My Youngest Rabbit Refuses to Use Her Litter Tray and Does Her Mess Everywhere

[serifexo]

Hello everyone,

I have 2 rabbits, male (cloud, almost 2 years old, neutered) and a female (tifa, 8 months old, spayed). from day one, my little boy picked his corner and stuck with it. however, tifa has done here, there and everywhere and i feel so bad for keeping them 2 together because its unfair for cloud to have to live in her filth. i clean their hutch out every morning and when i come home in the evening their bedding (usually towels or a pillow) is covered in urine and poo. tifa also has the habit of wrecking everything. she loves chewing and biting things, she also rips up the litter tray liner and cloud never does this.

when i first got her i thought it will be ok once i get her spayed but it's been while now and she hasnt calmed down at all. i dont know what to do.. they have 2 litter trays, i use paper pellets and she tends to dig them out and make a mess everywhere. they get a lot of free play time in the garden for a good few hours a day (4-6 hours or so). i dont know what im doing wrong.

when i bought cloud, he was a house rabbit for a year till we got tifa and the mess was just too much to cope with in the house. she also smells a lot which im not sure what to do about. her genitals are clean however. anyway, its been a month since i moved them out into their 2 story hutch and like i said, she urinated EVERYWHERE!

what can i do about this? cause im kinda losing my mind here..

thanks so much for taking the time to read this, much appreciated <3

Edit: I've tried so much from when she was younger to use the litter training tips, like soak up her using in a tissue and put it in her litter tray, moved the litter tray to the place she would urinate (she would then only use the place i moved it from so i was having to move it back and forth)

 

[tonibun]

Have you tried putting lots of hay in their litter tray as they like to toilet while they eat? She is still young so there is time for improvement. You could try treats if you catch her going in the litter tray.

 

[BattleKat]

i clean their hutch out every morning and when i come home in the evening their bedding (usually towels or a pillow) is covered in urine and poo.

Would you say she usually goes in the bed area? It's possible she prefers it as a toilet because it's enclosed, or that she likes the softness of the towels/blankets?

tifa also has the habit of wrecking everything. she loves chewing and biting things, she also rips up the litter tray liner and cloud never does this.

Have you tried using the litter tray without the liner? Sometimes rabbits are really funny about their tray, mine will only use an underbed storage with hay or auboise, anything else gets chucked around and dug at.

they have 2 litter trays, i use paper pellets and she tends to dig them out and make a mess everywhere.

as above, have you tried just hay in the tray?

 

[serifexo]

Would you say she usually goes in the bed area? It's possible she prefers it as a toilet because it's enclosed, or that she likes the softness of the towels/blankets?


Have you tried using the litter tray without the liner? Sometimes rabbits are really funny about their tray, mine will only use an underbed storage with hay or auboise, anything else gets chucked around and dug at.


as above, have you tried just hay in the tray?

hi, no she just urinates and poops everywhere, and yes i did try when she was younger and she still didnt use her litter tray and yup.. i always put hay in their litter tray as well as other areas of their hutch.

 

[serifexo]

Have you tried putting lots of hay in their litter tray as they like to toilet while they eat? She is still young so there is time for improvement. You could try treats if you catch her going in the litter tray.

hey, thanks for the reply. yes i put plenty of fresh hay for them, even in their litter trays and still nothing. i havent tried the treats simply cause i never see her using the litter trays

 

[emileemason]

have you tried putting hay ONLY in the litter tray, all my girls have a problem of "where my hay is i will pee" so hay only goes in litter trays now, makes cleaning easier for me and if there is lots there then its fine not to have it elsewhere i think, or you could use numerous trays with hay if you want more spots with hay, and maybe if that works you can add hay back to other places (not in tray- aka bedding) to see how she goes, but when i did that it was just a new spot to pee so i took it away

sorry if that doesnt help if you have tried that, goodluck!