Resisting litter training

[ZoeStevens]

I have two rabbits, bonded, both fixed. The male has pretty good litter habits - always inside his litterbox except from time to time he'll pee on the kitchen floor (there is a litter in the kitchen) but overall manageable. The female, though, seems to refuse to use her litterbox. I'm not sure if she ever has. The place I adopted her from warned me, but I guess I thought that with enough time and good influence, it would resolve itself. Not only has it not resolved itself, but she has taken to peeing all over the kitchen floor and the male has followed suit. Bad influence bunny!

Any ideas?

 

[ZoeStevens]

LOOK AT THE TROUBLEMAKER!

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Both your buns are SO cute! I hope to get a angora similar to yours in the future.

As far as litter trainig, how many litter boxes do you have an how big? Sometimes more can help as well as limited the area they have to roam for a while until they master the box in that area. Then give them more freedom. Also, cleaning up messes really well so they cannot smell where they went can be key. Oh, and if there is a specific place they like to go, move the litter there. If there a speveral spots she tends to go, put something like a dish in that area to block it.

 

[ZoeStevens]

Ahhh... I have a few boxes, and they are big ones (small cat litter boxes), have tried various material. Yesterday I did a REALLY good mopping and cleaning in the kitchen and I swear Abe was on a mission to re-mark his territory.

 

[Blue eyes]

I was thinking the same thing about limited area. I swear by the idea that new buns should be confined to a cage the first 48 hours. That gives them time to understand where their litterbox is. Then I use an x-pen to limit their first roamings. They have to show consistency in returning to their litter box before I expand their area. I have found this to work well.
Right now my buns have the whole downstairs all day long and the only litter box is in their cage.
I don't know if this could work, but I wonder if you could try starting anew and confine them to a smaller area with a litter box and then gradually expand as they get the idea?

 

[ZoeStevens]

I thought of that, but if she doesn't use the litterbox in the hutch, is she really going to use it in a confined area?

My other concern too is that - at least the kitchen is tiled. I can clean that, no problem. If they start going on the hardwood it will get damaged pretty quickly. So I'm a bit reticent to make the kitchen off limits for that reason.