Stupid question on litter box etiquettes...

[The_Seven]

They say there is no such thing as a stupid question, but I must beg to differ. I've read at least a hundred times, "you can't litter train an unspayed or unneutered rabbit". Believe me, I've looked into having my rabbits fixed, but I practically live in hickville USA and the closest rabbit-approved vet is three hours away. Besides that, fixing seven rabbits is definitely out of the budget - for now.

But I want SO badly to keep my buns indoors. It would be so much better for them and easier to spend time with them and give them what they need. I have a fairly nice-sized room in the basement that would do for a decent bunny room and a kennel that I'm converting into an outdoor run in the spring that will give them some extra exercise space. But I need to be told again - reassured I guess, or confirmed - that it is impossible to expect to be able to litter train these rabbits.

But if there's a slight chance that they can be... does anyone have any tips or tricks or, I guess, setups that work well? It'll be pretty much impossible for me to clean seven cages a day, so litter training is pretty much the only option for keeping a tidy space for my bunnies. I know, I'm looking at this whole thing pretty unrealistically, but I keep thinking there's still hope that I can keep them indoors.

But whatever info you can give me would be of great help! My bunnies and I appreciate it!

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Intact rabbits can be litter trained. I have 2 intact does and both use the litter box, 1 is about 99% and the other a bit less but she is bonded so I can't really tell.
My lionhead basically litter trained herself in about 1-2 days. I put the litter box in the cage and used a fleece blanket in the rest with hay next to the box. She only peed on the blanket a bit and otherwise used the box. She did like to dig out the litter, but doesn't do it anymore.
My satin angora came litter trained. She was not feeling well a couple weeks ago, so did poop out of the box, but other than that she has been very good about using it. She will move the box around and throw things in it but still uses it. Even at one agility demo, she had to be in the carrier for a little while and seemed to have held it in until she got to the litter box, but will pee in the carrier if she really has to.

I don't know if males will be harder to train, but I am sure it can be done but don't necessarily expect 100% as they might spray or leave some poops around.

It can be harder to litter train a rabbit that has lived on wire. You basically have to start form scratch. Put the litter box in the cage and don't put down other bedding. If the rabbit pees out of the box, soak it up with paper towel and put that in the box, sweep up poops and put those in the box. Putting hay in or above the box does help and they like to eat and poop at the same time. Clean the cage daily, but don't let the litter box get too clean, leave a bit of dirty litter in it or put some in if you really need to scrub out the box.

You might want to take it slow. Start by putting the litter boxes in the cages to get them used to it. If you find some that use the boxes more, you can bring them inside first and work with them. The other can be brought in one or 2 at a time so you can litter train in little bits. It can take a while and some bunnies learn faster than others.

Make sure you get boxes that are big enough, if the box is too small the rabbit will have trouble using it.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We had no problem litter training intact rabbits. The only problem is that they do mark their territory and we all know how. The biggest problem were the males--they do like to spray just like a cat will.

 

[maxysmummy]

litterbox training our boys was easy before they were desexed.


basically what we did was had barely anything in the cage

then after a few hours, noted where they pee'd. (generally rabs like to go in the one spot.)

THEN we put a litter box over the pee (we soaked up the pee with a tissue and put it in the litterbox) and then waited untill he pee'd next.

if it was in the litter box - great

if it was OUT of the litter box - soak it up with a tissue, place used tissue in the litterbox and then SPRAY THE AREA WITH DILUTED VINEGAR (so the buns dont want to pee in there anymore)

 

[The_Seven]

Right now I have one rabbit already indoors... a male, Willow, who has been inside since fall because of a lack of living space outside (we're going through a total bunny hutch makeover... though maybe with some litter training I won't need new hutches). He's living in a high-sided basin right now, which is nice when it comes to spraying, so I will try sticking a box inside with some litter in it. Speaking of... is it okay to just use a cardboard box of some sort? I don't have any extra cat litter boxes. The one that I do have is being used as a box liner for two of my females outside who can't seem to keep straw in their box.

One time I did try to litter train Jinx, my youngest female. She wasn't quite a year old at the time and I put her in a dog crate lined with newspaper and a cardboard box for litter. It wasn't very big though and she used it for a bed rather than a litter box; there was pee and pellets ALL over the place every evening and I had to roll the newspaper up and wipe the entire surface before I replaced it with nespaper... and of course she would do the same thing every time. I never noticed a pattern as to where she would pee...

But her cage was pretty big for the size of rabbit she is (she's only maybe four or five pounds and the crate is for a lab-sized dog). Does that have anything to do with it? Would a much smaller cage work better until the rabbit is litter trained?

Thanks for the answers!!

(Oh, and I forgot one thing... I also have four females, bonded into pairs. Should I separate them for the litter training or will it be okay to train them together?)

 

[Tweetiepy]

My males are both litter trained. The baby's unspayed but he's pretty good about using the box, he does leave poop all over, but I have another male nearby - fixed - and they both leave their poops near the border that separates them. You can train them but I expect you'll find stray poops - once my older male was fixed he stopped leaving poos altogether - but started again when we brought in the baby

 

[Suz]

Mine isn't spayed and she litter trained almost immediately. It was easy peasy.

 

[michellexgix]

Ive three intact males (Ive only one of them a month and the other a week though)

I did litter train Cooper, the rabbit Ive had the longest, I tried everything - getting all the poos, getting all the wet spots abd outting them in the litter box.. Tried different litters.. Tried putting hay in the litter box, food in the litter box woith no success..

