Newbie needs help with hutch bathroom problem

[Luis Ortega]

Hi everyone.
I am new to having pet rabbits and I have been doing a lot of reading but my two new bunnies have me a bit stumped.
The bunnies are about 11 weeks old and we have had them for a week.
I bought them a nice hutch with an upstairs sleeping and living room area and a downstairs floor.

The problem is that they basically crap and pee in their bedroom area as well as downstairs in the play area. They picked those two places from day one, and they don't want to limit themselves to the downstairs area.

I tried placing some of their urinated material and droppings in the downstairs corner that they use, but they still use their bedroom.
I can't relocate the bedroom area because the hutch is not designed to do that, and I notice that they don't use the bedroom to sleep much since they are always out in the open areas of the hutch even very late into the night.

Is there any solution to the problem, or will they always want to use both sites in the hutch as a bathroom?
If I drape some fabric over the bedroom door so that it is very dark inside, will that influence their actions?
The droppings are no problem, even though they seem to just do it anywhere in the hutch, but the urine in the bedroom can't be a good thing since it means that the area will be damp as well as smelly.

My followup question is whether there is any sort of varnish I could use on the inside of the hutch where they go to the bathroom in order to protect it from rotting away in time?
Would some sort of acrylic coat be ok?

Thanks a lot for any advice.

 

[Milly_Molly2]

Mine have toileted in their bedroom area since day one and they are now 3 years old. It's not a huge problem for me as I just clean out the bedroom area every day so it's nice and clean for them during the night (they go into their run during the day). It would be so much easier if they used a litter tray as all I'd have to do is change that, but rabbits will do the exact opposite of what you want. Got to love them.

 

[rupertismygod]

I'm a first time Rabbit parent too, just got my rabbit yesterday.

He toilets strictly under his wodden hut/bedroom. Although I bought a litter box, I'm sure he is probably only comfortable toileting under his wodden hut.
However, my litter box is a triangular shape (maybe that's the problem), I'm going to exchange it for a rectangular traditional shape and see if that works. If not, it doesn't matter to me.

 

[Pipp]

Luis Ortega wrote:

I tried placing some of their urinated material and droppings in the downstairs corner that they use, but they still use their bedroom.
I can't relocate the bedroom area because the hutch is not designed to do that, and I notice that they don't use the bedroom to sleep much since they are always out in the open areas of the hutch even very late into the night.

If the hutch is covered, they feel secure enough to hang out in the open area and not the small box area.

I'd block off the bedroom area entirely for now and put a litter box in the main area, and once they start using the litter box (if they choose another spot, just move the box to the spot they choose), and don't let them back in the 'box' area until they're accustomed to using the litter box elsewhere.

Clean the sleeping area thoroughly with vinegar, but I wouldn't paint it. You can always put a cardboard box lid or a piece of corroplast or even newspapers in the box area to protect the wood. Sometimes you can find plastic trays to fit.

They do like to do their 'business' in small covered areas as well. They don't want to suddenly confront a predator when they're in an... awkward... position.

Often its not us litter training them, they're litter training us. They show us where they want their toilets, and that's where we put the box.


sas :bunnydance: