Thread: New Bunny!
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Old November 9th, 2004, 09:09 PM
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CyberKitten CyberKitten is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: New Brunswick - Nova Scotia
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Hi,

This may be long since I litter trained my bunny (who recently died at the geriatric age of 13 - as people on this Board are probably tiring of hearing) but I can tell you my experience.

Bunnies CAN be litter trained. It is not as easy as say for a cat but it works.
You have to keep in mind that bunnies - like cats I suppose - like to mark their territory and they will do it with little rabbit "buttons" (which are not that objectionable anyway) so this may happen on occasion even if a bunny has been litter trained. It does not mean the training was a failure.

Bunnies spend more time in their litter boxes than cats and they will eat some of their "buttons" - which is actually good for their digestion - providing they are healthy. They will also nibble litter.

Rabbit urine is another matter. It has a very strong objectionable smell so you must clean the box often!! Clean it whrn the bunny is out of it. Never take her - him - out and then clean it. He will supervise everything you do because they are very fussy about their area.

Alfafa is a great litter tho I had a retired dad who loved woodworking so I used organic wood shavings combined with Timothy hay and alfafa.
That said, never used softwood lumber shavings like cedar or pine since they can cause liver damage.

I know they sometimes advise against it but I always used javex and cleaned it thooughly and put a ton of shavings in his litter boxes. (I always had a few around the house, especially as he aged and had difficulty jumping in them).

If your bunny came with a cage, make syre it is large enough to place a litterbox in it. Rabbits will always urinate in the same area- usually a corner - and so s/he can get used to the litterbox. Confine him to that area at first and gradually work toward giving him free roam where you have a bunnyproof area. (No cords, electrical wires and so forth).

Here is what the House Rabbit Society recommends:
Start with a box in the cage, and one or more boxes in the rabbit's running space. If she urinates in a corner of the cage not containing the box, move the box to that corner until she gets it right. Don't be concerned if your bunny curls up in his litterbox--this is natural. Once she's using the box in the cage, open her door and allow her into her running space. Watch her go in and out on her own. If she heads to a corner where there's no box, or lifts up her tail in the characteristic fashion, cry "no" in a single, sharp burst of sound. Gently herd her back to her cage and her litterbox, or into one of the boxes in her room. Be careful, however. You don't want to make the cage or the litterbox seem like punishment. A handful of hay in the box makes it a more welcoming place. After she first uses the box, praise her and give her her favorite treat. Once she uses the box in her room a couple of times, you're well on your way, as her habits will be on their way to forming. As she gets better trained in her first room, you can increase her space. Don't hurry this process. And if the area becomes very big, or includes a second floor, be sure to include more litterboxes, so as not to confuse her. Remember, as she becomes more confident and uses fewer boxes, you can start to remove some of her early, "training" boxes. Get your rabbit into a daily routine and try not to vary it. Rabbits are very habitual and once a routine is established, they usually prefer to stick with it.

I hope this helps! Enjoy your bunny - they are such wonderful intelligent creatures!!
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