potty training a very stoburn bunny?

[Zibb]

I just got a Benny 3 days ago. He refuses to use his litter box! I keep putting it in the corner he's going in, but he just keeps going in his fleece bed. It's quite disgusting actually. It's a little frustrating, but I'm trying quite hard! I got one of those litter boxes that goes in the corner of the cage with like a wire thing over it, and every time he goes outside the litter box i put it into the litter box. Help?!

 

[silversky2668]

You may want to take the fleece out, for now--it's soft and comfy and very tempting for an untrained bunny to use as a litterbox. They often like to lay where the go to the bathroom.

How big is Benny and is he neutered? Also, how old is he? If he's a bigger rabbit, a larger litterbox may be better for him rather than a corner one. And if he's young, the training my take some time and patience. If he's a bit older and not neutered, then hormones could make him not care about using the litterbox.

Either way, for now I'd make sure his timothy hay is next to the litterbox so he has to eat it while sitting there. You can also put some hay right on top of the litter so he can poo and munch at the same time (which rabbits like to do). Keep picking up any stray droppings and putting them in the box and soak up any pee with a tissue and put it in the box as well. Eventually he should get the idea.

 

[Zibb]

Benny is a 2 month old baby unfixed. I have the hay next to it, and I have hay on top of it too. Could he be doing it cause he's mad at me? He doesn't like being picked up much, and I have to pick him up to take him out to exercise. That's usually when he goes to the bathroom as he runs around.

 

[silversky2668]

I really doubt he's mad at you--well he may not like being picked up, but I'm sure he's not refusing to use his litterbox because of it It sounds like he's just still young and it's going to take some time. I got Honey when he was the same age as Benny, and he did the same thing for a bit--he would constantly switch areas where he was using the bathroom and I would just keep moving the litterbox around and putting stuff back in until he got the idea. It took more than 3 days, probably a couple weeks. It depends on the rabbit.

Is he going to the bathroom outside of his cage? And can he get back in by himself to use the litterbox? Depending on what kind of cage you have, you may want to restrict the space Benny has while he's still litter training. The whole world is his litterbox right now, and you want to show him that he should only go in a box with litter/hay. Maybe just put him in a pen for exercise (for now) with his litterbox, or attach the pen to the cage when he comes out so he can go in and use it once he starts getting the idea. As he gets better with it you can give him more space. You may want to even give him two litterboxes later on depending on how much room he has, so he doesn't have to make a long journey to go to the bathroom.

Just keep putting stray droppings and wee back in the litterbox like you're doing and make sure you clean up the soiled area where you don't want him to go.

 

[Zibb]

I have a ramp for him so he can go and come as he pleases.
Thats a great idea thank you very much! :biggrin:

 

[dimples1967]

I put my Bun Bun's pellets, hay and water bottle right in his litter box. That helped him get the idea, since he spends most of his time eating. Ha!

 

[LakeCondo]

You're being impatient with the little guy. He's still new & scared & you're expecting him to do exactly what you want done, now! He's not stubborn, he's an animal. And not a robot.

If you mean one of those triangular litter boxes, they aren't right at all for rabbits. You need a large cat litter box with high sides.

Please read information in the library section to learn more about pet rabbits.

 

[dimples1967]

How's it going?!?! I think it's more of him training you, than you training him! He'll get the hang of it in a couple of weeks. Get the largest litter box you can find.