Bunny Care Guide - How To Litter Train Your Bunny
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First of all, put the idea of 'training' out of your mind. You're not really training your rabbit at all. A rabbit will naturally pick a place that it likes to toilet in, and it will return to that place like clockwork unless it becomes sick or disturbed in some other fashion. What you are really doing is finding out where your rabbit wants to go, and putting a litter tray there.
Secondly, realize that the training mostly refers to the urine and soft droppings. Your bunny will most likely leave a few hard round pellets about the place from time to time. This is how rabbits mark their territory. These pellets are easily swept up and are odorless, so they are not a major concern to most people.
Ideally, your rabbit will simply return to its cage in order to relieve itself, and this is what many rabbits do, especially if enough 'in cage' time is given at the early stages, so that the rabbit can develop a strong connection to its potty place.
Always enable your rabbit access to its cage, there is no better way to ensure an accident than by mistakenly shutting the cage door and forcing the bunny to find a new place, a new place which will in all likelihood, stick.
methods recommend placing litter trays in every corner of the area your rabbit is going to be allowed in when you first let your rabbit out of the cage, and then removing litter trays when your rabbit shows you which of these it chooses to use. This is a valid method, though it may be a bit overkill, and if you are on a limited budget, the prospect of buying multiple uneccesary litter trays may not be one you relish. You may also not like the idea of having your home turned into an open litter tray and having to leave trays out in various corners of your home.
An alternative is to limit the space the bunny has when it exits its cage. Let the bunny leave and return at will, building its confidence in being able to come and go, and reinforcing the toileting behavior as you slowly expand the rabbit's realm.
Fortunately for us humans, rabbit training generally is very easy. You may have accidents and your bunny may have its own preferences (which are generally best worked with, not against as the likelihood that the bunny is going to change its mind about where it wants to toilet are very slim.) At the end of the day however, toilet 'training' your bunny is one of the simplest and easiest things you can do to ensure you enjoy your rabbit's company over the years
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Of course, because rabbits will almost always go toilet in a corner, having litter trays in the corners whilst you are training your rabbit will save you the clean up alltogether. But that's a great tip about cleaning up if you do have accidents! Thank you!
We have a mini rex and we are first time owners..we love this rabbit..she is only a few months old and is truely beautiful(she has developed such a awesome personality). However, potty training is not going as well as we had hoped. She has a litter box in her cage ..and choose's to use our sofa and love seat as her personal litter box. We have been applying the vinegar and water solution to detour her. Dosent seem to be working very well. CAn anyone help?
Sleepless in the Burg,
Mimi
Here's how it works. You don't tell the bunny where to go, the bunny decides where it will go, and you work with it. Vinegar and water won't do anything except reduce the urine odor. I would keep her confined to her cage until she starts using it as her bathroom, and make that love seat and sofa off bounds. Rabbit potty training isn't really 'training' in the sense of the word as one does with humans and dogs and cats, it is simply working with the rabbit's natural inclination to pick a place and go there. As she has picked your furniture, you probably need to keep her out of that room or away from that furniture until such time as she picks a new, more appropriate spot in her cage. Leaving her confined will force her to do this, and will create a less icky toilet habit.
i think all your ideas will work
i've got a bunny and mum and i want to train it. good ideas i'm nine years old and thanks
brianna
my bunny is good about only urinating in his litter box. recently though he has started kicking the kitty litter out of the box when he goes in, which creates quite a mess. i would appreciate any suggestions as to how to get him to stop this, or any ideas about why he's doing it.
thanks your ideas works I hve a baby bunny and I traned it myself my mom was not even in the u.s. when I did too and im only 10 years old!!!
i just got 2 baby bunnys and they pee and poop EVERYWHERE!!i've tried a few new things and they arnt workin out so well any ideas would b gr8!!
I've had my 10 week old bunny for about 2 weeks. One of her favorite places to "go" is on my BED! I am NOT thrilled! She is very sociable and when left in her cage too long gets spaztic and destructive... Any suggestions on training my bunny?
One of my bunnies dont let me pick them up when i do Flame bites me! I do just open the cage and he jups out but then i cant pick him back up!
PLEASE HELP ME!!!
My new bunny loves going to the bath room on the couch! We already have a bunny named Pepper and she/he (we don't know yet)loves her litter box! The new baby bunny prefers her food and water, but most baby bunnys do! Older bunnys love there cages!(well Pepper does) It is realy funny watch cute bunnys roll in a litter tray and it is also realy annoying to watch bunnys roll in there CLEAN NEW CAGES ! I am 11 and it is pretty easy to train bunnys,but only after they choose a nice place to pee and poo
I have a 11 month old Holland Lop named Molly that I love a whole bunch. However, I am having the hardest time litter training her. My problem is that she seems to pee in many different areas of her cage,not just one corner. It seems like she actually favors the middle of her cage, but it's hard to put a littler pan there (as she needs to hop around and such). I just got her a new, bigger cage, and any headway we had made in litter training seems to have disappeared when she moved into her new cage. I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar problem as this, and if anyone can help me. I've tried every trick in the book, everything mentioned here as well as other help pages on the internet. I'm just very, very frustrated.
