Litter box frustrations

This is my little bun that I got on Friday at 8 weeks old and I love him to bits. When I first I got him and put him into his new area that I setup (picture attached), he was expectedly apprehensive. I read somewhere that when you first get a rabbit that you should give it 1 hour by itself to get used to and explore the area, so that's what I did.

As I came back, I was pleasantly surprised that there were lots of poop in the litter box as he nibbled on hay and only 2 poops in the play area outside his hutch. I know its only been 4 days, since I've gotten my bun, however since that morning he has literally been pooping and urinating everywhere else besides his litter box.

I constantly pick up the poop and soak up the urine spot with kitchen towel and I would transfer that into his litter box to indicate to my bun that this is where it should go toilet. My ability to tell when the bunny is about to go isn't as good as I'd like as his tail seems to be up most of the time when on his hind legs. When I see that he would excrete 1-2 poops, I'd push him towards the litter box or sometimes pick him up and put him there. Most of the time he would not poop more in there as he would hop out straight away, or if I force him to stay there by blocking the entrance into his bed room (one with the towel), he would just sit there or sometimes play dead. I would think, oh maybe that is all he had to excrete. So after leaving him in the litter box for 5min, I'd let him back out to only find out he would poop (multiple pellets) outside in the play area and/or bedding -.- I tried coaxing it to excrete in the litter box by giving him a small piece of apple as soon as he is in the litter box, this did not work as the same thing would happen. Ie ether do nothing or run out.

This leads on the the fact that my bun runs and poops at the same time, so some of his actions don't allow me to coax him into the litter box. He has pooped more in his intended bedding area rather than the litter box, and he rather's sleeping in the litter box rather that his bedding.

The first 2 days I was alright with the situation, however the last 2 days I admittedly have gotten very frustrated and I have unfortunately expressed it towards my bun. This is not ideal as a strong bond hasn't been forged yet and he is still yet to respond to his name.

As back ground information that may be helpful, I feed my bun outside the hutch where I leave the food mix for the whole day in a ceramic bowl and I feed it vegetables my hand throughout the day. The litter material is paper based, I have put hay in between the wall and litter tray so the bun can supposedly eat and poop. Its bedroom is made up of a soft blanket underneath with a red towel ontop. My bun was an outdoor bunny before so I guess pooping everywhere is what he is used to.

I have read that it takes some people a couple of days to a week to litter train a bunny. I did not expect to achieve that kind of quick success as I am first time pet owner, but I did think I would see some sort of improvement by now. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated

A couple of suggestions, firstly I would remove the soft towels etc from the bedroom. Many bunnies like to poop and pee on soft things so that may not be helping and could be confusing him a little. I would say the main reason for the pooping and peeing outside the box is largely territorial marking. Rabbits mark their territory, and while the first day his was fine (probably just settling in) he's now gone into the mode of making everything smell like him. This is completely normal. It can take a week or two to die down, but once it does, your job of litter training should become much easier. You are doing the right thing by mopping up the pee with paper towel and putting it in the litter tray, the same with the poops. You just have to keep at it. I would also suggest that when you clean out the litter tray, leave a little bit of soiled litter in there so that it still smells like him.

Also, if you notice that your bunny seems to be favouring a particular spot when he's peeing/pooping outside of his tray, you may need to shift the litter box to that place, because they can be pretty picky with where their toilet is.

Don't give up hope, it's still early days

Oh and also, the putting them in their toilet when they've just peed/pooped and discipline doesn't really work with bunnies. They're weird like that

Maybe he likes the softness of the bedding better than what's in his litter box. So you could try putting bedding in there too so that it's softer for him. Also is he fixed? If not then that will most likely help a lot.

1.apparently he doesn't like where you have placed the box. This happened with my doe. I put the box on one side and she peed on the other! It only took me one time to learn, so I placed the box where she had urinated (after cleaning it up of course) And TA DA! Litter trained bunny. Same thing with my buck. You have to find where THEY want to poop and pee.

2. I would put the pellets INSIDE his box so he has to eat EVERYTHING in the box. hay too, put it all in there, Greens as well.

3. don't allow him outside of his 'cage' until he is trained. I would say about a week. Keep him in a small confined area until he knows where to use the potty. I can now keep my bunnies out for 3-4 hours and there is not a stray urine spot, I'm not concerned about poop, but pee STINKS!

You have a few issues going that I can see.

First off, I think your expectations may be a bit high. You have a baby bun, and like any baby animal they will have lots of accidents and it can take a while for them to catch on to the whole potty training thing. Which means a LOT of work for you, but kind of unavoidable when dealing with a baby, and just something that requires lots of patience. Remember, they aren't doing it on purpose to bug you, they are just new to all this and not trained yet.

