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Litter training...

tomcat

tomcat

Young Bun
Eventually, i want my rabbits to be free range in my bedroom... However they will have to be litter trained obviously

So, is it easier for while the litter training proccess is going through, if i keep them in a cage, then once they are trained, i let them free range?

Also, generally, how long will it take to litter train them from baabies?
 
Yeah, best to start with a small space and work up to whole rooms!

When I got mine I kept them contained for a week to let them settle in and to work on litter training in a small space. I thought it might take a while but they picked it up within a few days - good bunnies:D Obviously some buns might not take to it straight away though, but there's plenty of advice on here if you run into trouble.
 
Yeah, i guess i will get a dog crate then, as i did just want to let them have a dog bed full of hay, however now i need to keep them contained ill have to get a crate
 
You can expect quite a bit of mess at first, so you might want to introduce the dog bed later unless you want to wash it every day. I reckon best to start with an area that's wipe-clean or put some newspaper down so you can just chuck it when it gets covered. Mine chose to go in the litter tray rather than on newspaper then I introduced mats and blankets (which they LOVE!:love:) when they were trained.
 
What about those puppy pads? They have a scent that makes puppies use them, is it the same with rabs?
 
My bun is free range all day and sleeps under our bed at night. We have now removed the cage as when he was free range he picked under the bed as his favourite spot and didn't bother with it any more. We just have two litter trays for him now, one in the bedroom and one in the living room, these are full of hay for him. We also have a maze for him which he likes to chill in sometimes and a cardboard box full of shredded paper for him to dig in. He has lots of different spots around the flats he likes to be in at certain times of the day.

When we first got him we kept him in a cage for a little while and let him have time outside of the cage for a run about and then worked our way up slowly to whole rooms. Litter training was a nightmarefrom when his hormones kicked in (he was only a baby when we rescued him) until he was castrated, he learnt to use his litter tray very quickly after that, we now only have to pick up the odd poo here and there.

We are getting him a friend soon hopefully so we'll have to confine them both to the cage and start the litter training from scratch and work our way up to free range again.

The most useful thing I found when litter training him was to put plenty of hay for him to eat as they like to eat and poop at the same time. Also when I noticed him going for a wee in his litter tray I gave him a little treat to say well done.


There's lots of info on the web or on this site and you can always ask for help.

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

Good luck!

:)
 
Thank you :)

Ill have a look at that link now :)

Will a medium sized indoor rabbit cage be ok for a pair of lionheads for a while with outside time until trained?
 
We don't have much space in our flat so I made a cage for him out of NIC cubes as they are easy to dismantle and put away for storage, it also meant we could make it quite big and have an extra level for him to jump up to. You can make them any shape you want and can buy them from B & Q.

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/NIC.shtml

Dog crates are also a good option and lots of people use them.

Lots of the rabbit cages sold are too small. The main RSPCA site has a pdf leaflet on rabbit care which can be downloaded - its states - 180cm length x 90 cm width x70cm height for 2 rabbits. Rabbits need to be able to take hops inside the cage and stand up on their back legs when inside the cage aswell.
 
I agree with Marleyandme. NIC cubes are great and most indoor rabbit cages are way too small. I don't think you'd regret investing in NIC cubes, as they can be used in many situations (for example if you needed to separate your rabbits after getting them neutered) and then packed away again easily.
 
Yeah, the buns will love you for getting them something bigger. Well done for doing all your research in advance by the way - there's so much to think about when they actually turn up that it can be overwhelming. It's well worth it to have little fluffy buns zipping around the house though, they make you smile every day:)
 
The great thing about nic cubes is, you can make them to fit absolutely any space! someone on here used them to build a cage in the space under the stairs until her baby bun was old enough to be spayed and bonded, and I used them in our spare room, because we had a wardrobe in there, so needed to build round it. just to give you an idea, this is where my bunny (a lionhead) was living until xmas:
DSCF2879.jpg

You can build in levels, and pretty much do anything!
I bought two packs of nic cubes, and a pack of cable ties (trust me, however many you think you need, double it and add 100!) and a roll of offcut carpet for about £50! you won't find anything anywhere near the same size for that price in pet shops. Just make sure your bun can't jump out the top!
 
Are lionheads small rabbits? Or are they a nice size and nice to pick up ect?The ones i saw today where young, so didnt see an adult size.
 
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