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fabric---litter training

snosnhoj

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I'm not sure how many use fleece in their cages. I tried it with the guineas we use to have and was not happy. Thought about trying it for our adopted dwarf bunny. Was very unhappy in cleaning the fleece as it made both my washer and dryer stink and the odor never really did come out of the fleece. Does anyone use fleece or fabric for thier bunnies and if so, do you have any ideas??

I will also search the litter training section on this, but advice is welcomed. How long does it take to train a bunny? She is 3 months old, so I'm not sure if she is still too little or not. I've read they tend to use one area.......not this one! She makes messes of both all over her cage. The corners, sides, middle. Doesn't seem to matter. I've put her food bowl and hay rack over a litter box. I use vinegar/water every day to clean messes and if I see them, clean them up right away.
 

buttons

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Bunnies are usually a lot easier to litter train. In a matter of a fact I know many people who have their bunnies roaming free in the house and they go to their litter box like cats.

First of all, start right away.

This is what I do:

1. Make sure the bedding in the litter box is different than in her other areas, or she/he will get confused
2. Get a large cat litter box - rabbit litter boxes are too small for even mini rex, if you ask me. (mini rex are not much larger than dwarf rabbits)
3. Put her/his mess in the litter box everytime you see it
4. Like you are doing now, put food/hay by/over the litter box
5. Put her sleeping area in a diff. place/far away
6. Remember that your rabbit is still very young & still has a lot to learn, you can start litter training now, but be patient and reward her for using it.

Good luck, hope I helped
 

Weatherlight

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How were your gpigs unhappy?

What type of fleece and underbedding are you using?

(broken link removed)
FAQ: Litter Training

If you haven't already, go to that site and read all applicable care, behavior, and adoption pages. As far as I've seen, the HRS is THE source on rabbits.

Look into clicker training if you want the process to be "clean" and specific, clear and fast. I imagine the training would be similar to pottytraining a dog or horse.
 

GuineaAddict

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I switched to fleece about a week ago and my guinea pig loves it. I can't imagine a guinea that wouldn't and I've had no problem with stench (I clean it once a week) or anything like that. In fact I kinda stumbled with actually deciding on what I was going to do and constructing it. In the end I used fleece, good batting, and a bed protector thingy with plastic facing the outside and it has a cotton backing. I sewed it all together like a pillow. I think I just got lucky in the construction of it, but I'd suggest maybe trying different things with construction. That is if you'd want to give it a try again. I don't know anything about bunnies so I can't help you there.
 

snosnhoj

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Thank you all for the help. Things are going okay. She is using the litter box, but not 100%. Sometimes she sits right outside the box and messes there. All in good time I guess! I was the one unhappy with the fleece with the piggies. I don't think they cared one way or the other. Other then the fleece was as fun to kick up in the air! lol My bunny is doing fairly well though, I think. She doesn't pee on her carpet area, so that is good! Thanks again all!
 

Weatherlight

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Oh ok.

If your fleece gets nasty when peed on, test how well it wicks with your underbedding. I've put in the wrong kind of fleece and oh man it stank so bad after one day.
 

Rattie Mom

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We were lucky in that our two bunns were already litter trained when they arrived (we adopted two 4 year old rescue bunns that were spayed/neutered). I've heard that spaying helps??

We line our bunnies' crate (xtra large dog crate) with fleece and use a cat sized litter box, with wood pellets and Yesterday's news. Occasionally, they still "act out" and will go on the fleece, but it's rare. And it's usually right next to the box too. I've never noticed an odor with our bunnies, even when they've peed on the fleece (which is always cleaned up promptly). We replace the fleece blankets twice a week and clean the whole crate once a week. Our bunns always have their crate open, with free range of our kitchen (we put up an Xpen around the crate at night, so they are contained, but still have a little extra room). They've never peed or poo'd outside their crate.

As for our piggies, we started the same way (fleece lining with wood pellet/YN litter boxes). It took a while, but the first two girls were pretty much litter trained. The second two are just horrible and they were even saturating their nest box blankets. After having to clean all the fleece every other day, we were at our wits end. It was smelly everyday. So we just started trying the upper main level lined with a layer of wood pellets, with Aspen over that. I can tell the girls don't like it as much, because when they run around, they don't get as much traction....but they are starting to get used to it.....and there's NO smell. We just pick up the stray poos, and empty the litter boxes and the cage smells great until cleaning day. :)

I would much rather use fleece....but it kept getting really stinky with the piggies.
 

SkinnyPiggys

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You might also want to join Etherbun. It's a great Yahoo Group for rabbit owners.
 

snosnhoj

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Thanks, that's a new one on me, I'll check it out.
 

rabbitsncavyluv

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Is she isn't spayed yet, she'd be harder to litter train perfectly. It helps to put a safe litter in the litter box and piles of hay on top.

I wouldn't use fleece as bedding in the cage. She may chew and ingest it.

What kind of cage does she have? It may be too small so she is bored. How many hours of out of cage run time does she get daily?
 

snosnhoj

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She is actually doing great! We have one corner of her cage with carpet in it. She just loves to lay on it, spreads all out. She has some tile area too. Her litter box is in another corner. This weekend I bought a large dishpan and cut a few holes for her to hop in and out of. Her pellets and hay rack are in there. We are getting Lilly use to our house cat and visaversa. Princess (cat) is very interested, but I think the newness is starting to wear off. Before I was afraid that Princess might eat her. Being a dwarf bunny, my cat just towers over her. Lilly spends time on the floor with my daycare kids as well as her owners (my 2 boys). She also loves it outside in the grass! I'm not sure how big her cage is, my hubby made it homemade for our 2 pigs after reading on this site how the store cages the one pig came in was just too small. (The aunt and uncle gave it to my boy for his birthday.) So, he built this big ole thing with a deck on the second floor. Right now we have it sitting up on a bench. Although it has a top, I was too concerned about the cat. Yesterday I did notice Princess sniffing Lilly while my son was holding her, so I think she is coming around. Lilly gets plenty of floor time, but she is not very good at using the litter box while she is on the floor so she does not have free roam as of yet. We're building up to that.

Thanks again for everyone's help, she has been fun these past few weeks!
 
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