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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Please help!! Too well litter trained?

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    • Rufus
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        I'm in the process of trying to move Rufus from his normal cage in the sunroom to an x-pen in my bedroom where it's much cooler. The days have really been heating up here and I want to keep him as cool as possible. I had him in there on Thusday almost all day when I had the day off from work to see how he adapted. This morning I put in a floor made from plywood and vinyl tiles that keeps really cool as well. I put him in about 10:30 and now he's been in there for about 7 hours.

        The weird thing is he has not peed in there yet. In his old cage he had a water bottle and a medium sized litter tray. Now he's in his x-pen that's bigger (4×4 instead of 4×2) I got him a bigger litter tray and a ceramic water bowl. I'm not sure if he's been drinking because he keeps putting his paws and ears in the water so it's hard to tell if the water level is going down because of that or because of drinking. I moved his water bottle in there an hour or so ago as a precaution in case he was thirsty and didn't want the bowl. He's been spending lots of time munching hay in his litter box and he's done quite a few poos in there. 

        The funny thing about Rufus is he has never ever peed anywhere except in his cage. The only time he has peed outside his litter box is when he has accidentally gone over the side since the walls were quite low. He's never had an accident while having play time or being outside his cage ever. Do you think he's holding it in until he gets back to his cage? Is there anything I can do to help him adapt? I've been trying to refrain from putting him back in the old cage so that he would hopefully get desperate and go but now I'm worried I'll give him kidney problems or something. Any suggestions?

         


      • Rufus
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          I just put him back out in his old cage after 8 hours of not peeing. He hopped straight in the litter box and peed. I feel terrible, like I’ve been torturing him all day. I can’t stop crying. The poor little guy. Do you think I’ve done any damage to him? I don’t know if he’s been drinking so I gave him a pile of really wet greens and he’s eating them. I think he seems fine but I’m not sure.


        • bpash89
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            Is it possible to put his old cage inside the new xpen? Maybe he just feels a little overwhelmed with so many changes all at once… If you can’t put the whole cage then at least you could move his old litter box to the new xpen for awhile. Just let him get settled and comfortable with the new locations first before upgrading his stuff. I don’t think it’s anything to stress about, he just needs some time to adjust.


          • jerseygirl
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              Ditto ^. I think his having access to both for a while should help.

              If he really really had to go he would have so don’t feel too badly.


            • Jessie1990
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                Moogle did this when we moved him to an X-pen. Zach made me leave him there until he went pee.. I felt horrible, but he eventually went and we have been great since


              • Jessie1990
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                  Rufus looks a lot like Moogle btw


                • NewBunnyOwner123
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                    Or move his old litterbox to his new cage. Maybe the new box isn’t up to his standards or so etching for peeing


                  • Beka27
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                      I agree with the others about moving his cage into the pen or at least the old litter box. Or if the old cage is a plastic bottom cage, can you unsnap the top wire part and just move the bottom tray in the xpen?


                    • Rufus
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                        Thank you so much everyone!
                        I had a bit of an overreaction there. I’m having a bit of a difficult time with some stuff at the moment and I have realised I’ve been putting all my energy into Rufus and making his life as good as possible and avoiding my own stuff. When I thought I’d hurt him I just freaked out on guilt. After a decent sleep, I feel better and I can see everything in a bit more perspective!
                        This morning he is back in his x-pen. I put his old litter box in there too (clean) and I put a little of the peed on litter into his new litter box. I’m hoping the smell will help him realise he can go. He seems perfectly happy and healthy this morning and right now is having a huge wrestling match with a fleece blanket.
                        I’ll see how he goes, if he doesn’t pee in there today, I’m thinking I shouldn’t leave him in there all day when I go to work. Or do you think I should leave him in there until he goes? How long did it take Moogle to break, Jessie?
                        Next up I could try moving the bottom of his cage in there, but it will take up so much of his space! The whole thing won’t fit.


                      • Beka27
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                          If you move the bottom of the cage in there, it would only be temporary, like maybe a few days or a week tops. So yes, it would take up space, BUT it would just be an intermediate step in getting him fully transitioned.

                          Otherwise, I agree with leaving him in there indefinitely. If you keep moving him back to the previous cage, he’s not learning to do his business in the xpen litterbox. He will eventually go.

                          I don’t recall if you have any human kids, but this reminds me of the “potty-training” standoff that can sometimes take place with a toddler. There comes a time when you just have to say, “No more diapers. If you have an accident, we will clean it up and get you in fresh clothes… BUT no more diapers.” Continuing to have the diapers available as a back-up plan is not helpful after a certain point and only reinforces the message that “We can always go back…”


                        • Rufus
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                            Nope, no human kids. Geez with how paranoid I am about my bunny, I think a human kid would kill me!

                            My original plan was to keep him in his old cage at night and in the x-pen during the day. The x-pen really takes up sooo much of my room, and Rufus is so noisy I don’t know if I’d be able to sleep with him in there. It sounds like that might just make him more unsettled so I might have to go back to the drawing board.

                            Yesterday he was in his pen for 4 hours until he pushed the side of the x-pen out over the carpet and started eating it. He was really restless all morning and wouldn’t settle, being really destructive. I put him back in his old cage for a minute to check out the damage properly and of course he went straight to the litterbox, peed and then flopped out next to it and went to sleep.

                            I know I should just leave him there until he goes as you have all suggested but he’s so stubborn, I really wonder if he would just let his kidneys explode before peeing somewhere else. I keep reading things that talk about the risk of UTIs if he holds his pee.

                            So this week he is back in his cage while I’m at work until I can come up with a better solution. I need to make the x-pen more secure and I thought maybe I could try and replicate the corner of his cage? The corner he always goes in is wood on both sides so it probably makes him feel more secure. I’ll also try putting the base of his cage in there with him. Next weekend I have a four day weekend so I might just try and start over from scratch.

                            Thanks so much for your advice guys, any other suggestions people have would be great. He’s such a weird little guy. I read tonnes of posts about people trying to get their rabbits litter trained and here I am begging my bunny to be slightly less trained!


                          • Beka27
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                              Lol! Parenthood is a learning experience for sure!

                              I agree that if the xpen isn’t going to be a permanent setup, you should reevaluate. Constantly being moved back and forth every day and night will be confusing and he won’t be able to fully settle What are your other options for housing? Can the xpen be added to his existing cage for increased space? Or can the whole cage/xpen setup be moved to a new location where he will have room, but your sleep/space won’t be infringed upon?


                            • Rufus
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                                Cheers Beka. I think really the best idea is for me to move house! My current living arrangements were only really meant to be temporary anyway. By the end of October I should know what is happening with my contract at work (part of what is stressing me out!) and hopefully I’ll start looking for somewhere else to live. The interim solution was just a precaution because it’s already got so much hotter here than a normal September. We’ve probably had 5 days in the low 30s (low 90s F) and it’s only the first month of spring. He’s indoors and in the shade with a frozen water bottle but I’d prefer him to be in a cooler room altogether.


                              • Beka27
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                                  I hear ya! Doesn’t it always seem that everything happens at once??!

                                  So if the sun room is too hot, and your bedroom isn’t ideal, can his current cage be moved to a different room inside the house, like a living room? Maybe just store the xpen for now?

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                              Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Please help!! Too well litter trained?