# Potty Training Question



## bunnyyvoodoo (Feb 20, 2013)

So I've had my rabbit for about 7 months. He uses a litter box with rabbit safe litter (recycled paper), where I put his hay in so he eats and poops at the same time. Although he kind of gets the idea, he still poops wherever he wants a lot of the time. A few times he has gotten out and he loves to pee/poop on my bed. I've heard of a rabbit that when it was downstairs it would run upstairs to use the litter box when it needed to. Any suggestions on how to better train him?


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## Cirlin-rah (Feb 20, 2013)

Goodness! I've never had this problem so I don't know how to rectify it, sorry. But mine's littertrained & still sometimes poops where he likes, mostly when I leave... good thing bunny turds aren't too gross. The peeing, though, _that _I'd have an issue with. Hope someone else is more helpful.


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## missyscove (Feb 21, 2013)

I consider a rabbit litter trained when it consistently urinates in the litterbox. You should always expect at least a few stray poops to mark their territory. Rabbits are also notorious for loving to pee on soft things; that's why my rabbits are not allowed on my bed. 
Is your bunny neutered? Neutering can really help with litter training.


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## lyndym (Feb 21, 2013)

When I first got my original pair of buns, they were babies, so I litter trained them on my own. I read that you should treat the rabbit's cage/pen and box as his own territory - no picking him up or putting him back in, just allow him to come out and shoo him back in nicely when play time is over. That way he will realize that you respect his space and he'll be less inclined to mark "your" territory outside of his area. Also, never scold accidents like you would for a dog, and don't put the bun into his litter box/cage as punishment; he may start to associate his box with punishment and therefore not want to use it! It is also a super helpful to gradually increase his play area so he will always remember where his box is, and to use a few boxes once the area is large enough. Another thing that helped me is using a food dish that fastened to the side of the cage. I put it right by the litter box so even while eating pellets my buns could poop and it'd go in their box. The dish I got was pretty cheap and broke quickly, but after they were trained, they didn't poop on the floor while eating from a normal dish. Following these tips, my two never urinated or pooped outside their box, even when visiting a new place! Which made for a very happy bunny mom. Hope this helps! :goodluck


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## freckale-freack2013 (Mar 1, 2013)

i have trying to train my rabbit (freckale) for a year know but she hasunt got used to go in the litter box ! i have tryed every thing and i just dont know what do know. what i have done is 
. put her fav food in the side of the tray , put some of her droppings in the tray ! 
Plz plz help me !


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## Azerane (Mar 2, 2013)

freckale-freack2013 said:


> i have trying to train my rabbit (freckale) for a year know but she hasunt got used to go in the litter box ! i have tryed every thing and i just dont know what do know. what i have done is
> . put her fav food in the side of the tray , put some of her droppings in the tray !
> Plz plz help me !



My previous rabbit never got the hang of a litter tray, for some reason he just didn't quite get it. Putting her droppings in the tray is certainly the right move, I found it worked best with Bandit if I cleaned up stray droppings into the tray as soon as I noticed them rather than letting them sit around for a while. Does she eat her favourite food very quickly? I don't put Bandit's favourite food next to the litter tray, but I do put hay, because he spends a lot more time eating hay than his favourite foods so he can happily sit in the box for longer. Also, what do you put in the litter box for litter? It's possible that your rabbit simply doesn't like the type of litter you're using. I'm using wood shavings (as that's what the previous owner used and I thought he would transition best), you can also try the pelleted newspaper litter for cats, or even just lots of newspaper strips.


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## bunnyyvoodoo (Mar 12, 2013)

I have a new problem now. I made his cage so it has multiple levels and for awhile I had him eating his hay on the top level. Now he is terribly confused...even though I put his hay back on the bottom level in his box, he continues to poop/pee in large amounts on the top level. I know I shouldn't have put it up there in the first place, but I was curious if he would continue to use the litter box or not. I'm not sure how I should proceed now.


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## Nancy McClelland (Mar 12, 2013)

We put litter boxes any place they would pee. The poop problem seems to be universal--they leave it everywhere. We have had 3 out of 37 that only used the litter pan/box for all their voiding. We feel they are trained if they don't pee all over and take care of the rest with a shop vac.


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## Imbrium (Mar 12, 2013)

I put a litter box (sometimes a smaller one) on every level of my bunnies' condo


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## existenziell (Mar 14, 2013)

I am currently in the process of litter training my 8 month old neutered male, Hegel. I recently took out all his bedding and he has had 2 accidents outside of the litter box but has been using it for the majority of his peeing. Someone else said on a different thread that using both bedding and a litter box can be confusing. Are you just using the litter box or bedding too? Anyway, any time Hegel has an accident, I just wipe it up as soon as I notice and then he doesn't do it again. He still poops some outside of the litter box, but I think that's normal. It helps that he was peeing in one corner before I introduced the box after I moved his food to try and encourage him to do it in just one area. That worked. Other than what people have suggested (putting the waste in the litter box), I don't know of much else to suggest. Maybe with time your rabbit will decide where his permanent place is and then you can put a litter box there.


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## Storm101 (Mar 14, 2013)

i had the exact same problem with my bunny Storm. first i tried to spray some vinegar in the corners that she would pee (that was not her litter box). then i took a plastic glove and move the hay that she had peed on into hor litter box so that she smelt it and went there! it kinda worked but i also know that Storm isnt neutered and if she was that would help a lot! thats really al i got!


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## PaGal (Mar 14, 2013)

If a bun is not neutered or spayed it may pee/poop to mark it's territory. This usually stops once a bun is neutered/spayed. Most buns seem to poop at least a little outside of their litter box. Having bedding throughout a cage instead of just litter in a litter box I'm sure would be very confusing to a bun. If your bun seems to pee/poop in a particular area place a litter box there. Hand your buns food/ hay over the litter box so it can eat while sitting in the litter box as most buns poop while eating. I placed Thumpers pellets over the litter box. His hay is not. At times he will poop a few while eating hay but nothing more. Keep your bun confined to a smaller area as it learns to use the litter box. Once it is using the litter box then expand it's free area, also putting out more litter boxes as the area grows larger. Pick up and place poos outside the litter box into the litter box. Also soak a piece of paper towel in and pee outside the litter box and place the soaked paper towel into the litter box. I did this with Thumper but only used a corner of the paper towel as I was afraid he might try chewing and digest a lot of paper towel. He was litter trained within 3 days as a ten week old and only peed outside his litterbox twice but it was still in his cage. He poops occasionally outside his cage but maybe 10 poos at the most. You may also need to try different litters as some buns seem to be particular. Also some buns seem to be neat freaks and prefer using a litter box that is cleaned frequently. Good Luck!


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