ZoeStevens
Well-Known Member
Some of you may recall that I was having a heck of a time with one of my rabbits, Penny, who was peeing everywhere - in her hutch and out - and causing damage and generally driving me nuts, and giving her husbun Abe bad habits.
Nothing I tried worked and Abe developed sore hocks from standing in urine every day in their small hutch (4 x 2).
I got some great advice here and from the rescue agency where I got Penny.
It's been a few months and I am in a MUCH better place. Poops in the kitchen are still pretty common (I had a litterbox for them in the kitchen, but the cats use it), and last night Penny escaped her pen and peed in the kitchen, but other than that it's gone really well.
This is what I did:
I got rid of the hutch. It was just too small to let them make it dirty to learn to be clean. Instead I used one of those dog pens over a rolling chair mat, so they have a 4x4 space. It's only 2' high and Penny jumps over it once in a blue moon, so if I had to buy a new one I'd get a higher one.
For the first week, Penny (and possibly Abe) peed everywhere on the floor of their cage. They were granted no freedom privileges. I didn't clean except to soak up the bulk of a pee puddle if I saw it (didn't want sore hocks again) and piles to hay (to discourage peeing in piles of litter). It took a week or so, but the pee spots in the cage diminished until only the litterbox was being used.
Hay was always an issue. I had a large litterbox under a cardboard box with a hole cut in it for hay, but it was too easy for them to pull it out and make a mess, and Penny would pee in the hay that accumulated around the cage. She would also stand BESIDE the litterbox to eat hay and pee.
I replaced the cardboard box with a toilet paper roll holder (basically a square metal frame that I clipped to the bars) and added a second litterbox, so that to access the hay they had to be sitting a box.
So, pretty high success rate! Penny still misses the box on occasion if it moves a bit and she hangs her butt over the side, but nothing like before.
Special shoutout to Ladysown (of this forum) and New Moon Rabbit Rescue who gave me some really excellent advice.
Nothing I tried worked and Abe developed sore hocks from standing in urine every day in their small hutch (4 x 2).
I got some great advice here and from the rescue agency where I got Penny.
It's been a few months and I am in a MUCH better place. Poops in the kitchen are still pretty common (I had a litterbox for them in the kitchen, but the cats use it), and last night Penny escaped her pen and peed in the kitchen, but other than that it's gone really well.
This is what I did:
I got rid of the hutch. It was just too small to let them make it dirty to learn to be clean. Instead I used one of those dog pens over a rolling chair mat, so they have a 4x4 space. It's only 2' high and Penny jumps over it once in a blue moon, so if I had to buy a new one I'd get a higher one.
For the first week, Penny (and possibly Abe) peed everywhere on the floor of their cage. They were granted no freedom privileges. I didn't clean except to soak up the bulk of a pee puddle if I saw it (didn't want sore hocks again) and piles to hay (to discourage peeing in piles of litter). It took a week or so, but the pee spots in the cage diminished until only the litterbox was being used.
Hay was always an issue. I had a large litterbox under a cardboard box with a hole cut in it for hay, but it was too easy for them to pull it out and make a mess, and Penny would pee in the hay that accumulated around the cage. She would also stand BESIDE the litterbox to eat hay and pee.
I replaced the cardboard box with a toilet paper roll holder (basically a square metal frame that I clipped to the bars) and added a second litterbox, so that to access the hay they had to be sitting a box.
So, pretty high success rate! Penny still misses the box on occasion if it moves a bit and she hangs her butt over the side, but nothing like before.
Special shoutout to Ladysown (of this forum) and New Moon Rabbit Rescue who gave me some really excellent advice.