Anyhow he wass ill for a bit, and recovering well, so I had the clean empty litter pan, put it in the cage (ment to fill it but never did ) abd what do you know he started using it.. He then used to be so good at the LITTER BOX, all poos and pees went in it.

since he saw the two new guys though hes being pooing and marking territory outside the litter box..

The other two Ive just started the litter box training..

But what Im saying is its not impossible but not easy either.. give it a go for a long time, hopefully!

BTW, My rabbits are getting neutered v.soon, then getting bonded!

 

[Flash Gordon]

dont seperate any bonded pairs....

 

[The_Seven]

...So it's a been a while since I checked this thread, but I've gotten Willow all set up now!

He's in one of the big, high-sided basins I talked about before with a litter box basically filling up one whole side. I put a couple handfulls of litter in it and his food and when I checked it the next day, he had urinated in his litter box and left most of the pellets inside the box. There were a good many outside his box, but not as many as were in it, so that was good. Through the day too there were a few outside, but no urine. So, I'd say it's a good start! If I can get him trained well enough I'll start building an NIC condo so he can have a nicer place, and I may even bring Sassy in if I'm successful enough.

Eventually I do want to get all my buns spayed/neutered... I'm just so nervous to do so!

 

[itsazoo]

I always heard that too lol, it always irked me because all my intact rabbits have been totally litter trained. while both my current girls are spayed, they were both fully litter trained BEFORE I spayed them. and it didnt take anything special, I just placed any mess outside the box into the box, and access to hay is from the litterbox.

 

[Flash Gordon]

i just wanted to say that when i used newspaper anywhere in a bunnies cage ..they peed on it...not sure why but when i removed the newspaper they stopped peeeing in their cages and went in the litter box instead..Good luck and keep us updated on ur potty training

 

[The_Seven]

Yeah, I don't know why every site I've gone to says not to expect to be able to litter train your intact rabbit... but except for here I haven't found a single site that says that it's possible. It's good to know though that people have had experience in it. It makes me feel encouraged. ...Especially with the progress Willow is making in such a short time. I'd still like to have them fixed, and maybe within the next year I'll have that done.

Flash Gordon, that happened with my female rabbit that I briefly tried to litter train too, but thanks for mentioning it! I thought I was being thorough by putting newspaper down just in case and she had it ALL messed up by the end of each day. I just thought she was a hopeless cause, but I'm gonna try again later.

 

[elrohwen]

The reason most sites say it's impossible is because it's very very possible that an unfixed rabbit will spray or mark their territory in another way. I think many house rabbit people recommend spaying and neutering above all else (which I do agree with) and a compelling argument for that is ease of litter training. Plus, nobody wants to tell a new rabbit owner that litter training is "easy" and then have that person fail miserably with their new unfixed rabbit. Nobody can promise that an unfixed rabbit will be reliable with litter habits, but it's pretty common for fixed buns to be fantastic with it, so the stereotype is born.

Also, a bun might be fine with litter habits while living alone, but once another bun is introduced into the same room or area it could start marking like crazy. Fixed bunnies can do this too, but unfixed bunnies are far more likely to start spraying when another rabbit is around. So an unfixed rabbit in isolation might be perfect, but many unfixed bunnies together will probably make a mess (though of course that's not certain)

For what it's worth, my boy was litter trained from the first day I brought him home at 8 weeks and remained litter trained until and after he was neutered. So yes, it's totally possible - I think it depends on the rabbit and the situation more than anything. I think it's worth trying the techniques to litter train any bun and see if you get lucky. Even if you don't, they'll probably use the box much of the time which is better than not trying the litter box at all.

 

[Krissa]

With my first three rabbits I got the boys neutered and left the girl intact (the price of the spay was crazy high). While she wasn't 100% box trained she was very good. Mostly it was just poops she would leave around. She did spend most of her time caged though - none of them get as much out of cage time as my new bunny.

 

[The_Seven]

elrohwen wrote:

Also, a bun might be fine with litter habits while living alone, but once another bun is introduced into the same room or area it could start marking like crazy. Fixed bunnies can do this too, but unfixed bunnies are far more likely to start spraying when another rabbit is around. So an unfixed rabbit in isolation might be perfect, but many unfixed bunnies together will probably make a mess (though of course that's not certain)

...As I have just discovered today. :grumpy: I've transferred Willow, who is using his litter box (except for a few pellets) faithfully, into a large dog crate and propped it up about a foot off the ground. Then I moved Sugar inside and stuck him in the basin I used for Willow. He's not doing as well as Willow did; he leaves a lot more pellets laying around, spilled his water once, and peed the first night. But that takes time to conquer of course. My problem is that either he or Willow sprayed the floor when I left him out of the "basin" to run around a bit.

Willow was in a tizzy about Sugar being free and invading "his" space and one of them decided to let the other know of his displeasure.

If I pin something like a shower curtain up around the outside of Willow's crate (so they can't see each other) will that solve my problem? I know it will probably make Willow feel a lot safer and more comfortable because his cage is pretty open. But will it make a difference?

 

[Flash Gordon]

it might..but they will still smell each other..its not gonna hurt to try it....
as much as u want this to work..its gonna be VERY hard to do.
this is why people end up getting rid of their rabbits...which is sad cuz this is their instinct working here.

 

[Perez28]

Did u use the methods that everyone else does or do u have any tips for someone who really wants a rabbit but scared of litter training hearing all the horror stories