I WANT a bunny for christmas i am ten should i get one!plus i want one but my mom does not want another cage in the house. What should i dooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!
To the 10 year old: don't get a rabbit. You're mom probably doesn't want another cage because whatever animal you have is not getting the attention and time and cleaning of the cage that it needs. Rabbits are a lot of work and very fragile. Don't get one.
i dont have a bunnie yet but im getting prepard thanx for the tips !
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I am going to get a bunny on Thursday and I am going to name her Lulu!
yesss! It is so hard to really even train bunnies!! they poop everywhere ):
I am getting a bunny from my friend on memorial day. This willbe the first time that I have had a bunny in a long time. I have a built outdoor cage, but will I need a indoor cage as well?
my rabbit (Oreo) just wont let me pick her up and im scared shell run +shes got long nails what do i do?
i have just got a lop eared rabbit but he drops little poo's behind him every where. i have got a litter tray for him but he just ripps the paper up out of it! any ideas? xx
i have just got a lop eared rabbit but he drops little poo's behind him every where. i have got a litter tray for him but he just ripps the paper up out of it! any ideas? xx
Please help!! I have a Lion haired rabbit, he is adorible but really hard to cleanup after! He goes to the bathroom all over his cage and I have to clean his cage EVERY day. He does doesn't just go in one spot he leaves a trail of poop! But his favorite place to go Is under one of my clothes dresser! Please I need to no how to stop his problem! It's really tiring.
i have had my bunny for a year now and it still poops everywhere and everytime i holder her.
Hi, I might be getting a rabbit this week and my dad is still debating because of their stink. I really would like to have one. Any other tips on how to eliminate pee and poo odors? (Other than the vinigar and water) Thanks!
I'm getting a bunny in the next couple days, and I've made a hutch and everything. But I'm wondering about litter training: Any tips? Where do I get a litter box? Please reply!!
we put the litter box in its cage and it has no intrest it it!! uhhhhh!!!!!!! what do i do????
HOW CAN U TELL WHEN UR BUNNY IS SLEEPING? i ahev looked all over the internet and cant find anything, i do know though that they sleep with their eyes open.... i love my bunnies to peices if i didnt i wouldn't be asking this question.
Lexi, just give your bunny some time it will learn, don't take it out as often. :)
Chango DO NOT use kitty litter for rabbits. The clay bbuildup will block your rabbit's intestines.
i have recently gotten a purebred lop bunnie i havnt gotten a water dripper yet and she loves peeing in her water, i dont know why :( do all rabbits do it?
and when i start potty training her what do i put in the litter box? one of the comments say dont use kitty litter, any suggestions? thankssss.
bunny
Hey, I have a 4 year old polish dwarf bunny and she loves pooping behind my bedroom door when no ones looking and I have tried to block off the area with all sorts off objects but he just knocks them out of the way! Another thing is that she also like to jump on my bed and start to dig into my pillow and sheets and after awhile she starts biting it an sort of trying to gnaw her teeth on it. Is there someone that can help me out with these problems? Thanks! :)
Oops. I meant velveteen. Haha sorry!
I have a little bunny who is about 5 months. It was really 2 but one got away. we had them in the hutch for almost 2 months and then after they both got away and I retrieved one I started keeping a cage in the house and putting his food and litter box there and placing a mat outside the cage and also letting him free in the house. It seemed as if he was doing fine only littering in the box (sometimes), but now he is more frequently littering on his hay and cups of food and water. What can I do to secure one spot in his cage. Should I not be putting his food in the same cage as his litter box?
Thanks.
You can tell when the bunny goes to sleep when their little nose stops twitching. If they are otherwise motionless, their noses give them away and you can tell they're awake.
I have a 11 week old bunny and every time I go to pick her up she trys to scaratch me Its starting to get on my nerves any tips.
IM 10 AND I HAVE A 11 WEEK OLD BUNNY. EVERY TIME I TRY TO LIFT HER SHE SCRATCHS ME ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!! PLEASE I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF I GOT SOME ADVICE
James, her nails are probably too long and need trimming. You should bring her to a pet shop or vet to get them trimmed. Also, have you been picking her up correctly? Put your right hand under her stomach, and your left firmly around her bum, so that she doesn't hurt herself kicking to get away from you. Once you have picked her up, cradle her with her head in between your stomach and the crook of your arm to calm her down. Bunnies don't like to be picked up so you need to let her know that you're not going to hurt her when you hold her. Good luck!
