by Betty Carew

Created on: January 24, 2010   Last Updated: January 25, 2010

To litter train a rabbit you have the rabbit’s natural instinct working to your advantage. Rabbits are by nature clean and tidy. You can use this instinct to insure your rabbit uses the litter box just like a cat. It may take longer to achieve this goal as unlike kittens the older your rabbit is the better success you will have in the training. Here are some steps you can take to litter train your rabbit.

Patience and persistence

As stated above real young rabbits are a little more difficult than training a rabbit that is older. Wait until your rabbit is at least three months old before you start your training. This is not to say your rabbit cannot be introduced to the litter box before this time but do not get discouraged if he does not show much interest. Training a rabbit can take patience and persistence before he gets the idea of what is expected but you will have a litter box trained rabbit by the time you are done.

Start inside the cage

Place the litter box inside your rabbit’s cage. The litter box should not be more than one third the size of your rabbit’s cage. The cage should have ample room for your rabbit to move around easily plus enough room to place the litter box. Do not expect too much from him at first as he may chose to play or lie down in the litter rather than use it. If he is using another part of the cage to go to the bathroom just move the litter to that area. He will get the idea after a while and eventually start using the litter box. Once this happens and you feel confident he will, it is time to move to the next step.

Outside the cage

Your next step will be to fence off an area outside the cage for your rabbit to play and explore. Do not go overboard with the space of the area but do have enough room so that your rabbit has ample room to move around. The height of this area is also important make sure that your rabbit cannot get out over your enclosure. If this space is inside your home cover the floor of the space with paper for quick clean ups if there are any accidents. Leave the litter box he has inside his cage but introduce another litter box in the extra play area you have designed.

Keep in mind that a rabbit’s favorite pastime is chewing so make sure there is nothing in this extra space but his toys and the litter box. Leave the door to his cage open and watch him as he moves around. If your rabbit insist on using one area of this new space for the bathroom move the new litter box to that area. 

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