How to Litter Box Train a Pet Rabbit
June 30th 2008 14:30
You can successfully train your rabbit to use a litter box, whether inside his cage or while free-roaming your room. It just takes time and persistence, as rabbits are creatures of habit. It may take a few weeks or even a few months (for those stubborn rabbits) to be 100% trained to use the litter box, but it is possible to do.
You want to remember that baby bunnies and rabbits that have not been fixed will be slightly harder to train.
You want to use a litter that is safe and non-toxic; avoid using pine or cedar shavings or litter that clumps when wet. Good options include using compressed paper litter, such as Yesterday's News, dried pine pellets, or dried aspen pellets. Within the litter box, you also want to include hay, as rabbits eat and poop at the same time. The best way to go about it is putting litter on the floor of the entire box and putting hay on just one side. You may want to add a treat like mint, basil, or rosemary to the top of the litter box, as it will help entice the bunny to get into the box.
Note: As the bunny gets used to using the litter box, you should be able to stop adding the hay to the litter box, as that is a training method, since rabbits tend to eat and poo at the same time.
The first thing you want to do is make sure that you have the litter box set up. You want to start litter box training your bunny inside his cage or within a small area, preventing your bunny from pottying in other places. You'll want to find the corner that your bunny goes to the bathroom the most, and put the litter box there. If the bunny decides to go elsewhere after you add the litter box, you may want to add a few another in that area, and slowly start removing the litter boxes until you have one. Make sure that your bunny is successful with the one litter box in the small area before enlarging the area; it may take an average of 2-3 weeks.
Clean up urine that's not in the litter box as soon as possible, so that your remove the scent. You may want to add a urine socked paper towel and some poo to the litter box, to help entice the rabbit to using the box.
You may want to spend a little time with your bunny when he's most likely to eat, so that you can catch him in the act of lifting his tail to pee or poop. You'll want to tell him "No" and scoot him off to the litter box. Remember that rabbits are creatures of habit, so once they get used to what's supposed to happen, they'll be more likely to using the litter box.
When you notice that your bunny is using his litter box, you'll want to give them a little more freedom by opening up the bunny's regular cage or play area and letting him run around a larger area. You want to make sure that your watch him like a hawk, though, so that you can catch any mistakes as they're happening and scoot the bunny off to his litter box.
A few tips that you'll want to consider when litter box training, include:
* Make sure when you clean the litter box, that you add a little poop and maybe another urine soaked paper towel into the new litter. Rabbits won't use the box if it's too clean.
* On that same note, they won't use the litter box if it's too dirty, so make sure that you clean out the litter box regularly.
* Also, consider using a litter that doesn't have a strong odor.
* While training, you don't want to scare your rabbit into thinking that the litter box is punishment, especially when you catch him peeing or pooping outside the box. You don't want to yell at him or chase him around his cage, play area, or room, just to put him in the box.
* Some people suggest giving your bunny a treat when he gets in the litter box, to getting him more reliant to actually getting into the box. You may find that just saying "good rabbit" will work the same when you find him in the box, and leaving it as that.
* If you have a rabbit that is a territorial marker, you may want to rub a cloth around your rabbit, and then rub the cloth on the area. This will put your rabbit's scent on the area, so he won't feel the need to mark it. Even with this technique, correcting territorial marking is harder if your rabbit isn't spayed or neutered.
You want to remember that baby bunnies and rabbits that have not been fixed will be slightly harder to train.
You want to use a litter that is safe and non-toxic; avoid using pine or cedar shavings or litter that clumps when wet. Good options include using compressed paper litter, such as Yesterday's News, dried pine pellets, or dried aspen pellets. Within the litter box, you also want to include hay, as rabbits eat and poop at the same time. The best way to go about it is putting litter on the floor of the entire box and putting hay on just one side. You may want to add a treat like mint, basil, or rosemary to the top of the litter box, as it will help entice the bunny to get into the box.
Note: As the bunny gets used to using the litter box, you should be able to stop adding the hay to the litter box, as that is a training method, since rabbits tend to eat and poo at the same time.
The first thing you want to do is make sure that you have the litter box set up. You want to start litter box training your bunny inside his cage or within a small area, preventing your bunny from pottying in other places. You'll want to find the corner that your bunny goes to the bathroom the most, and put the litter box there. If the bunny decides to go elsewhere after you add the litter box, you may want to add a few another in that area, and slowly start removing the litter boxes until you have one. Make sure that your bunny is successful with the one litter box in the small area before enlarging the area; it may take an average of 2-3 weeks.
Clean up urine that's not in the litter box as soon as possible, so that your remove the scent. You may want to add a urine socked paper towel and some poo to the litter box, to help entice the rabbit to using the box.
You may want to spend a little time with your bunny when he's most likely to eat, so that you can catch him in the act of lifting his tail to pee or poop. You'll want to tell him "No" and scoot him off to the litter box. Remember that rabbits are creatures of habit, so once they get used to what's supposed to happen, they'll be more likely to using the litter box.
When you notice that your bunny is using his litter box, you'll want to give them a little more freedom by opening up the bunny's regular cage or play area and letting him run around a larger area. You want to make sure that your watch him like a hawk, though, so that you can catch any mistakes as they're happening and scoot the bunny off to his litter box.
A few tips that you'll want to consider when litter box training, include:
* Make sure when you clean the litter box, that you add a little poop and maybe another urine soaked paper towel into the new litter. Rabbits won't use the box if it's too clean.
* On that same note, they won't use the litter box if it's too dirty, so make sure that you clean out the litter box regularly.
* Also, consider using a litter that doesn't have a strong odor.
* While training, you don't want to scare your rabbit into thinking that the litter box is punishment, especially when you catch him peeing or pooping outside the box. You don't want to yell at him or chase him around his cage, play area, or room, just to put him in the box.
* Some people suggest giving your bunny a treat when he gets in the litter box, to getting him more reliant to actually getting into the box. You may find that just saying "good rabbit" will work the same when you find him in the box, and leaving it as that.
* If you have a rabbit that is a territorial marker, you may want to rub a cloth around your rabbit, and then rub the cloth on the area. This will put your rabbit's scent on the area, so he won't feel the need to mark it. Even with this technique, correcting territorial marking is harder if your rabbit isn't spayed or neutered.
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