Hay & Litter Pan Training

[ratmom]

Ok I am having a heck of a time with oliver. We got him in march and the previous owner never pan litter trained him, but he was in a cage with a wire bottom. He's 3-4 years old, un-neutered and I can't get him to go in the litter pan. I took him out of his old cage and put him in a solid floor cage and he just goes everywhere. My holland that we've found as a stray as a baby goes in the pan all the time and never pees on the floor and he's not neutered either.

Another thing I can't get him to do is eat hay. So far I have tried timothy & orchard grass. I've resorted to even leaving his food bowl empty and he seems to still not eat hay. I don't get it, I'm thinking about just getting some different kinds from sweet meadow like oat to see if he would like that. I'm just worried about him getting molar spurs, because he did have them a tiny bit in the past, but the vet wasn't worried about it and he was eating hay at the time. When we got him she had him on alfalfa & I threw it out right away. He has his issues, because he's was abused by kids, but he is a cuddle bunny.

 

[Flashy]

He's an older bun so it will likely take him more time to learn, but keep persevering. I have a group of bunnies that have a habit of going in various places and I have ended up with 4 triangular litter trays in their hutch, which sorts it out for the most part.

Have you tried moving the litter trays to where he most goes? Or adding more? Most of my buns use the bed area as their toilet, so I just put a cat litter tray in there so wherever they went, it was ok and that worked brilliantly.

As for eating hay, try as many different types as you can. Like humans, they will have favourites and ones they dislike. Some people spray a light mist of apple juice or something similar over the hay to entice bunnies to eat it. It might just be that he is still adjusting after a traumatic life, to a good life, and taking his time to get there. As a last resort,have you thought about hay cubes? And fresh grass?

Good luck with him

 

[JimD]

:yeahthat:

We have the same situation with our fosterbun.
He's 2 years old, not neutered, had a wire-bottom cage, and had never seen a litter pan before.

When I first got him he was peeing EVERYWHERE!!!

After a couple of days, I collected some of the soiled litter from the drop pan, put it in a litter pan, and put the litter pan in his cage.
He promptly started going in the opposite corner....so I put another litter pan there.
After a few days he caught on and started going in the pans.
Now if I could just eliminate one of the pans. I tried, but he continues to go in the corner anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For my finicky buns that aren't crazy about hay, I've gotten excellent results by misting it lightly with chamomile tea.

 

[EiuGirl316]

So is it normal that my bun will pee and poop in the box, but she will still leave poops scattered about the cage? I keep trying to pick the errant poops up and toss them in the box, but it doesn't seem to be having an effect as she still does it.

She isn't old enough to be spayed yet so I know it might be awhile before she's fully trained, right?

 

[aurora369]

It's normal for a bun to leave some stray poops out of the box. My two boys are pretty much as good as you can get, and they leave a few out of the box every day.

I just pick them up and toss them in the litter box when I visit them.

Your bunny is marking her territory, just reminding everyone that the cage is hers. It may go away when she's spayed, it may not.

Consider yourself a lucky bunny mom if there's only a few poops to clean up. My two girls are being really stubborn about litter training and keep peeing outside the box. That's a pain to clean up everyday.

--Dawn

 

[ratmom]

Just a few would be wonderful. I had a heck of a time training oliver to the pan. He just now is starting to go in the pan, but we had to put 2 pans in there for him to understand what he's suppose to do. He tried to fight back by peeing all over in the cage, but I think it finally worked lol.

 

[EiuGirl316]

Oh phew, I feel alot better now that I know that A) it's normal and B) other people have the same troubles. I'm grateful she actually pees in her litterbox rather than all over the coroplast. Now if I could have the same success with my guinea pig....

 

[Flashy]

Yeh, that's very common, so don't worry about it.

Bunnies poo to mark territory, but I have also noticed that mine do it when they are also excited, and also when they are eating. So with that in mind I placed my food bowl in a place where they could sit and eat and poo at the same time, lol.

It sounds like your bun is doing a grand job. I think I remember reading somewhere that if the urine is in the right place, then the poo will come, but that tends to come with age (maybe when the bun is less excited and calmer as well as possibly 'fixed').

Hang in there, you're all doing brilliantly.

 

[EiuGirl316]

Thanks!! :biggrin2::bunnydance: