As the owner, we have to make sure about the cleaning of our pet, including their self of their poop. The animal is usually pooping everywhere. They are pooping on your Sofa, floor, table, even your bed. That’s so disgusting, right? Well rabbit is actually smart animal which can train to do a new behavior. If we want to teach them how to do litter training, they will poop on the available space for them like as the training. Well, how to do litter training for your rabbit? Here will explaining to you how to do it.
What is litter training?
Litter training is a training an animal to pooping or pissing in an available space. But, as the tittle of ‘litter’, so the space to pooping or pissing of the animal is the thing called litter. Basically, litter is a plastic box which many sizes and shapes. It also like closing box which has small door to enter in. the sizes are also many much, suitable with our necessary depend of the animal’s body.
Litter training for rabbit
Well as i said before that rabbit is an animal target, not a predator. This animal is kind of animal-hunted. They get used to be hunted, so it is also affect their behavior. You will need more energy to train the rabbit, because they will avoid stranger or people whose will threat them if they think like that. It is need long time and also energy, but it doesn’t mean they can’t to train. So here is the explaining how to do litter training for your rabbit.
- Using plastic litter box
You better buy plastic litter box to make you easy when clean it. Use the litter for kitten and choose the box which two times bigger than your rabbit, but not higher than the height. It makes the rabbit get used to jump into it. The litter box which too higher for the rabbit will make them difficult to jump and enter in. It will ruin the training of litter training which already teaching to them before. And also choose the litter which deeper on the back. Rabbit likes to piss on the corner. So to make their piss not out of the litter, you better choose the deeper one on the back litter.
- Choose the right base to using on the bottom of the litter
We can use a paper, or former newspaper on the bottom of litter. It helps to absorb the piss and poop of the rabbit. It also helps for controlling the smell, and also don’t forget to placing a hay grass. Rabbit like to eat while he is pooping and pissing. So he will eat the hay grass while he is pooping or pissing.
Don’t using wood powder and sand commonly used for hamsters for the base because when it ate by rabbit, it would ruin the rabbit’s heart function. Don’t using silica powder for cat too because it will effect for the rabbit’s breathe system.
How to clean the litter box of rabbit?
- Clean it two days once.
Two days are nice timing for cleaning the litter box. After two days, their poop and piss will too much and it can make bacteria which can infect the rabbit.
- Put all contains inside of litter into plastic bag.
Use masker and gloves for your protector.
- Pour little the soap or disinfectant into litter box and then rinse it.
Don’t pouring it too much. The rabbit won’t to piss or poop on litter box which over-smell. Make it clean but also still living the piss smell.
Some tips you have to know to litter training over rabbit
- Place the litter over the corner of the room.
Rabbit likes to poop or piss in the corner of room, so with placing the litter on the corner, it can trigger the rabbit to enter in. Surely the litter which already to used, okay?
- If your rabbit still piss outside of litter, do these things.
Wipe the piss on the floor using a tissue and put the tissue into the litter. Pour the acetate into the floor which pissed by the rabbit. It will blur the smell in order to make the rabbit focuses on the tissue inside litter box. To avoiding the rabbit eat the tissue, place tissue into the base of litter.
- Repeat the training toward their poop.
Firstly, rabbit will spread out their poop into all rooms of the house. You have to patient and just put the poop into litter. Step by step, rabbit will get used to poop into the litter.
Your rabbit will hate a litter which…
- Over-smell
Too smelly and too fragrant litter will make the rabbit wont to using their litter. They prefer using little bit piss smell but not over fragrant. So it is important to look of the cleaning of litter.
- Over-spacing litter
It will confuse the rabbit with over-width litter. Using the litter which bigger of rabbit, but make sure it is over-bigger for them.
Basically, we have to treat the rabbit as well as it can comfort them. When we decided to own a pet, we have to considering the risk of the new member on our house. Animal can’t automatically know how to act like people who already know where have to piss or poop, where have to eat, where have to sleep and many more. Rabbit has naturally behavior which of course different with people and moreover it harms for people.
As people who can think clearly, we have to understand that animal naturally behavior is not familiar for people. It is like marking somewhere as their territory with their poop or piss, for example. It is really brothering for us, if we refuse to understand their habit. We assume that as ‘jerk’ but for the rabbit it was ‘fair’. That’s the different between people and animal.
When people want to other doing something that they asked, surely they will communicate it first. But animal is different with people. How to asked rabbit to poop on the place which is already available? Surely we have to communicate it by training. Why by training? Because the rabbit don’t understand what we said and we don’t know the animal language. We just can know it by their act. So if we want to change their act, we have to train it because behavior is not change easily. We have to adapting for a couple times to make a new behavior.
How if it fail? You can use punishment and reward to make their behavior stronger. Give them extra food when he poops in litter. For the punishment, you can enter your rabbit into cage. Remember! Don’t pull their ear because it is really hurt them. Just carry them by holding their stomach and don’t slamming him.
So that’s all you can do to litter training and some tips for your rabbit. Please be remember that it takes a long time, depend on how you practice it and how your rabbit understand about what you mean. Hopefully, it may help you a lot.