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Litter Training
A Rabbit???
Yes rabbits can be
trained to use a litter tray, both my female rabbits Milly & Lola use a
litter tray in the bottom run of their cages, this makes cleaning so much
easier, plus it keeps their sleeping area nice and clean. I use a plastic
tray filled with wood shavings. The rabbits initially use to toilet in the
hutch area of the cage, which use to soak into the wood, I started by moving
the droppings and wet shavings to an area in their outside run. Once they
got the hang of doing their business in the new area again I placed the
droppings and wet shavings into a litter tray in the same area. I haven't
bothered litter training Harvey as he is very clean and always toilets in
the same corner of his hutch which has a plastic base.
If you plan to keep your rabbit
in the house litter training is pretty essential.
Most rabbits take to using a litter tray quite easily, rabbits like to do
their business in the same place so to train your rabbit to use a tray
should be quite simple
Tips
to helping your rabbit use a litter tray in the house:
Adult spayed or neutered rabbits are much more consistent with using a
litter tray than unaltered and young rabbits. That doesn’t mean you can’t
use a box with young or unaltered rabbits — you just might not get the best
results all the time.
Before giving your rabbit the run of the house place a litter tray in the
cage, get some already deposited droppings and wet shavings and place them
in the tray, this along with placing the tray where the rabbit usually does
its business will hopefully mean the rabbit will continue to use the same
area - but do it into the tray. Once your bunny is consistent with using the
tray in his cage, then let it out into a small area/room in the house with
multiple litter trays to choose. The rabbit will then choose an area/tray it
prefers, later you can remove the extras. After it masters a room, the bunny
can have more space. It is confusing to a rabbit to be given too much
freedom all at once, so let him learn at his own pace in a small area first.
If your bunny keeps using a cage corner opposite the litter tray try moving
the box.
You can use wood shavings/hay/straw or a bunny safe litter, never use clay
cat litter.
Many rabbits will use droppings to mark territory. This habit is
significantly reduced or eliminated with spaying and neutering, but is more
likely to be a problem if there are other bunnies around. Some rabbits who
are perfect with their litter tray will start leaving droppings when their
environment changes or they are stressed.
Good Luck