# Still not litter trained...



## Chez87 (Aug 11, 2010)

I'm back again, with the same problem! 

Boys are still not litter trained. They do wee and poo in their litter trays (which are two large underbed storage boxes - one in their crate and one in the room where they live) but I also go into their room everyday to discover poos everywhere and several patches of wee. 

For those who don't know...they are 1 year old, were only neutered when I rehomed them (neutering was 11 weeks ago today). I've tried everything I can think of. I clean the area they pee on with water and white vinegar, and put the tissue I cleaned it up with in their litter tray (although like I say they do already pee in the litter tray so this probably doesn't even help). I've also tried just wiping it up and not using vinegar in case they feel they have to keep remarking. But nothing seems to help. 

Am I destined to be cleaning up wee puddles for eternity?


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

I think I joined in the last time to said you had a problem,please can I join in again?? I'm not making any progress at all. I really don't know what else to try. I tried this potty litter stuff for hamsters,thinking that might give them a bit encouragement,I thought I was getting somewhere but no,it wasn't to be. I did only have poo everywhere but now iv noticed a couple of wee stains. I'm going away at the end of November and my brother is going to be looking after all my animals and I just know he's going to find it hard cleaning it all up,iv become a pro poopa scooper but he won't have the patience for it and I'd rather them not be living in poo for the week.


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## Chez87 (Aug 11, 2010)

Yes you did and yes you can! It is hard when someone else has to look after them as I've had that recently.

The poops aren't so bad, but still a bit annoying for there to be SO many everytime I go in. Bernie says she hasn't had a rabbit she wasn't able to litter train, so I'm hoping I'm missing something blindingly obvious..!

Could it be they were neutered too late?


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2011)

Chez87 are the wee patches where there is hay? Or do you only put hay in the trays and in hayracks above the litter trays?
Are your buns on carpet or lino? 


zowie if I remember right yours are outside? If so how often do you poo pick?

I might have to start offering a litter training service for people


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Miffy was always 100% litter trained, since getting George they have both decided to only be about 90% trained, they will wee in their tray with George occasionally propping his bum on the edge and weeing on the side but there are always poops first thing in the morning, I put theses in the tray and there are never any more throughout the day. I think at feeding time they must just forget about manners and poop everywhere


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## Stufi (Mar 26, 2010)

emzybabe said:


> Miffy was always 100% litter trained, since getting George they have both decided to only be about 90% trained, they will wee in their tray with George occasionally propping his bum on the edge and weeing on the side but there are always poops first thing in the morning, I put theses in the tray and there are never any more throughout the day. I think at feeding time they must just forget about manners and poop everywhere


I know you have been on here before so apologies if i am repeating what you know but.....

When you say ' I think at feeding time they must just forget about manners and poop everywhere', where is it you feed them? i.e. are they pooping where they are eating?

Buns will naturally poop where they eat so the easiest way to train them is to keep there food either in, or hung above, their toilet. also keep their water nearby as they will drink midway through an eating session and then get back to the jobs in hand.

Dependent on the size of their toilet too, I would keep one that is a size that they are unable to hang over the edge and they will/should soon learn that that is the place where it all happens.


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## Chez87 (Aug 11, 2010)

Hi bernie, hay is only in litter trays (they don't use hayracks) and they are on lino. The pee is randomly around the whole room, there is no pattern. They used to have vetbed in their crate which they peed on but I got rid of that and they never pee in the crate anymore.... (which just has newspaper in it)


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

my rabbits are scatter fed which doesnt help  I dont mind the poops


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Mine are the same 
Since I have the newest 3!
For the most part in the shed they go to the toilet where the hay is - on the shelf and they did go in an area I made for them(all lino) but I moved the hay rack and they stopped, am going to have to move the rack back. I think its just a couple that have chosen the corner away from the food/water/hay so I have a big tray there at the moment. 
The worst is in the run, they will go literally everywhere! On the shelves, on their chair, under the shelves! I put a tray in the run in the hope that they would use that instead and they do for 90% of wee's but they still poo everywhere!

I have tried cleaning everyday, every couple of days, twice a week and once a week incase it made a difference, it doesnt seem to. Seems its a common problem hey!

*Heidi*


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2011)

Chez87 said:


> Hi bernie, hay is only in litter trays (they don't use hayracks) and they are on lino. The pee is randomly around the whole room, there is no pattern. They used to have vetbed in their crate which they peed on but I got rid of that and they never pee in the crate anymore.... (which just has newspaper in it)


Hmmm, have the "accidents" reduced since last time we talked, or is it the same?
Are the "accidents" in the same place every time or is it sporadic?