Next is that rabbits don't potty train the same as cats do. They don't naturally want to find a place to dig a hole and go potty. So it's more about finding the spot they seem to prefer to pee, and put a litter box there. If they pick more than one place, you may have to have more than one litter box for a while until your bun gets the hang of it, then you can gradually work back down to one or two boxes.

A bun is considered litter box trained when it consistently pees in a litter box. Pooping is a completely different matter. Rabbits use their fecal pellets to mark their territory. They will do little piles of poop while they sit eating, but they also leave stray poops to mark their area as they hop all around. That is why there are scattered poops everywhere. This poop marking can sometimes reduce with age, it can also reduce with time as your bun gets used to it's new area and no longer feels it needs to mark anymore, and sometimes getting a bun spayed/neutered can greatly reduce and in some cases eliminate this marking behavior. Many buns will improve, but not all. There are just some buns out there that are little poop marking machines and will just poop everywhere no matter what. But generally speaking, those few things can help improve the behavior.

You've also expanded your buns space quite a bit, before litter box habits have been established. It's generally better to start off with a smaller space and gradually expand as litter box habits improve. I would cut that area at least in half, maybe a bit more, then expand it as he gets better.

As has been mentioned, having a soft floor covering pretty much invites a bun to pee there. It's better to have a non absorbent floor surface(though you do have to make sure it's not too slippery for your bun). But you also need to make sure your bun isn't walking in the pee puddles and getting wet feet. So it can be a bit difficult(the joys of potty training). I would remove the blanket and rugs. If you have a hard floor under and your bun can still hop around on it fine, you can go with that. If needed, you can also put a tarp or plastic shower curtain down, or a piece of textured lino. Foam puzzle mats can also make a good surface for buns, as it helps give them better traction, but is also smooth and makes cleanup easy. But this can only be used with buns that aren't chewers, as it could be dangerous if they were to chew and swallow any foam bits.

There may also be some difficulty with your litter box placement. It looks like getting to the litter box in the hutch is a bit complicated. It would be better for that front mesh panel to be removed for easier access to the litter box, and/or placing a second litter box in the living area. In fact, you may just want to place several litter boxes around the area, as this will help with training and encourage your bun to use them more.

The litter box set up can also make a big difference. I had a bun that disliked the feel of those hard litter pellets on her feet, so wouldn't use the litter box because of it. Once I changed to a softer litter, she immediately started using it. I still use the wood pellets, but now I put a soft layer of hay over it. I also place a pile of hay in a corner of the box that isn't usually peed in, as this also encourages pooping in the litter box as buns poop while they eat. Also where you have the hay, your bun may be having difficulty getting to it so actually putting it in the litter box may be better.
http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/litter-box-training/litterbox-setup-success-0

You'll discover with rabbits, that figuring out what works best with your individual rabbit is a lot of trial and error. I don't know how many different litter box set ups, hay set ups, floor surfaces I have tried, and it all ends up being different for each of my rabbits. No one thing works for all. Each bun has their individual quirks that you just have to work with and try and find a workable solution.

I have just removed the towels and blankets and lined the bottom with news paper. I have also placed the food bowl in his litter box.

Re Azerane: Haven't noticed that he poops or pee's in a certain spot yet, but I have stopped trying to push him towards him the litter box or tried to place him there. You a definitely right about the pee, it is quite pungent and thats the part I want to eradicate. The poop is not bad at all as its firm and easy to pick up

Re Sungara: Would my bun get stressed if I leave him in the cage all day until he is trained? I'm going to give your method a go, as is I do leave him in there at night. Which is the only time I he poops somewhat consistently in the litter box.

Re Jbun: You might be right on the litter box as an awkward place to get to as there is no direct access, he has to go through the bedroom door. Removing the mesh would be a great idea, but my siblings room is opposite the play area and my rabbit tends to bite cardboard (which causes loud sounds) during the first two nights, which my sibling did not appreciate. Hence I keep my bun in the hutch at night which doesn't really allow me to remove the mesh as he could easily get out. Would removing the separation piece wood and moving the litter box towards the entrance be an alternative? In this scenario it would just be 1 big room instead of 2 separate rooms. I will purchase another litter box though and put it around to see how it goes. My litter box is a large one which was purchased from a breeder who has a side store. I was told by this breeder that you shouldn't directly put hay in the litter box as you don't want to teach the rabbit to poop where he eats, instead to put the hay in between the litter box and the wall, which is what I have done. What is your opinion on this? I can see from the link you have provided and from other videos on youtube that putting hay into the litter is very common, I will look to do the same.

