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Are some bunnies just NOT able to be litter trained? :(

Chez87

Warren Scout
quick bit of background. I have had my rescue buns since August. 2 gorgeous mini lop brothers. They were 1 yr old when they came to me and were only neutered by the rescue a week before they came to me. They were outdoor buns before they came to live with me I think.

They live in a spare bedroom in my house, and have 2 underbed storage boxes as litter trays, which are lined with paper, then a layer of megazorb and then hay to munch. Since I have had them they have not been litter trained. This goes for wee and poop. I have tried everything I can think off. Putting wet tissues and poops in their trays, cleaning with vinegar, NOT cleaning with vinegar. They do use their trays, but they also use everywhere else. No particular pattern to where they go, just everywhere round the room.

If anyone has any amazing tips for me, that would be brilliant. Could it be just that they were neutered too late and will never get out of this habit now?
 
From what I gather this is worth trying:
Confine rabbits to a small area, they will probably choose just one corner as a toilet because they won't want to have to sleep in their own waste. Once they've chosen a spot, put the litter tray in that spot. Gradually increase the space and move the tray to where you want it to be.

I'm sure someone will come along and give you some more advice with my next point, but is it possible they can't control when/where they wee?
 
I did think of this, but wondered how long I will have to do it for? They love having the run of the room. They have a 48inch dog crate as their "base" and they never pee in here since I took the vet bed away and just use newspaper. Just all over the rest of the room.

I just think they'll pee everywhere again when they get their full amount of space back. But I will consider it, thank you for the reply!
 
Oh also they can control it, I've watched them plenty of times lol. Tail goes up and wee comes out!
 
I litter trained Finx when she was little by using lots of litter trays around the room. I did the usual collecting poos and putting them in the trays, and I also rewarded her with a fuss or a treat whenever she sat in them at first, then whenever she actually used them... she got there eventually. She always peed on the sofa before we managed to teach her to use the tray, so it was a relief when she decided she wanted to.

Tango has always used a tray, since he came from the rescue :thumb:
 
I think it will be harder though, as they are not little, I don't think training will work quite as well. :( and I don't have the time to sit and watch for long periods of time to see when they use the litter trays. But thank you for your reply :)
 
Fluffy and Jezebel learnt as they were confined to quarters for a few days with only limited free range time, to be fair it was only Jezebel that needed to learn as Fluffy was already using the tray.

Didn't take long for Jezebel to use it I think actually Fluffy taught her. Once she had used it a few times I let them out again and everything has been fine since
 
I'd confine them to the smaller area as Battlekat suggested for at least 48 hours. I'd also provide a tray for everywhere they wee - at first I had 7 litter trays for Barney. Once they are using the trays properly you can then stop putting hay in the ones you want to wean them off of and they should decrease their use of it, then start removing one at a time.

Mature neutered rabbits are meant to be easier to litter train as their hormones dont get in the way like baby buns, and they have longer attention spans.

What is the flooring they are weeing on and what are you doing to clean it up? Are you using white vinegar to neutralise everywhere they wee?

I take it you have had them vet checked for any medical cause for this and they dont have milky/sludgy wee?

Do you have other rabbits that arent bonded to them?
 
I'd confine them to the smaller area as Battlekat suggested for at least 48 hours. I'd also provide a tray for everywhere they wee - at first I had 7 litter trays for Barney. Once they are using the trays properly you can then stop putting hay in the ones you want to wean them off of and they should decrease their use of it, then start removing one at a time. I really can't, they have a whole bedroom, I couldn't cover the whole floor :(

What is the flooring they are weeing on and what are you doing to clean it up? Are you using white vinegar to neutralise everywhere they wee? They are on non-slip lino. And yes.

I take it you have had them vet checked for any medical cause for this and they dont have milky/sludgy wee? Not specifically for this, but they are checked when they are vaccinated. and they were vet checked before they came to me, and it has always been happening from day one, so I don't think it's medical Their wee is not milky or sludgy.

Do you have other rabbits that arent bonded to them? I don't have any other rabbits. I do however have cats. But they are not allowed to interact.

Answers in red :) Thank you.
 
Do you have a pen or cage you could confine them to for a couple of days, with a litter tray in it? That should help.
 
They have a dog crate yes. I just hate confining them :( but I also hate cleaning up puddles all day long!
 
Are there not a few places that they tend to wee? Thats so unusual that they dont have a few favourite spots :? usually it will be corners or boundries to things.

Do you have anything other than the dog crate? Theyre a bit small so a run/pen attached would be good, but if not a couple of days in there isnt going to hurt them, unless they get very stressed when confined.

Oh also, where do you have hay, is it just in the trays?
 
Well erm....no it's not really around edges. Well it is but it's also in random spots in the middle of the room. It's not a huge room, only 8 x 8. Yeah they have a puppy pen too which I could attach. Or just attach a few panels to the crate to give em more space.

And yes, hay is only in litter trays.
 
All buns are different so it might not work, but I only put hay up one end of my litter tray as my doe was weeing elsewhere as she didn't like toiletting on her snacks!

They also have a hayrack and a seperate area full of a slightly different type of hay which they don't use as a toilet.

My two aren't perfect - generally the floor of their shed doesn't get wee'd on, and the top floor of their two tier hutch is clear, but they have the occasional accident next to the litter tray or in the opposite back corner of their hutch. I'm trying to train them out of these - but it doesn't seem like the same scale as your problems.

Smaller area sounds like a good idea to try first. Even if it's just so there's less space for you to clear up!!
 
First, day before make sure you have a few litter trays (just cheap ones) and clean out their litter tray ready for the next day when youre going to leave it dirty for a couple of days, I'd add extra litter in there.

On the day, I would take them out of the room in a carrier, vinegar the whole floor, clean everything except the litter tray, then set up the dog crate and pen (not too big!) with the dirty litter tray where you want them to pee eventually (I'd put one in their crate) and top it with some scrummy fresh hay. Then add them into their new pen/crate setup. I'd keep them in there for at least 48 hours or more, until they are properly using the litter tray. Mop any wee up and vinegar it asap, I'd do this several times a day. When you change the litter tray then keep back some dirty litter and put it in the clean one, and make sure you dont clean it with vinegar. If they choose another spot to wee then add another tray or move the one you have, depending on whether they are using both spots or just one. If they arent getting the hang of it I would confine them to just the crate for 24 hours with their tray and see if they are clean in there.

Hopefully they will start to use the trays properly in there after a few days, then you can let them out for short times, adding trays and mopping up as you go, increasing the time till they are out all the time and use several trays. You can then start to slowly take away one tray at a time, starting by removing hay from it so its not used as much. Eventually, hopefully you'll be left with a couple which they always use.
 
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Rabbits don't litter train, you put the litter tray where they go toilet and hope they use it.
 
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Rabbits don't litter tray, you put the litter tray where they go toilet and hope they use it.

For once i'm going to disagree with you Tim :lol:

I have a bun who won't go ANYWHERE unless there is a litter tray. I could put it anywhere and he'll seek it out to do his business :)
 
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