Bunny

How to Potty Train a Rabbit in House? Tips on Litter Training

Rabbits, or the bunnies as they are lovingly called, are one of the best pets if you can handle them in the right way. Of course, most of us love rabbits as pets, but one crucial thing that would make you decide against keeping a rabbit as a pet would be the little pellets of poop that you would find everywhere.

But, wait! Rabbits can be potty trained! Yes, you can litter train your rabbit just like you would potty train your cat.

You can quickly potty train rabbit, but it would take a little effort and flexibility on the part of the owner. Ideally, rabbits tend to pick a few select areas as toilet areas. You, as an owner, can make use of this knowledge to litter train your rabbit.

Why do Rabbits Poop so Much?

Rabbits poop so much because of their unique and strange digestive system. The actual health of the rabbit depends on the continued movement of their digestive tract. That way, the rabbits can extract the energy rather quickly from their diet.

This translates into a continuous eating habit of your rabbit and thus continuous and so much of pooping. This helps them maintain a healthy and steadily moving digestive system. The digestive tract of a rabbit is quite strange. If it does not eat often or stressed out, the digestive tract slows down or even stop. This can bring the rabbit to a state where it may even die. To prevent this, the rabbit keeps eating continually and thus the continuous eating results in so much of poop, entirely naturally!

Can Rabbits be House Trained?

Rabbits can be house trained and trained to use a litter box. Just the way you can teach a cat to use a litter box, you can do so with a rabbit as well. The only thing that differs from training a cat is in the case of a rabbit; it would be a little difficult and needs a little more effort.

Rabbits are intelligent animals, and that can quickly adapt themselves to the new habitat and the surroundings rather faster. Of course, the time taken to train a rabbit may vary depending on the breed and their learning capability. However, most of the rabbits are intelligent enough and will pick the habit rather faster enough. You just need to make them understand the association between the bathroom and the litter box.

How to Potty Train a Rabbit

How to Train a Rabbit to Use a Litter Box?

Before you can begin litter training your rabbit, you would need to arrange a few litter training essentials. The essential items that we call Rabbit Litter training Supply List should be the first thing you need to focus on.

The Rabbit Litter Training Supply List

You will need the following items for your needs in Rabbit Potty Training Supply list:

A Litter Box – You can opt for a household item that works as a litter box. A shallow storage container should do the task. You can even check out a cat litter box as well.
Hay – You can buy the hay from a local farmer. You may also buy hay in bulk from online sources.
Rabbit safe litter – You can opt for newspaper litter pellets. You can even consider buying them online if you are specific about it. Make sure the litter is unscented so as not to distract the rabbit.
Hay feeder – A hay feeder can be an excellent option and can be placed just beside the
Snappy trainers – These can be helpful in making your rabbit avoid the habit of peeing on the couch or bed.
Puppy pen – This is yet another useful item in your supply list and can help restrict the area that it can move around, thus making it get used to going to the litter box.

6 Steps in Litter Training a Rabbit

Now that you are equipped with the bare necessities of your litter training supplies, we will now discuss the steps involved in how to litter train your rabbit. Do note that you can make a few changes based on the habits of your rabbits.

Get the right kind of Litter box

To begin with, you need to create the right potty-training environment. The first thing that would help you in this context is the right type of litter box. You can either go with a specially designed rabbit litter pan, or can even consider opting for a cat litter box. Make sure that sides of the litter box are quite low so that the rabbit can hop in or out rather quickly.

Provide it multiple options

Rabbits tend to be choosy. You may need to provide it with several options so that your pet rabbit will choose the one that it likes. Once you get access to the one that your rabbit likes, you can get more of that type. You will need one option each in every room, or perhaps more than one in a few larger rooms.

Choose the right location

That should be a difficult task in all probability. You would need to find the area that your rabbit prefers to potty. Guide it to the area whenever it attempts to potty outside the litter box. You may need to keep an eye on the rabbit until it gets an idea.

If nothing works, you can cage her

If nothing works despite several attempts, it may be a good idea to get a cage. Place the food at one corner of the cage and the litter box at the other. This would make the rabbit get used to the litter box habit. The restricted place would make it learn the proper potty place. You may also place the litter box in a very restricted area such as a bathroom and lock the rabbit inside during the training period.

Treat it for every time it does it right

Once you have set up everything right, and confined your rabbit to the restricted area and make it use the litter box, make sure that you treat it every time it does it right. In the same spirit, do not scold or get upset with the rabbit if it goes to the wrong place. Rabbits are prey animals, and if you tend to scold it, it will begin treating you as someone to be avoided. Remain calm and kind to ensure that the rabbit follows your instructions without any sort of fear.

