Bunny tiolet habbits 2 !

Hi Bunny owners!

Was just reading previous thead re the problem and was wondering how you guys train your bunny's to use litter tray. My girl is indoors, about 3-4 years (rescue bunny so guessing) old. At 1st she went back to cage to do toilet so never bothered with training but now she goes everywhere and LOADS ! Sometimes it feels like she's doing it just to annoy me !

Can she be trained at this age?

Hmm I don't know - I have never fancied having a rabbit in the house cause they can be quite whiffy can't they. Mine are outside in hutches although they spend most of the day sunning themselves in their pens Fluffybunny might be able to help you out later on cos she knows everything about rabbits she's brilliant.

Well yes ! I agree with you ! I never intended her to be indoors, but my OH is such a sap he didn't want to put her out in the cold, can ya beleive it??? Anyway, i have been working on him and we are going to build a run/hutch going from inside the shed to a run outside it, best of both worlds. Has to be done, i'm cracking up to be honest, i'm very house proud, so get very annoyed when their is sawdust and hay lying all over the floor 2 seconds after i've hoovered ! ! ! ! ARGH! Deep breaths!

Yes that sounds an excellent idea and you can have your house back the way you want it and the rabbit will get some fresh air

Not too sure but I think bunnies will poo everywhere even if they are trained to wee in a litter tray

I know what you mean about hay everywhere two seconds after hoovering Luckily I'm not house proud

Yes, the hay is a classic ! One day just last week I had just finsished all the house work, was sooooo pleased. Went to kitchen to make a munch and chill out, turned round to see Miss Snuffles standing at the kitchen door with the biggest clump of hay in her mouth, just looking at me as if to say, ha ha look what I did ! ! ! If I hadn't of laughed i think I may have cried

trhe things we do for our babies ! !

Little darling! Is she spayed? If she isn't spayed, the main reason for her not being litter trained is hormones. More often than not they train themselves once they have been neutered - this applies to both sexes! They also do poops to mark their territory, which again is hormone related, but will be worse if they feel that their territory needs defending, for example if there is another animal or lots of human footfall around the area of her 'house'. If she isn't neutered, I think you're going to find it very hard to house train her!

They also carry on going where they can smell they went before, so if she does wee or poop fairly consistently somewhere, it's usual to put a tray over that area with some poop/wee in it, so they smell where to go and continue to go there. Once they are in the habit of jumping in the tray to go, you can slowly move the location of the tray to where you want them to go, and they should go with it.

All of mine, including the foster ones that whoosh through, have been litter trained by the end of their time here, although I don't really do anything, it just sort of happens naturally - usually after neutering although my current foster bun isn't spayed yet and she goes in one corner. I just watched where she went and now I put the tray there and she has carried on using it.

Thanks Fluffybunny

I was actually thinking about getting her neutered just the other day. Her hutch seemed alot smeller than usual and had only just been cleaned, i wondered if maybe this was a season or something?!?!? Sorry if i sound really thick but Snuffles is my 1st bunny so i'm still learning if ya know what i mean.

Are there any risks involved in having her neutered and apart from what you have already mentioned are there any other benefits from having it done?

I think you were defo on right lines though. I have a dog and cat also, they all get on great (well apart from the cat being a bit scared of Snuffles ) but sometimes the dog and the bunny go a bit chasing each other about the house, and it seems the more active they are the more poops their are?!?! Could that be the territory thing?

I will defo give your suggestions a shot though, thanks very much, appreciated

I think they say something like 80% female bunnies get cancer if they aren't neutered. I will probably get our female done when I can afford it - still got school uniforms to buy yet though I had our male rabbit done a few months ago and he came through the operation fine but you have to keep them inside afterwards and keep an eye on them and keep them warm and make sure they are eating okay - vets didn't tell me all this, however Fluffybunny did thank goodness

Thanks Foxy! It helps to have folk to talk to who know lots about certain pets! Sometomes feel vets don't have as mcuh time for the smaller pets (not all of course ). How much is it roughly? Starting college soon so think i'll have to get it done asap b4 i become proper skint student