Hi everyone...
I just got french lop a few weeks ago (9 weeks old today!!) and have some litter training questions. \"Tootsie\" has been doing GREAT using her litter box when she is in her hutch but when she isn\'t in her hutch... well, not so great. When she is out, I watch her carefully and follow her around to \"catch\" her getting ready. Well, so far, she has tinkled on my daughter\'s bed, my couch, a corner in the living room (same corner I put her litter box except she tinkles next to the litter box, not in it) and on ME!!! She actually tinkled on me while I was sitting on the couch. She actually had licked my hand for the first time then a few minutes later tinkled on me?? Marking me??? Anyway, I wondered what I could do about this. I have decided to restrict where she can be, it\'s my understanding to do this until she starts using the litter box consistently etc...
I mean, is there a reason she isn\'t using her litter box when she is out of her cage. She ALWAYS uses it when inside, ALWAYS! Any feedback would be extremely, extremely appreciated. thank you SOOOO much, sincerely...tired of tinkle LOL Julie
Hi Julie,
Congrats on your new bunny. My guess is that she is marking her territory. Try expanding her territory just a little bit at a time. When she uses her litter box consistantly, then give her a little more freedom. I read this somewhere and I wish I could remember which web site I found it on. My rabbits are outside in a large mult-level hutch. They have litter boxes, but on the bottom level, they seem to think they need to leave their scent. On the top levels, they never make a mess. I hope someone who knows more will respond. Good luck.
It\'s a good time of year for exercising your rabbit outside. If you can, put up a fence where you can watch your rabbit play. Some rabbits like to run fast for short distances, stop and spin in the air, land facing a different direction and sprint off again. I put tree branches and plastic foot stools in my rabbits\' play yard. They will map out obstacle courses, running through things, under thing and jump over hurtles. Then my boy will strech out in front of me for a pet, and then take off again. It can be very entertaining and will save on some of the mess in your house. My rabbits\' play yard is by my garden so I can spend more time with them.
I agree with controlling her territory. Start small, keeping her just in one room with her litter box. When she learns to use that box, let her out into the other rooms.
Also, to get her to use that box, I would try putting some hay in the box at one corner. I do this for my rabbits, and it gets them to get into the box for the hay, and then while they are in there, they learn to do their business. Also, if you have other animals in the house, this may be why she is feeling the need to mark everything! One thing I did was to keep my buns in their cage (with the litter box with hay) while they are unsupervised, so that they have that opportunity to learn the box when they are young, hence developing the habit of going in the box.
Lastly, having her neutered as soon as she is old enough is the best way to get her to stop marking. It will also curb unwanted agression that she will probably develop later on.
Best of Luck!
you need to get anoterh litter box for out of her cage and put her food dish in it also...or another food dish
rabbits go where they eat that is why she licked you after going on you...its her nature to go where she \"eats\" ...so its reaction for her
they do not mark their spaces....until they are looking for a male and then they will go EVERYWHERE...
but they do go where food is so if her litter box in her cage and her food is in her cage and she is out of her cage...i woudl recommend getting another litter box and small food dish or treat dish for out of the cage and putting that dish inside the litter box...she will then stop going everywhere else...
she is probably confused...
wave of fire
My rabbits do not poop where there food is. They have a multi-level cage, and I feed them on the upper level where there are no litter boxes, and they do not soil on the upper level. When I opened up the bottom level, I did not put food or hay down there, and yet they soiled that level for two months and then finally stopped. I then added hay to that level, and they did not soil it. Pooping by their food is a territorial responce, like when dogs growl when other dogs come around their food dish. My rabbits are a spayed and neutered pair. Studies done with research rabbits suggest that rabbits like the feel of hay or straw better than the feel of litter products, a great reason why covering the litter with hay, which encourges good litter box habbits. I will look for that study and if I find it, I will post it. Please do not believe everything some rabbit organization tells you unless you test their information.
it was all in the same cage, same room, same are... so yes they are pooping where they eat, they do not poop right in their food dish if it si in the litter box either they just poop in the area where they eat...not right in the food...
wave of fire
also you should not use litter, you should use hay, timothy hay straw etc as i have said in other posts...litters can make your rabbit sick, there are very few cat litters that you can safely use and they are the most expensive ones
wave of fire
I can\'t find the research I was thinking of but I did find this information form the University of British Columbia: (
http://www.awionline.org/pubs/cq02/Cq-rabbits.html ) It only states that rabbits prefer shredded paper or straw for bedding material. It tells where the rabbits poop but gives no information why. Higher concentrations of poop was found near their food but poop was found throughout. In this study, much of the information was taken from other sources without being retested, so I have questions about some of their conclusions. Not many studies have been done on rabbit behavior, so there is little proof about why rabbits do what they do, and a lot of sources that claim they know the \"facts\" about rabbits, when all they really have are theories.
Thank you everyone for your advice on litter training. I ended up restricting her area and that only took about 2 days. And, every time she went in the litter box I would make a big fuss over her and give her a treat. Pretty soon, every time she saw me, she would hop over and jump in her litter box to get a treat. She would look at me with the cutest little expression. It was written all over her face.... \"I\'m in here, do I get a treat now?\" That look of hopefullness...It was cute. She also figured out (quickly, I might add) that if she uses her box, she gets more freedom which makes her the happiest. I can\'t believe the difference I saw in her disposition when she started get more area to run around in. She seemed much happier. She is even at the point that she hops away from me when I go to get her because she doesn\'t want to go back in her hutch. Stinker, she is always out when I am home. I\'m talkin 4 and 5 hours at a time. She has gotten terrible about being picked up. She really fights so I am starting to teach her commands such as \"bed\" and \" come inside\"(when she is outside) etc.... She seems to be catching on. She will come to me when I say \"c\'mon tootsie\" now so I know she can learn these commands. Anyway, I could go on and on about her so I better stop now. Again, thanks everyone for the advice. Julie