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About Mirella Brown
Expertise
I have 4 house rabbits and experience with rabbit pregnancy, babies, bunny bonding, litter training, behavior training, cage and cage-free living, bunny proofing your home, basic health and diet, spaying/neutering, bunny talk, and bunny fun. I have neutered and spayed my rabbits and have dealt with amputations, broken bones, holistic pain management with rabbits so i can give you advice for surgery aftercare, BUT I am NOT a Veterinarian and cannot give you in depth answers on health, biology, or medicines.

If you suspect something is wrong with your rabbit please do not wait - go to the vet immediately. Signs include bleeding, broken bones, watery diarrhea, no poop for more than 12 hours, not eating/drinking, un-responsive/lethargic/listless behavior, screaming, constant LOUD teeth chatter. Be safe not sorry. Go to the vet!

I love rabbits and am here to help you have the best bunny experience you can with your pet. I deal only with pet rabbits and do not endorse hobby breeding/breeding for fun. I do NOT support breeding operations regardless of their purpose. My rabbits are valued members of my family. They live cage free.

Je parle français.

Experience
With four house rabbits I have experienced everything from false pregnancy, to real pregnancy, obesity in rabbits, cold/dead kits, nursing baby rabbits and raising them to adulthood. I am also involved in the rescue rabbit rehoming project in my area. We help rescue rabbits find loving homes. I have come in contact with a lot of rabbit situations through this association.

Organizations
Rescue Rabbit Rehoming Project - Ontario Chapter
I'm a volunteer at my local Animal Shelter /Spec. Rabbits

Education/Credentials
I have two un-related bunny degrees. B.A. in Political Science and a B.F.A. in Graphic Design

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Veterinary Medicine > Rabbits > Litter training.

Rabbits - Litter training.

Expert: Mirella Brown - 10/26/2009

Question
My bunnies are pretty much potty trained. But one of them goes outside of the litter box sometimes. And they like to go in their cage. They have a litter box in their cage and outside of it where they roam. I put hay in the boxes after other advice I read. I don't know what to do. THey never pee outside where they roam, so that is a plus!

Answer
Bunnies means plural - how many and what sexes? Sometimes this can be a marker of territory - Do you have other pets in the house? I have two sets of rabbits and sometimes they can smell the other rabbits on me - they do mark outside of the litterbox (even though they are trained and neutered/spayed) as a way to mark their territory.

Firstly, get yourself some cheap ikea rugs (or dollar store if you can find them) and put them down around the litterbox. This will help with clean up. I also found that spaying the area where the mistake was made with a spray bottle filled half with vinegar and half with water helps to remove the scent so that the rabbit doesnt try to mark the place again (out of habbit).

Try to avoid letting other pets near the litterboxes if you can, the scent of other animals (on yourself as well as others) will trigger the response to mark territory.

If we are talking about poops - thats an easier issue. Get a small brush and dustpan, pick up the poops and put them into the litterbox - the poops left on the floor are marked with the rabbits 'scent' as a warning to others that the territory is taken. If you pick them up and put them in the right place (inside the litterbox) then you rabbits will get the idea that their territory is not the floor but in the box. Dont clean the newly swept up poops for about a day so they get the point. Do this for about two weeks and see if they stop putting the poops elsewhere.

As for inside the cage - either try to get a larger litterbox to cover the place where they are peeing or move the litterbox over so the place where they usually pee is now covered with the litterbox. This could be a subtle bunny sign that your rabbit wants the box moved ever so slightly for whatever reason.

More on litter training:
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

Good luck!

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