After leaving my bun in his hutch I decided to come back 90min later to check up. He pooped n peed in the bedroom where there was just newspaper, I Have now removed it n left it bare. Soon as he got out he starts pooping every where again haha. I've decided not to get frustrated as I don't want to affect my bond with my cute bun, he has been licking me a lot in the last day n a half.

Haha, little monster It will take time, he is only young.

Putting hay inside the litter box is very common. Bandit's litter box is big enough that I put his litter in 3/4 of the box, then the other 1/4 is hay. I face the end with litter in it towards the wall, since it's natural for a rabbit to have his bum to the wall for protection and being able to see danger. So then he can safely sit in that part and then munch away at hay that doesn't get soiled. Generally, rabbits won't eat soiled hay anyway, and since I top up with fresh hay about twice a day, it's not an issue for there to be soiled hay. Having said all that, it's entirely up to you whether you put the hay in the tray or next to it. So long as he can reach it easily while in the tray.

As JBun said, trial and error plays a large part in litter training. I got very lucky with Bandit that he pretty much litter trained himself. I put it down to the fact that where I bought him from, they had wood shavings on the whole hutch floor to soak up pee etc. So when I brought him home, I just put wood shavings in his litter tray and he automatically used it because it was a surface he was used to going on. Of course there were a couple of accidents, but nothing near what I expected.

I just tried your litter box method, 1/4 hay 3/4 litter. I also removed the separation piece and shifted the litter box to the end with the door for easier access. Will play around with it, if that doesn't work I'll probably put some hay over the litter as well. To possibly make it softer.

Hi there! I'm new to potty training of a bunny too. My little guy was just over 4 weeks when I got him and I've had him for almost 2 now. I can say it is all trial and error. Simba came from a breeder that kept their rabbits outside with wire floors so he was used to going where ever. I had put bedding at the bottom of his cage and litter in the box only to find he used the bathroom everywhere but the litter box just as your bunny. I have since removed all bedding and I only have litter in the box. I also keep him confined to a small area until we get the hang of things. But I did find he tended to potty more in one corner than others so I moved the box and voila! We have only had one accident outside the box but we had a bad storm that night and I think he was scared. Poop on the other hand - well MOST of it ends up in the box but I think he is still marking his area with the other droppings I find around.

In the end I suggest keeping at it and it will come. It takes time and patience but the end results are worth it. I much rather cleaning his litter box and picking up poops than cleaning the whole cage over and over!!

So I did some Trial and error and I think I found some success. I removed the Separation wood and moved the litter box towards the door. I made my litter box half hay and half litter, I also scattered some hay on the litter half to make it more inviting. I put his*pellet bowl in his litter box and the water bowl in the hutch under the water bottle (my bun doesn't really use the bottle hence the use of the bowl). I would put him in his hutch for an hour a couple of times a day e.g. After 2 hours of play in the morning I'd either coax him with apple to go into his hutch or he would sometimes already be in there so I'd close the door. I've found that he's peed constantly in the litter box (sometimes over the edge) and not around the hutch. When I was playing with him yesterday in his play area, he got off my lap and went into his litter box to pee

I ensure that I don't put my hands in the hutch which includes picking him up and putting him in/out of his hutch. I have also found that my bun is eating a lot more hay, he frequently moves from the play area to the litter box to have a nibble. He still poops everywhere and I think he is one of those pooping machines Hopefully I am on the right track to have a fully litter trained bunny

We got our boy around 9 weeks old. He was ok, but we never let him roam to far from his box because he like to pee if he had to much freedom. Once he was fixed (at 4mths) it was like night and day. I tried not to expect to much until he was fixed.

My expectations have became a lot more realistic Thanks to the forum members. It's good to know that getting sprayed makes a big difference

Thought I'd provide an update. Over the last 2 days I have left my bun free in his play area without putting him back in the hutch until its sleep time. There has not been any urine in his play area and when I check the litter box, I can see wet marks in the litter which mean he goes there to pee. I am extremely happy about the result

That's so awesome that he's using the litter box for all his pees now, makes life so much easier for you as well If you end up getting him neutered, you will most likely also see his pooping habits improve too

Thanks azerane I will get him neutered in the next couple of months so hopefully that should make him easier to litter train in other areas of the house. I'm Tempted to try and intro the living room now but I am fearful haha.

For bedding, I have just a hand towel in the hutch. Is that enough or should I provide more (to be more softer) now as he so far seems to have peed in the litter box instead of the hand towel. Previously I had soft blanket in there which he peed on. Ps the base of the hutch is plastic.

A hand towel is probably enough, though I personally don't recommend towels because the long fibers can cause problems if ingested, that's why fleece is recommended instead because it doesn't have those long fibers. It really depends on your bunny though. I give Bandit soft fleece to lie on, and most of the time he pushes them around, out of the way and then lies on the hard floor It really depends what your bunny likes.