Urgent litter training advice!

[bunnyhouse]

Hi everyone. I used to be on here under a different name but forgot my login details so have had to re-register. I'm hoping some of you fantastically knowledgeable people will have some advice for me. We recently got a new companion for our bunny Edith, called Monty from ARC. He is the most gentle, friendly rabbit you could ever wish for. However we have one problem which I'm losing the plot over somewhat! We cannot litter train him. He just poos and pees everywhere. He likes to pee on puppy pads, but Edith likes to shred these so that's causing some problems. He's not massively reliable with the puppy pads either. He poos everywhere. He spends most of the day sitting in one of the four litter trays but seems to get out to poo and pee. We've tried various combinations of litter trays, with/without hay, with/without litter, ones with puppy pads only in (doesn't use these, prefers the puppy pads to be on the floor!) We tried reducing the space again but this made no difference and made Edith very cross! What on earth are we missing?

I really don't want to have to return him to the rescue, never even crossed my mind I would ever have to do something like that, especially over something that feels really quite trivial. But I just cannot keep clearing mountains of poo and pee off our kitchen floor every few hours. I have considered moving them outside, but cleaning poo and a pee off a shed floor in the freezing cold seems like a worse option!

 

[tonibun]

How long have you had your new Rabbit?

 

[bunnyhouse]

I knew I forgot something. I've had him for a month now.

 

[InspectorMorse]

How old is Monty ? The older a Rabbit is when neutered the less likely it is that they will be litter trained. And some Rabbits are just messy, tis the nature of having Rabbits I am afraid.

 

[bunnyhouse]

He's 5, I specifically wanted an older rabbit as Edith is around 8. This goes so beyond just 'messy'. I really don't know what to do. I think I was naive when looking for a new companion as Edith wasn't litter trained when we got her and she litter trained overnight pretty much. She was also around 4/5 years old!

 

[keletkezes]

Different litter trays? Maybe a really low flat one, like a baking tray, bigger or littler ones, one with high sides, one low. Doesn't sound like a hooded one would help so maybe not worth trying that.

 

[KCG]

Old rabbits can also be difficult to train. But you can take a look at this article.

https://bunnylady.com/resources/items-for-litter-box-training/

 

[bunnyhouse]

Different litter trays? Maybe a really low flat one, like a baking tray, bigger or littler ones, one with high sides, one low. Doesn't sound like a hooded one would help so maybe not worth trying that.

We have one litter tray house from MPH, 2 bases that are from hooded litter trays so very low and one with high sides but a low opening for him to jump in at the front. We did try hooded but we're advised he might not like them.

I'm really starting to feel like we've tried everything! Really appreciating everyone's input though.

 

[Shimmer]

Different litter trays? Maybe a really low flat one, like a baking tray, bigger or littler ones, one with high sides, one low. Doesn't sound like a hooded one would help so maybe not worth trying that.

Garden potting trays are quite good as litter trays.

 

[tonibun]

A month is not all that long as he is possibly marking his territory. Do the pair get along well as he may be making sure she knows he is the boss. :? If he has never been litter trained before then it could take a while for him to cotton on. Having said all this, if it doesn't improve soon then going outside might be the answer.

 

[keletkezes]

Garden potting trays are quite good as litter trays.

I use drip trays which are like potting trays but much stronger, seeing as I also use them as digging trays (well, the rabbits like to!).

 

[PercysMama]

maybe the placement of the litter box? I first had Percy's in his hutch with him and he refused to use it for anything other than a few poops, i moved it out one day and he instantly went and took a pee, another than a few misplaced poops outside the box, he gets it all in there

 

[bunnyhouse]

A month is not all that long as he is possibly marking his territory. Do the pair get along well as he may be making sure she knows he is the boss. :? If he has never been litter trained before then it could take a while for him to cotton on. Having said all this, if it doesn't improve soon then going outside might be the answer.

They do get along well, although the bond took some time. Monty just didn't seem to know how to behave around another rabbit and wasn't really taking on board Edith's cues when she was annoyed at the endless humping and chasing. They seem pretty happy now, groom each other and lay down together.

maybe the placement of the litter box? I first had Percy's in his hutch with him and he refused to use it for anything other than a few poops, i moved it out one day and he instantly went and took a pee, another than a few misplaced poops outside the box, he gets it all in there

They have four litter trays so surely one of them would be in a suitable place?! I did move them around based on favourite wee spots, which helped somewhat although things have deteriorated more recently.

One of my friends suggest that maybe Monty doesn't like using a litter tray that Edith had been in, is this a possibility? No idea what I do about this if so!