop, always putting some of it into
the litter box so she’ll get the hint. Since she is practically
constantly pooping, it’s nearly impossible to “catch her at
it” and put her in her box. I realize she’s young, and being
a growing Flemmie she seems to be always eating
So she’s always pooping, but I really want to give
her the run of the house but not with her leaving
a trail behind her! I put hay in the side of her
litterbox to get her to sit in there and eat & poop,
but she sits OUTSIDE the box to lean in and eat the
hay and a pile of poop grows around her!

Am I being too impatient? Anybody have any tricks?
She seems content and is a friendly bunny, I just
hate having to keep her confined to one room.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Sarita]

Moving to Behavior.

[Sarita]

Some rabbits do just take more training than others I think. Some get it and some do need the positive reinforcement and training (at least in my experience).

[CheriB603]

I’m going to chalk it up to immaturity for now.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

It’s probably because she is so young. She has the concept down because she is peeing in the litterbox. She could also be poop marking too. You’ll just have to tough it out until she matures a little more, and then gets spayed. You’ve got a long road ahead of you

Sometimes they will use the litterbox even when they aren’t spayed. Sally was excellent with her box before and after her spay.

[Beka27]

I agree, she will be trained in time, but right now she is too young to be “perfect”. Once she is spayed and allowed to mature, those habits should improve.

You may have also gotten spoiled with your mini rex’s habits (and I’m sorry for your loss of him). My mini rex was/is the same way. I think she has had all of two pee accidents in 6 years, and that was simply because she wasn’t feeling well at the time.

Keep in mind that a “litter-trained” rabbit will pee in the box 100% of the time, and poop in the box 90-95% of the time. Some dropped poops may always happen, but fortunately, they are dry and easy to pick up or suck up with a hand vac.

At this point, she is too young to be free range. Continue to limit her space (a LARGE space) until she is spayed and older, or you’re around to supervise.

[Author]

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