Hey, I got a bunny a week ago and got him a litter box a couple of days ago. I have read up on how to get them to use their litter box and all but I think I need more tips. I put his box in the spot he likes to 'go' the most, but he prefers his litter box as a resting spot and instead is 'going' under his water bottle. I know since I only got him a week ago and got his litter box a couple days ago I should just give it some time for him to figure it out, but I would like some tips on how to encourage my bunny to use his litter box. Any tips would be great! thanxx
Hi! I have a bunny named Miss Bun Bun and she is about 6 months old and we have tried to potty train her but she just keeps doing it! it is driving my family nuts, but we love this little bunny! we bought her a play pen but she poops in that all the time! any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Will neutering a bunny change their personality?
Thanks!
None of the pet shops in my area will trim bunny nails because of the risk of them breaking their backs so after I bathe Misa and I have her wrapped in the towel so she can't squirm to much I trim hers. You can get the bunny nail kits at any pet shop, and I'm not sure about other bunnies but once I start trimming she seems to know she needs to be still so it's really not hard at all. So just be really careful to find a way to secure them so they can't hurt their backs if you're going to trim their nails.
Also litter training isn't easy if you have your bunny in a large area. We let our baby Misa run around our room and bathroom and she poops as she runs but she's tends to go more in her litter box than anywhere else but she still goes everywhere so I dunno. Be sure to buy a little box with a high corner wall though lol, our old litter box had low walls and she would skoot back into the corner and pee over the edge.. it was pretty funny but not fun to clean out of the corner.
Thanks, Natasha! We solved the problem buy buying her a long box and she thinks of it as her burrow! It works because rabbits in the wild do not pee or poop in their burrows so now she only poops and pees in her litter box! Yea! :)
can you take a bath a baby rabbit
Sabrina,
You should try placing the hard poos in the litter box while your bunny is watching that should show her what to use it for
Hope this helps
my bunny miss p is now 7 weeks old and i have her in side and out side and is shitting everywere lol its anoying the the vaccum pics all her poo up i have a cage 4 her in side but she only pees and poos in that then i put her in it an nite time when i go 2 bed any other ways i can make her go 2 the cage 2 poo???
our bunny is a male dwarf lop we have had him nutered as he was spraying and taking the enjoyment away from being around him, he is litter trained but since we have had him done he keeps peeing on his mat (he has a corner of the living room rather than a cage in the house as he lives in a hutch when we are in work)im not quite sure how to get him back in to his routine. any sugestins? thanks
I have the cuttest dutch dwarf bunny on earth. I bought him almost 2 weeks ago and he was already 2 months. I think he is too spoiled, because when I am not the one to let him out so he can run around the apartament, my roommate, his girlfriend, his friends, my friends, let Mr. Bunny out. He gets so happy when he is out that he runs and poops everywhere ! That is so frustrating, I love that bunny...I just wanted him to poop in only one spot! Should I not let him out everyday until he learns to use the litter box in his cage?! And how often should I clean his cage? I have been cleaning it every two days...
Anybody having rabbit babies for sale/adoption in bahrain...plzzzzz contact me on concorde007@gmail.com
hey hey, i recently got a great eastern giant rabbit, its running arund my room... i have made it a little burrow out of 12 inch PVC iping and its litterbox is just outside the burrow door. BUT, it continues to poop everywhere.... any ideas on how to stop that? its fav corner is behind my door but her litter tray does not fit... please help?
my flemish giant never poops when i bring her inside. same with my other two rabbits. do they just hold on?
I bought a female 6mth old lion head rabbit. It was already litter box trained but was kept indoors. I can't keep it inside so we keep her in a cage outside in a building. Since bringing her home she will not use her litter box. I put her on a harness and leash and let her run around on the grass to get exercise and i have found that she goes on the grass. Am i confusing her by letting her go to the bathroom while she is running around the yard then expect her to use her little box when i put her back in her cage?
if you want your bunny to go in the litter tray put their food in a bowl in one corner of the litter tray. They tend to poo and pee when they're eating. Also if they pee on the floor soak it up with a tissue and put that in the litter box. Sweep up any poo and put that in the litter box. Clean up any accidents immediately so their scent doesn't linger. Get them de-sexed as well otherwise they'll want to spray and drop their droppings everywhere to mark their territory. Hope this helps.
We've adopted a gorgeous 2 and a half year old lop female to bond with our male she's so affetionate and doesn't bite, cheeky as hell but hasn't been potty trained and kicks her urine every where dangerously in his face how can we train her?
Ive had my bunny for a little over a year, and previous to this she used the litter box all the time and never had any problems, however, recently I can not get her to use the litter box. No matter how hard I try she insists on going potty on this green blanket she has. Ive tried taking away the blanket and she just gets mad, escapes out of her enclosure, and finds the blanket. Any suggestions?
should i put my rabbits food and water near each other or is it okay to have one on either sides of the cage?
pat the bunny 4 years ago
If your bunny has picked a place that is NOT okay with you, clean it up using a vinegar and water solution (it removes your bunny's scent), multiple times if necessary, until s/he stops peeing and pooping there. My bunny used to go in a nook right next to his cage much to the chagrin of my roommates. A couple days of regular poop removal and spraying the vinegar solution, and Pat the Bunny now only goes in his cage!