Can a 2 1/2 year old rabbit be litter trained?

[Tenuidae]

My girl Pooka is a little over 2.5 years old, but has never been litter trained since she is in a hutch where there is a grate underneath where she goes to the bathroom (only part of the hutch is like this). I would like to have her litter trained so that when I am at home, I can have her out and about in my room for long periods of time without her going on my floor. I have never litter trained an animal before.

She is also a big girl (she's a 10lb Havana) so a litter box may take up a lot of room. Her hutch is not near my room so she cant really run there to use the bathroom. Would it be problematic for her to only use a litterbox outside of her hutch? Because I don't think a litterbox big enough to fit her whole body would fit in the hutch (especially not the corner she goes to the bathroom in) with there still being space for her to move. I know she should probably be in a bigger hutch/cage than she has, but I don't have the money or space for a new bigger one. And putting her outside is out of the question since the weather fluctuates like crazy here and there are feral cats and predatory birds around here that may try to get at her.

If she is able to be litter trained I may end up trying to set up a corner of my room with a playpen so she doesn't need to be in a cage at all. But I have a carpeted room and I'd like to avoid further carpet stains from her going to the bathroom on my carpet.

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[whitelop]

Yes she can be litter trained! BUT it might take a little bit of time. When I had a mini lop, I litter trained her at the age of 2, so it can be done!

You want to get a litter box that is big enough for her.
You'll want to get some sort of litter, Yesterday's News is a good one. Pine pellets like equine pine or feline pine is also a good one, I use these and they're pretty cheap, they absorb odors really well and they last a long time as they come in 40 lb bags. Or you could get Carefresh or Crittercare, its a paper pulp product. Aspen shavings, but I don't think they're as absorbent.
I put my rabbit's hay directly in her litter box, they like to eat and potty at the same time. And that way she gets into the box to eat the hay. Or if you have a way, you could set up a hay rack above her litter box, so she has to sit in the box and eat the hay. I just don't have anywhere to attach the rack, thats why I put it directly in the box.
There will be some accidents at first, but she'll catch on quickly. What I did was, I would scoop up all the stray poops and put them in the litter box. Then I would soak up the stray pees with a paper towel and put them in the litter box. That way she would be able to smell the poop and pee in the box and she started to understand.
Also, starting with a smaller area is better than just setting her loose in a room. If you do have the playpen you mentioned, I would go ahead and put it up and put the litter box in there for her. That way, you could put a blanket or a sheet or tarp down on the carpet while she's learning. I would leave her in the pen for a little while, until she started to really grasp the box.
For the first few weeks of litter training, I didn't clean the box out all the way I would leave some soiled litter in the box so she could smell it and know that its still hers, just clean.
It usually takes them a few weeks to get it down all the way. Also, if you can get her to pee in the litter box all the time, she's pretty much litter trained. A lot of the time there will be stray poops, but they're easy to vacuum up.

I'm not sure if it would confuse her if she used the litter box in your room and then went through the wire in her hutch. I think though, that you're supposed to stay consistent with the litter box even in different places. Someone else who has more experience with this situation can help you more though!

Hope that helps! And welcome to RO!

 

[Tenuidae]

Thank you very much, that was very helpful.

I do not have the pen yet, but I am currently working on finding one I can afford or an alternative way to make a pen for not so much money. I'm doing quite a bit of research, and I have to rearrange my room a bit before setting it up too, so I won't be starting litter training right away I don't think until I have the pen and am able to set it up. But if I have to be 100% consistent, I would probably just keep her in the pen indefinitely once I set it up. The hutch is all chewed up inside and probably can just be broken up and thrown out once I have a pen for her and she gets comfortable in it.

Anyone else's advice is still welcome