Sunshine Rabbits
Koren Family Farm LLC
I was thinking about trying to litter train a couple of my rabbits. How should I go about this? And what ideas do you guys have for litter box designs (and what to fill it with)?
Litter Training
- Thread starter Sunshine Rabbits
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Rabbits usually pretty much potty train themselves, since they tend to be fastidious and choose one spot to do their business. My suggestion is to keep them in their cage for a while and watch where they choose to pee, then put a litter tray there. Voila - litter trained!
After they know their tray, you can usually move it around, at least a little, and they'll still use it, but it's best if you start with their cage in the place you want to keep the liter tray. I've known rabbits that came from up or downstairs to use their litter boxes. We had one little guy, a Netherland Dwarf named Raincloud, who would hold it for six hours while we were out with him, then rush to his corner in his cage as soon as we got home. 
As far as litter, I found that unscented cat litter was the best, either plain clay or a clumping wood litter called Feline Pine. Some folks will tell you to stay away from pine for rabbits, but I never had any troubles with it.
It's generally best to avoid cat litter. Clumping cat litter can be toxic to them, and if ingested can cause impaction. Clay litter tends to be safer but if your rabbits eats it.... not so good eh, and it tends to be dusty which isn't good for lungs. And crystal type litters tend to be appealing to rabbits for some reason and tend to be eaten more than other litters. if you want to use a cat litter, yesterday news is a better option.
Horse stall bedding/wood pellets work really well. As do plain pine shavings.
rabbits prefer rectangular boxes over the triangular ones.
Horse stall bedding/wood pellets work really well. As do plain pine shavings.
rabbits prefer rectangular boxes over the triangular ones.
I was wondering about the horse stall bedding, but I was afraid they’d eat it, it looks so much like food pellets. I guess you haven’t had a problem with that…? Also, we have a pellet stove and I can’t see that there’s a lot of difference between the fuel pellets and the stall bedding (other than price). What do you think? I haven’t bought horse bedding in a while b/c my roosters were trying to eat it (Yikes!) but the buns are in their own tractors so that’s not a problem, as long as THEY don’t try to eat it.
RabbitsOfTheCreek
Netherland Dwarf Breeder & Well-known Member
I use horse bedding and it works well with no problems, but it's either in a tray below them or covered by pine shavings
I never had any problem with either the clay cat litter or the pine, and we used them for years for two of my daughter's rabbits. The litter was only clay or 100% pine, without any clumping agents, scents or anything else. I didn't have problems with dust, either; maybe I just lucked out with the brand (can't remember what it was).
I switched to the clay or pine litter because the plain pine shavings I used before that, got wet and stunk to high heavens very quickly. Once we switched to the cat litter, we did not have the nasty smell, and did not have to clean out the litter boxes every single day or else! I would have been fine trying wood pellets, but they weren't readily available where we lived, although I wonder about how absorbent they are. Since they're wood I wouldn't be worried about the rabbits eating them. But my big concern was wetness and odor control, since animals are generally not welcome living in our house - that's why we have a barn and a stable! - and I didn't want my daughter's special bunnies causing unhappiness.
That's funny about the box shape - ours wanted the rectangular bins for beds and nests, and the triangular ones as potties.
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wood stove pellets absorb all the urine and turn into dust. Excellent bedding. Loved it when we had guinea pigs in the house. On pine bedding it a just a daily chore and still my MIL would notice. Switching to the wood pellets she asked with surprise if we had moved them outside, and we hadn't properly cleaned them for three days. so there's that.
Loved it when we had guinea pigs in the house. On pine bedding it a just a daily chore and still my MIL would notice. Switching to the wood pellets she asked with surprise if we had moved them outside, and we hadn't properly cleaned them for three days. so there's that.
it's also funny how different one rabbit herd can be from another. mine would never do the triangle boxes so I gave up on them and only recommend rectangular ones to clients.
mine would never do the triangle boxes so I gave up on them and only recommend rectangular ones to clients.
Apart from my little troupe I have two free roam house bunnies too.
I use an Ikea shallow storage bin as litter tray, and a cat litter tray. The bigger one is at their hay/food racks in my vestibule, their home base, they like to eat'n'poop.
Wood stove pellets work great and are reasonable cheap, a 1-2" layer topped with a layer of hay to prevent digging is ideal for me. Then everything they waste from their hay/forage covers up the poop I just remove what is too much of that, and when the layer is thick enough it goes to the compost, soaked pellets too.
If I have some around I put in sawdust as bottom layer, pellets (great at odor control) on top of that and that can do the job for 3-4 weeks for my two (they are outside a lot during the day) with removing they hay/forage/poop layer now and then.
In warm weather I change it more often to prevent flies.
My buck has a tray in his hutch too, he uses it religiously - something that seems to work very well with bucks, does too but they sometimes do marking. My house rabbits are neutered, so no spraying (ick) anymore and very little marking.
The clue to getting them "litter trained" is to put the box where they think is the right place to poop, or twist their environment so to convince them that the litter box is the place where they like to poop. They have the instinct to use one spot, in nature it's a way to protect their warren by not creating a poop trail there. Corners work well, Under their hay rack. etc., My herd is seperated from my house bunnies, and they both poop and pee at the gate where they can meet up, marking their territory, that's a little inconvineient for me but it's outdoors anyway.
I use an Ikea shallow storage bin as litter tray, and a cat litter tray. The bigger one is at their hay/food racks in my vestibule, their home base, they like to eat'n'poop.
Wood stove pellets work great and are reasonable cheap, a 1-2" layer topped with a layer of hay to prevent digging is ideal for me. Then everything they waste from their hay/forage covers up the poop I just remove what is too much of that, and when the layer is thick enough it goes to the compost, soaked pellets too.
If I have some around I put in sawdust as bottom layer, pellets (great at odor control) on top of that and that can do the job for 3-4 weeks for my two (they are outside a lot during the day) with removing they hay/forage/poop layer now and then.
In warm weather I change it more often to prevent flies.
My buck has a tray in his hutch too, he uses it religiously - something that seems to work very well with bucks, does too but they sometimes do marking. My house rabbits are neutered, so no spraying (ick) anymore and very little marking.
The clue to getting them "litter trained" is to put the box where they think is the right place to poop, or twist their environment so to convince them that the litter box is the place where they like to poop. They have the instinct to use one spot, in nature it's a way to protect their warren by not creating a poop trail there. Corners work well, Under their hay rack. etc., My herd is seperated from my house bunnies, and they both poop and pee at the gate where they can meet up, marking their territory, that's a little inconvineient for me but it's outdoors anyway.
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