Saturday, August 20, 2016

Potty Over Here, Potty Over There

Today's topic will be litterbox training. Yes, bunnies can and WILL use a litterbox! Training will go so much easier if your bun has been spayed or neutered. It generally takes anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks for hormones to level off after a spay/neuter, though. Until then, there will be accidents so don't get discouraged.

When Gizmo was a little guy he would spray me almost every time he sat in my lap. He was doing pretty well with his litterbox training but there still was the occasional accident - or spraying. This, however, is actually flattering when a bun sprays you or pees on you. It may not sound that way to us but they are just marking us as their territory when they do such things. They're saying "You are mine!" But once Gizmo was neutered he became - as I called it - "potty perfect". That is until we adopted Ebony. Oh, goodness, did Gizmo go on a territorial marking spree! He was letting the new bun know who this home belonged to! Ebony had been spayed about a week or so when I adopted her so she still had some of those raging hormones. At first it seemed as though she would not understand what the litterbox was for but she quickly got the hang of it. Now Ebony is "potty perfect".

I know you're most likely wondering how to get them trained to use a litterbox. It's actually quite easy, to be honest. Your bunny will let you know where they prefer to use the bathroom. They will always find one spot they like to use. Once they've shown you their favorite elimination spot, you can put a litterbox there. Always keep hay around the litterbox because bunnies absolutely love to eat while they do their business. So when they see hay around their litterbox, they'll automatically want to use the bathroom as they eat.

I do want to stress that you should never ever rub a bunny's nose in a spot where they have urinated. Being aggressive like that will not work with a bun bun. They are prey animals and will only fear you when you do something like that. Plus, it's just mean! If your bunny does pee outside of the litterbox, the best course of action is to just pick them up (if yor bun will allow that) and place them gently in the litterbox. Also a good way to do it is to soak up the spot where they have used the bathroom on the floor and place the paper towel in their litterbox. This will also help them to know where they should eliminate themselves. Just keep an eye on your bunny and make sure they don't chew on that paper towel. And make sure you cover the towel with litter so they don't get urine on their paws or bottoms. That can lead to urine scald. If your bun is leaving stray poo pellets then that's a territorial thing. Just pick those fecal droppings up and place them in the litterbox. If your bun bun leaves you a lovely pile of poos then that means they need more litterbox training. Even if a bunny is litterbox trained they will still leave a few stray poos around the house for you. Bunnies can produce 200 to 300 fecal pellet droppings per day so there's bound to be a few that don't make it in the litterbox!

When you are choosing a litterbox, you do have choices. You can go with a regular cat litterbox, a high-back litterbox made just for bunnies and other small animals or you can get creative and use the bottom plastic pan of an old cage. Just don't ever use clay or any other type of litter like you would use for a cat. There are several reasons for this, such as too much dust for a bunny's delicate respiratory system and the clay litter getting on bunny's fur and then they can possibly ingest that during cleaning which can quickly lead to gastrointestinal trouble for the complex bunny digestive system. The best bet for litter is to use paper bedding. Wood shavings of any kind can cause respiratory issues and certain kinds can be toxic. A lot of people like to use horse pellets in bunny litterboxes. It's cheap, absorbant and you can always place a thin layer of paper bedding on top because most buns like their feet on something soft. If you do choose paper bedding, please stay away from the scented varities and make sure they contain absolutely no baking soda.

When you're in the early stages of litterbox training a bunny, you can clean their litterbox, but don't clean it too well. Bunnies need to be able to smell their scent on that litterbox when they're still learning. But it does need to be clean so the scent doesn't overwhelm your bunny's respiratory system. If you can smell it then the scent is much more powerful to them, so that's never good. But once your bun has been using the litterbox for a while, I recommend cleaning the litterbox with a little white vinegar and hot water. The vinegar really does a great job cleaning. Just be sure you rinse all that vinegar scent out so your bunny isn't overwhelmed by the odor. We all know strong the smell of vinegar can be!

Hopefully you have found these litterbox training tips useful and can quickly get your bun to be "potty perfect". Good luck!

6 comments:

  1. grate post E & G! we never new a bun wood use de box,
    thatz actshoo alee prettee awesum!! we haz hurd reel lee
    tinee dawgs can be traned ta uze de box az well, but we iz
    knot sure bout de litter~~~~~. hoppy week a head❤️❤️❤️

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    1. Wees so hoppy yous enjoyed da post! Wees didn't know bouts small doggies being twained on da potty!! How cool!!

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  2. Pawsome Post!Mummy says I was potty perfect from the first day she brought me home,even before she had me neutered,xx Speedy

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    1. Yous just a naturally smart bun bun Speedy!! *both hug their friend*

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  3. Very interesting! I don't know too much about rabbits or have a rabbit, but I never knew they could be litter trained. My name is Robin Whiskers, and I'm a 13 year old pet sitter, dog walker, and show dog handler who shares a blog with Christmas the 2 year old mini Dachshund. We post every day, and Chris is even running for mayor of Blogville! I hope you can stop by our blog (www.pawprovince.com) and follow us with Google!

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    1. Hi there! We're so happy you learned something from this post! It's so nice to meet you! We'll definitely stop by your blog for a visit

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