Come talk to me about litter! Go on, you know you want to!

We have not litter trained our rabbits. They are in a large enclosure with 2 hutches permanently open, one has a vet bed the other is lined with newspaper and then loads of straw. That hutch is the one they use to poo in. And oh my god do they poo in it!!! There are poos elsewhere in the enclosure but more a light scattering less a carpet. I feel its a waste to be doing it like this and they would probably be happier with a proper litter tray. As it happens I have a big rabbit litter tray in my shed so I can pop it in there anytime. But I cant remember what stuff am I supposed to put in it? Or should I just newspaper & straw it since that is what they are used to? And if I do that, should I NOT newspaper & straw the rest of the hutch floor space, to make a difference? And if THAT is the case, what do I do with that spare floor space? You can see I need coaching through this step by step and pictures wouldnt go amiss either! Ta me hearties. x

Decisions, decisions!

I am always a bit dubious about this talk of litter training bunnies When Hollie, Herb and Rosie were in the conservatory they would not stick to the trays despite our best efforts, maybe because they had so much space and no pen. As soon as BJ arrived and we had two pairs and they went out into sheds they used the litter trays of their own accord. Seems it was OK to wee on my carpet but not on their shed floor I have to admit tho that H+H do sometimes wee where they ought not. The other pairs are immaculate.

I find straw is not so good in litter trays as it is not very absorbent. I use newspaper and then the hay I get from a local farm. A bale lasts a couple of months, costs £4 so I am happy to use in the litter trays. The buns do eat this when it is fresh and then they also have Timmy hay in hay racks. I know a lot of people use litter too and I do have some, but as I change the litter trays everyday I tend not to bother.

As far as the rest of the floor goes I buy carpet squares from carpet shops (about 50p each) and use those. They are cheap enough to replace when past their best and are a little bit warmer on bunny feet than the lino we have down.

This works best for us, hope it gives you some ideas

I have two trays in their sleeping end. I line then with newspaper and hay for them to eat then poop on. They don't poo anywhere else even though there is newspaper and straw in the living bit.

They also have a corner in their compound that they like to do their poos in that they chose themselves. I have put in a couple of seed trays and they poo either in the trays or just beside them. They don't poo anywhere else in their compound.

Firstly I'd definitely make sure there is a distinction between 'litter tray' and 'non litter tray' with regards to substrate. So if you are using straw and sawdust in the litter trays, put something else on the floor.

As far as actual litter goes, I have tried Carefresh, megazorb, recylced-paper cat litters and sawdust. I know Charlotte uses shredded paper for hers with no problems. To be honest I think as long as there is a definitive difference between the place they are supposed to poo and the place they aren't then it should be ok.

It's all trial and error to start with anyway. I would be tempted to put your choice of litter along straw in the trays to start with (even though straw is not ideal) as they will associate straw with their pooing area. Then you can gradually phase it out so you have just got the litter in the trays.

Good luck, keep us updated

I use newspaper and hay, that's all, and as Helen said, I make sure that the trays are nowhere near other sources of hay, as he has been known to wee and poo in his hay tray before now

If there's no need to use wood shavings, then they are probably best avoided, but you may have to clean the trays out more regularly.

Hope it all goes well

well at the moment I am cleaning out the whole bloomin hutch regularly so actually it would be a hell of a lot easier to just empty the tray & refill it!

You know that talking dirty isn't really speaking about rabbit poo!