I adopted rabbits recently. I am forced to cage them until they pee and poop because I don't want them to dirty the house. How do I litter-train them?
—Selvin
Hi Selvin,
Rabbits are extremely intelligent animals and can thus be easily litter trained. This is essential in situations where we choose to have in-house rabbits. Rabbits have an instinctive preference to use one area as its latrine thus making the training an easy process.
Litter-training a rabbit is not about allocating an area for the rabbits to tend to their nature call. It is about training them to understand that this allocated litter space is a private area for them. When you begin training, do consider the age of the rabbit.
An older rabbit would be easier to train than babies. When the rabbits are around 5 months, and are growing towards sexual maturity, they tend to start marking their territory. This can be a big deterrent in your training process. It is thus preferred that you spay or neuter the rabbit.
First step in this process is to get the right kind of litter box. There are guidelines available that can help you choose the right kind of litter box. Prep the box with some of the the rabbit's poop and urine soaked paper and leave this inside the cage in the corner that she prefers to use. If she uses another area, move the box to the area that she prefers. If she has difficulty even with this, then reduce her free space temporarily thus giving her limited corners. Remember to leave some hay for her to munch on as rabbits love to eat when they pee or poop and this will be a motivation.
Once you are confident, gradually increase the free space and eventually move her out of the cage to the room. Again start with a small room where you can watch her. If she attempts to use a corner where the litter box is not kept, correct her with a sharp "No" and try to direct her back to the litter box. If she has already had an accident, treat them as simple accidents and do not fuss over it. Consider having more than one litter tray as the room gets bigger.
Does your pet obey your command? Write to pet.faqs@gmail.com with any of your pet worries.