Litter training problem!

[Purinpan]

Hi,

I just got my mini lop rabbit last week and i am having problems with littering training him. He tends to poo everywhere but pee in the litter pan, i tried moving the litter pan in a few corners but still no luck. I don't find the pan to be too big or small because i see him happily eating hay where I placed near the corner on a haning rack, please help! Also, I wastold to use cat hairball relief on the rabbit every week and apply it on its paws so he can lick it while grooming (which helps him prevent hairballs) but wasn't sure if it is safe since the rabbit is still only 9 weeks old?

Thank you!!

 

[kirbyultra]

I don't know what hairball relief you may be speaking of but I will say that I would definitely stop using it. Who or what advised you to use this product? Rabbits, healthy rabbits I should say, groom themselves all day and keep themselves impeccably clean. Fur passes through their digestive tract normally. Humans should regularly groom their pet rabbits, and more often if the rabbit is a long hair breed or if the rabbit is molting, but I see no use for a hairball aid, and MUCH less a product made for cats. These products can be very harmful for the sensitive GI tract of a rabbit. Many products made for cats (and dogs) are toxic for rabbits.

As for litter training, what kind of litter do you have in the box? What kind of bedding is in the rest of the rabbit's living space, if any? When you are training them to go in the box, one of the best things to do is to throw their hay in the litter box. Sounds gross, but they eat where they poo and they poo while they eat. If they do that often enough, they will know that "this" is where they should go. Once litter trained, you can put up a hay rack if you like somewhere else. Or you could put the hay rack over the litter box. But I definitely recommend putting some IN the box so they make the association first.

If you have bedding in the cage/hutch where the bunny lives, it might be a good idea to remove it. Only place litter into the litter box, as the material will help the bunny learn where they should go.

Edit to add: Peeing in the litterbox is a great start - lucky you! Keep picking up the stray poops and throw them back into the litter box so your bunny knows that's where they go

 

[Purinpan]

thank you so much! good thing i asked first about the hairball aid~ (i heard it from a pet store employee-which was questionable because they arent the experts on rabbits)

But as for bedding, i use a aspen type for bedding and the recycled paper type for litter and i have hay in the litter pan too as well as a hay rack above the litter pan; however, my rabbit eats more pellets than hay, is that not good?

 

[elrohwen]

Welcome!

First, take out all of the bedding in the cage and only have litter in the litter box. He's probably confused because he doesn't understand that one area is for peeing and the rest is his cage.

 

[Purinpan]

thank you! i will try that this week and have no bedding and only litter in the pan and see how that goes. my bunny eats a lot for a young one and poos a lot, despite my efforts to pick up the droppings and put it in the litter pan, i dont see it helping...

Also new question! i tried grooming my bunny today with a small animal brush, i was very gentle and light, but even i find the brush to be harsh (steel prickly brush) and my bunny freaked out and ran and hide because it was surprised or hurt? could anyone help me with this grooming problem?

thank you!

 

[elrohwen]

Lots of bunnies don't really enjoy being groomed. If you were being gentle, I doubt you hurt him - he was probably just annoyed. You can try other brushes, or just try doing it a little at a time while he's eating.

 

[kirbyultra]

Purinpan wrote:

thank you so much! good thing i asked first about the hairball aid~ (i heard it from a pet store employee-which was questionable because they arent the experts on rabbits)

I'm glad you joined RO and asked! Pet store employees are often misinformed, have wrong info by thinking rabbits are "like" caring for a cat or a chinchilla or guinea pig when the truth is there are tons of important differences. Many small pet shop owners proliferate old, terribly outdated rabbit care info and purchasers who don't know better and don't bother to even try to google it follow their advice blindly.

What's scary is I recently went to the library and just out of curiosity read the books they had on rabbits. It was frightening! The info is so old and inaccurate. Some of the books were published in the 80s, a couple in the 90s. One book was mostly correct in the general statements and that was published in the 90s. One book was so bad. It mentioned everything we don't do, like feed rabbits lots of carrots and you can throw your rabbit in any old hutch and it'll be fine. I felt like I needed to vandalize and correct the book or straight up steal it to prevent well-meaning individuals from reading bad books

 

[xcslx84]

My rabbits hate grooming, during times where they shed alot - Ill go over them with a lint roller, they like the feeling and it helps me to avoid hair everywhere.

Give your bunny lots of hay.

As for litter training, take out all the bedding and this is what I did : Litterpan in one corner, water and food in another, toys in another and small animal bed in the last corner. Whenever they peed outside the litter pan Id clean it right away - if they poo'd, I would put those pellets into the litterpan. My bunnies got it down in like a week?

Good luck!!!

 

[Purinpan]

Hi everyone,

With the help of everyone, I was able to litter train Purin chan successfully and now I need some help because I purchased a baby netherland dwarf which poos everywhere. I tried doing everything that got Purin chan litter trained but the baby bun still poos everywhere! I tried putting the hay inside the litter box (that's how it worked for my first rabbit) but the little guy just eats from it without jumping inside the litter box, so please help!! thank you!!