Mom using nesting box as a toilet. Will this work?

[FunnyFarm5]

Hi guys! This is my first litter so I’m learning as I go. Kits are 16 days old today and are crawling out of the nesting box, so I removed it and put a shallow box in its place with straw so they have somewhere warm to sleep.

As soon as I did this I noticed mom is using it as a toilet instead of her litter box. I should mention that I got her a new litter box and put it in the same place as her old one. It has the grate on top so poop falls through, the old one did not.

I then removed the shallow box and put in a box with a little hole cut out in place of their nesting box so only they can get in. Is this a good idea? Will mom still feed them if she can’t jump in the box? I attached pictures of my setup.

She’s been litter trained for her whole life so I’m not sure why she’s doing this. Too many changes at once?? Doesn’t like the new litter box??

Thanks in advance!

 

[Preitler]

Make the hole big enough for the doe, there could be trouble when the kits wait inside. I use closed nestboxes with just one hole anyway, imho when they cannot comfortable sit upright they less likely use it as litterbox.

I also would give the doe a shelf to be able to get away from the kits, or make the top of the nestbox sturdy enough for her.

 

[FunnyFarm5]

Make the hole big enough for the doe, there could be trouble when the kits wait inside. I use closed nestboxes with just one hole anyway, imho when they cannot comfortable sit upright they less likely use it as litterbox.

I also would give the doe a shelf to be able to get away from the kits, or make the top of the nestbox sturdy enough for her.

Good advice, I made the hole bigger for her. The cage also came with a shelf that I put back in. She also has free range of my office so she can get away from her babies

 

[dlynn]

Hi guys! This is my first litter so I’m learning as I go. Kits are 16 days old today and are crawling out of the nesting box, so I removed it and put a shallow box in its place with straw so they have somewhere warm to sleep.

As soon as I did this I noticed mom is using it as a toilet instead of her litter box. I should mention that I got her a new litter box and put it in the same place as her old one. It has the grate on top so poop falls through, the old one did not.

I then removed the shallow box and put in a box with a little hole cut out in place of their nesting box so only they can get in. Is this a good idea? Will mom still feed them if she can’t jump in the box? I attached pictures of my setup.

She’s been litter trained for her whole life so I’m not sure why she’s doing this. Too many changes at once?? Doesn’t like the new litter box??

Thanks in advance!

Total newbie, so no experience, but I remember lots of conversations about mom feeding some poop to babies to give them the needed enzymes to digest their foods. Is that what your new mama is trying to do?