Keep cleaning the Litter box regularly

Scooping out the dirty litter box is one of the most critical chores you need to follow to ensure. Of course, it would be a good idea to leave a few pellets inside the box to leet the rabbit know and remember that it is a potty area. However, it would be a good idea to clean it up thoroughly once every week and clean it up with disinfectant.

How Long Does it Take to Litter Train a Rabbit?

Litter training the rabbit should not ideally take much time. You should be able to potty train your rabbit in around one week or slightly more. If your rabbit is a stubborn one, it may take a little longer to litter train it.

The best trick to reduce the time taken to litter train your rabbit would be to restrict its area initially. You can increase the activity area quite gradually until the rabbit is thoroughly trained and ready to use the litter box. Under most of the conditions, a rabbit should not take more than a week to learn the right potty habits.

Do remember one thing – potty training your rabbit will not happen in one day or overnight. It will need a lot of observation and effort to litter train your rabbit.

DIY Rabbit litter Box – A Few Good Options You Can Try

Picking the best rabbit litter box is one of the most difficult tasks, and that is precisely why you may need to be careful about choosing them. Unlike cats, rabbits need extensive potty training, and the litter box you choose should be such that it the rabbit is not discouraged from using it.

It may be a good idea to check out a few good rabbit litter box options from online sources.

Humorous.P Small Animal Litter Pet Toilet

Made of high-quality material, the product can be an excellent option for rabbits and other pets for effective potty training. A durable and sturdy design further makes it a great option to opt for. A great humanized design further helps avoid spillage of urine outside the box. The sales package comes with a bandage, bowknot, and a mini broom.

Check on Amazon

RUBYHOME Rabbit Litter Box Toilet

One of the best potty trainers and litter box combinations, the RUBYHOME Rabbit Litter Box Toilet is made of plastic and offers you high-end durability. The unique design makes it much easy to clean and odor-free. It can be an excellent option to create a clean home for your pet rabbit. The square design will provide you with extra space and comfortability for the rabbit.

Check on Amazon

Ware Manufacturing Plastic Lock-N-Litter

This is yet another excellent option for the best experience for litter training your pet rabbit. The litter box comes with no wire gate that ensures perfect potty training. It can be one of the excellent options for multiple pets. Lock n Litter design helps you avoid messy spills. The litter box is made of durable, stain, and odor resistant construction.

Check on Amazon

What to Use in a Rabbit Litter Box?

You should always use the organic litter in a rabbit litter box. You should find a wide range of litter made explicitly for the rabbits. Do ensure that you do not use unhealthy litter to save money. The rabbits tend to eat the litter, and you would end up making it quite unhealthy for the rabbit and may even risk its life.

The litter made of alfalfa, oats, or citrus would be much preferable. In fact, once your rabbits are correctly potty trained, they are likely to spend more time inside the litter box and can eat the litter. It may be noted here that the rabbits tend to eat their own excreta to conserve the energy and get back the nutrients. If you notice that your rabbit is eating its own poop, never ever come to think that it is unhealthy or try discouraging it. That’s something rabbits naturally do.

A citrus flavor would be a much preferable option because the rabbit pee smells too strong, and a citrus flavor would be one of the excellent options to drive away from the smell.

Is it Fine to use Rabbit Diapers?

We do not recommend using Diapers for your rabbits at all times. The rabbits do need to have access to their droppings. As we stated before, they eat their poop due to the uniqueness of their digestive system.

However, a rabbit diaper may be needed when you need to travel with your rabbit, or when your rabbit is disabled and cannot move. It may also be needed when you hold them on your lap. In any of these scenarios, you need to use the rabbit diapers for a shorter period of time.

Never make your rabbits wear diapers for a prolonged time period. Your rabbit may even ingest the diaper and thus may die. If you need to make it wear diapers, ensure that the rabbit is under your supervision at all times.

How Long can a Rabbit go Without Pooping?

Rabbits tend to poop quite regularly and frequently. You would find them eliminating each time she eats hay or other food items. So much so that you would find them munching on something even when they poop.

That should answer your question on how long can a rabbit go without pooping. Even a shorter duration without pooping should mean it is a warning sign. If the rabbit has not pooped for over 24 hours, it is time you should consult your vet.

The Closing Thoughts

Well, litter training a rabbit may be a tough task. Unlike you would do it in the case of a cat, you need to have a considerable responsibility and effort in how to potty train a rabbit. The tips and ideas we shared here should ideally help opt for the best results.