I never dreamed rabbits were so high maintance.

[DarcytheDutch]

I really thought rabbits were going to be the perfect pet LOL, somewhere between a guinea pig and a cat. I was wrong.

Our rescue bunny has some serious issues. She's a bitter, cage aggressive etc. But the one thing she had going for her was she was littler box trained. We've had her about 8 weeks now and from the day we brought her home she was great about peeing in her litter box and 90% success for poo (which I think is pretty good). We change her box regularly. Washing with vinegar andrinsing well. We now do this while is in a different room (hoping to reduce some of the biting). My daughter changed her box a couple of days ago and she hasn't used her box since. She has how chosen the second floor of her cage as the new spot.

Do you think the box didn't get rinsed well from the vinegar?

Could she have too big of a cage? She is in a 3 story NIC cage, that's 3 panels by 5.

I cleaned up her new litter spot tonight and placed some of her chewing sticks and paper town tubes there hoping to deter her and placed some fresh hay near her littler box.


Any suggestions are welcome.

I really enjoy reading allthe posts.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I guess you will see if placing the toys there worked!

If not, I would just park the litterbox there.
Alternately, you could decrease the condo size to floor level, then slowly rebuild again if you are set on the box being in one specific location.
If the condo flooring holds the scent, that may be drawing her back to re-mark.

Adding a handful of hay to the litter pan may also entice her back - buns like to snack while in the box

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

How old is she and is she spayed? Some rabbits will lose their litter habits when they get to be about 5-7 months old. Getting them spayed or neutered can help with this but it can take some time for the litter training to come back.

Sometimes a rabbit will just change where they want to pee and poop. You can either try to clean it really well to get them back to the old place or just put another litter box in the spot they choose. Your cage sounds quite big, so a couple litter boxes would be a good idea. It would be like having 1 bathroom it a 3 story house, sure it can be done but can be a pain to run up and down all those stairs when you have to pee.

Just be patient. Some rabbits are easier to litter train than others and some are more consistent with it.

 

[Eli]

If the bunny likes the second floor, I would follow bunny's lead. Bunny knows her home best.

As for the aggression, my rescue bunny has changed immensely after 1 month. He started off as a recluse, running from us and wide-eyed when approached. However, his bites were merely nips. His growls and pawing were more hollow threats than attacks. So we would just calmly allow the aggression and instead of retreating our hands, keep them there and shower him with affection. Even though he would run when we reached to pick him up, once we got him, he would stay quite still in our arms. Now, he comes over to sniff us whereas before, he would not take a step near us.

It took a lot of time and effort and both my boyfriend and I have a lot of time at home with him. Our very affectionate and polar opposite bunny Bubbles also helped him to realize we were not going to hurt him.

 

[DarcytheDutch]

Thought I would post an update (incase someone else has issues in the future). She has not returned to her litter spot on the second floor (I didn't really want to put the box there because of the weight and it's difficult to get to). Seems that adding fresh hay to the litter box helped. And she spent the night ripping apart the fortress of toys that I put over her chosen spot. So far, so good. Thanks.