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## Chez87 (Aug 11, 2010)

B3rnie said:


> Hmmm, have the "accidents" reduced since last time we talked, or is it the same?
> Are the "accidents" in the same place every time or is it sporadic?


Erm....no not really. Sometimes I will go in and there is only one wee, sometimes there is about 5. It just varies from day to day. They are randomly around the whole room.


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2011)

Chez87 said:


> Erm....no not really. Sometimes I will go in and there is only one wee, sometimes there is about 5. It just varies from day to day. They are randomly around the whole room.


Nappies? :lol:

Sorry I couldn't resist, I'm not sure what else to advise tbh apart from just keep doing what you are doing 
Some rabbits take longer than others to get the concept of moving when they need to wee, some never really get it.
I am either really lucky or I have the magic touch even both my entire bucks are 99.99% litter trained already


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

B3rnie said:


> zowie if I remember right yours are outside? If so how often do you poo pick?
> 
> I might have to start offering a litter training service for people


Yes they are outside. I pick poo up in the morning and again at night. They do use their trays but they still poo everywhere as well. They have hay in them as well as a hay rack next to them. Iv tried moving the trays about but that didn't help at all. Mine would rather poo in the shed than in the run. Maybe they like having a messy shed but I can't stand it!


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2011)

zowie said:


> Yes they are outside. I pick poo up in the morning and again at night. They do use their trays but they still poo everywhere as well. They have hay in them as well as a hay rack next to them. Iv tried moving the trays about but that didn't help at all. Mine would rather poo in the shed than in the run. Maybe they like having a messy shed but I can't stand it!


Can you get out to poo pick more often at all? I normally find poo picking several times a day helps


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

B3rnie said:


> Can you get out to poo pick more often at all? I normally find poo picking several times a day helps


Nope or I wouldn't be earning the money to keep them!!  my family are good but they wouldn't volunteer to do that for me!! They seemed to home in on one spot,so I put a tray there but when the tray was there they chose another spot,so I moved it there and then they went back tonthe original spot,I just can't win!


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## Hel_79 (Jun 14, 2011)

zowie said:


> Yes they are outside. I pick poo up in the morning and again at night. They do use their trays but they still poo everywhere as well. They have hay in them as well as a hay rack next to them. Iv tried moving the trays about but that didn't help at all. Mine would rather poo in the shed than in the run. Maybe they like having a messy shed but I can't stand it!


I've been following this thread with interest. I have exactly the same problem with Buddy now he is in his new shed and larger run. As I'd litter trained him effectively in his previous, smaller hutch/run I didn't anticipate there'd be much of a problem when he moved into larger accommodation - but I was wrong!

He never makes any mess in his run - anywhere. He comes into the shed to eat and to use his litter tray (and sometimes to snuggle down, but he still prefers being outside at the moment). Trouble is, he seems to view the WHOLE shed are as one big lit tray! Most of his mess goes in the (large) litter tray, but he's persisting in weeing in a couple of other corners of the shed regularly so I'm constantly cleaning and wiping things down. There's usually some poo scattered around too, but that's easy enough to deal with. I know he's marking his territory, but it's frustrating that he STILL hasn't got to grips with sticking to one corner.

I think it's probably because it's a larger space than he had before, and the fact he's not been neutered yet. I just want him to view the shed as a safe, cosy and warm indoor space to retreat to when the weather's bad....and not just as one big toilet!! I guess I'll just persist...


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2011)

How many litter trays do they have?


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

do rabbits get UTIs? I would suspect this if one was piddling everywhere


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

B3rnie said:


> How many litter trays do they have?


2,they are big storage tub things,they are nearly 3ft by 1.5ft.


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2011)

emzybabe said:


> do rabbits get UTIs? I would suspect this if one was piddling everywhere


Yes they can, but I don't think that is the problem here 



zowie said:


> 2,they are big storage tub things,they are nearly 3ft by 1.5ft.


I normally find having one extra litter tray to number of rabbits help, so if you have 2 rabbits you need 3 litter trays. Don't ask me why that works but it seems to work here


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## zowie (Apr 3, 2011)

B3rnie said:


> Yes they can, but I don't think that is the problem here
> 
> I normally find having one extra litter tray to number of rabbits help, so if you have 2 rabbits you need 3 litter trays. Don't ask me why that works but it seems to work here


So I'll need 5 litter trays!!! That would probably work though. Now I just need to find room for them.....


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