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Hmm. Litter tray... but it wasn't supposed to be!

CwningenBach

Warren Scout
Hello!

Our bunnies seem to have taken to using their whole house (they have one each at the moment - Sherlock has been castrated and Mrs Hudson is to be spayed in 2 weeks) as a litter tray. They spend much of their time out of their houses with us so, in essence, they really do only use their houses to eat, drink and sleep.

No doubt we are responsible for this because the whole house is covered in woodshavings with straw and hay so the bunnies are, uh, doing their thing all over it - except where they sleep. Neither of them do anything there. Bless 'em. It isn't a massive problem, but it does make cleaning it up a bit more of a job than it needs to be.

Both bunnies are perfectly litter trained and have had only one accident since they've been with us. I don't want to do /anything/ that disrupts this. But do you have any suggestions to help out with teaching them to keep their business in a specific area of their cages? When we clean them out, it is quite clear they are using a couple of specific spots more than others - but it isn't localised enough to suggest they're using any particularly area *exclusively*, but definitely a couple of spots more than others.

Would putting the flooring cover (shavings/straw/hay) in just two places help; namely their sleeping space and where they should go to the loo?

Does any of this make sense?! :oops:
 
When I got my bunnys I watched to see where they weed the most then I bought them corner pans from P@H and scooped the wee up an placed it in the corner pan and put hay over it with wood pellets underneath an now they only wee in there corner pans 
 
Having just put my bunny in a new hutch I put wood shavings and straw all over it and then waited the first night to see where he woud use as a toilet anda then arranged the cage accordingly. He has a litter tray in the sleeping compartment and he sleeps in the other end of cage and he keeps that totally clean there is just straw in the sleeping end and his food /hay /water . The litter tray has wood shavings and hay in it and changed every day.
 
If they are indoors do they need hay for a bed? What about a blanket? I only use hay where I want them to go to the toilet.
 
Thanks everyone for your help.

Elena - I read that hay was useful for their bedding and though I can't remember if anywhere specified it wasn't required for indoor buns I didn't read anywhere saying it wasn't. Ha! So much stuff! I would of course happily swap bedding hay for a blanket if people on here suggest that it's better?
 
Thanks everyone for your help.

Elena - I read that hay was useful for their bedding and though I can't remember if anywhere specified it wasn't required for indoor buns I didn't read anywhere saying it wasn't. Ha! So much stuff! I would of course happily swap bedding hay for a blanket if people on here suggest that it's better?

It's a good insulator so good for outdoor bunnies in winter. Shove a load of hay in a segmented part and they can borrow in it to keep warm. But for indoor bunnies as long as they have plenty to eat then it's fine. They normally like to poop near where they graze so putting it in the tray helps their litter training.

For a cosy sleep area I tend to use blankets or duvets. Sometimes bunnies pee on them to start with but I've found they get used to the idea and the peeing stops after a while. I use a horse bedding washing bag to wash them so the fur and hay doesn't go in the machine.
 
When I rehomed my bunnies, they were trained with cat litter. I know some clay kinds are poisonous to rabbits, so you do have to be careful what you get but mine def don't eat it!. They love to roll in it and it's easier to see when it needs changing than with hay.
 
Thanks all for your help!

For their litter tray, just hay? Or straw and hay? Or wood shavings, straw and hay? A combination of any of the aforementioned?!

For their cage (I prefer house!), what should I put on the floor? Like I say, they don't spend much time in there but I of course want to put something down rather than just the plastic floor. What do you guys recommend?
 
Thanks all for your help!

For their litter tray, just hay? Or straw and hay? Or wood shavings, straw and hay? A combination of any of the aforementioned?!

For their cage (I prefer house!), what should I put on the floor? Like I say, they don't spend much time in there but I of course want to put something down rather than just the plastic floor. What do you guys recommend?

I use just a wad of newspaper and hay. :)

For the floor mine live in rooms which have lino down, then they either have a rug or fleeces on part of the area for some grip. I put them the other side of the room from their litter tray so that the area that gets messiest is on the lino.
 
I use just a wad of newspaper and hay. :)

For the floor mine live in rooms which have lino down, then they either have a rug or fleeces on part of the area for some grip. I put them the other side of the room from their litter tray so that the area that gets messiest is on the lino.

Hay and newspaper. Sounds good to me! I'll experiment with them and keep hay as a constant and see what works best for them :)

Our bunnies are totally free roaming - except at bedtimes. The cage has a plastic floor - I plan on putting the litter tray with the hay etc in the corner. Do you think I should just put something soft down for them in the rest of the (not exactly large) cage? We have bought a couple of doormats from Sainsburys and dotted them around our wood floored apartment. They are pretty hardy and the bunnies can't really chew them/eat them, which is something I'd be worried about if they were left unsupervised with something made of fabric. Do you think it'd be worth putting the same doormat in the cage and a blanket for their bed?

I have rambled here and not grammar checked. Sorry!
 
When I rehomed my bunnies, they were trained with cat litter. I know some clay kinds are poisonous to rabbits, so you do have to be careful what you get but mine def don't eat it!. They love to roll in it and it's easier to see when it needs changing than with hay.

I have used the wood based litter for a long time and haven't had any problems. Not that the little monkeys always use it...........
 
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