7 steps to litter train a rabbit

You’ve heard of litter training cats and dogs, but did you know you can also litter train rabbits? Today we’re sharing helpful tips for teaching your rabbit to use a litter box. 

General tips 

• A cat-sized litter box is recommended. Ensure the litter box can accommodate the whole rabbit. 
• There are multiple options for litter, including aspen shavings, paper pellets, and shredded newspaper. Shredded paper from an office facility may provide this to you for free. 

• DO NOT use softwood shavings such as pine or cedar, or clumping cat litter. 

Steps to litter train your rabbit 

1. Spaying and neutering a rabbit is the key to litterbox training a rabbit. Once a rabbit has been altered this accelerates the use of a litter box. 
2. Provide your rabbit with as much space as possible. Rabbits are by nature tidy and clean animals. It is recommended that the rabbit be housed in an x-pen as opposed to a cage. There’s often not enough room in a cage/hutch to properly litter train a rabbit. An x- pen also allows them room to safely play and stretch all day long even when their adopter is out of the house. 
3. Rabbits naturally prefer doing their business in corners. Place the litter box in the corner your rabbit seems to prefer for urinating and defecating. They may start using the box right away, or they may choose a new corner to use. If the rabbit does this, move the litter box to the area the rabbit prefers, or add a second box and cover all the corners. 
4. Once your rabbit is using the litter box in their enclosed area, allow them to leave this area into a small additional space, but leave the door to the enclosure open with the litter box accessible. 
5. As your rabbit learns to use the box you can increase the amount of time outside the enclosure and increase the space they can access in your home. You may find you need more litter boxes as your rabbit’s environment becomes bigger. If you find your rabbit likes to urinate or defecate in a specific area, consider adding a litter box there.  
6. Establish a consistent routine and schedule for time out of the cage, training, socialization, and cleaning. This will help in litter training your rabbit.  
7. If your rabbit regresses with their training, start the steps over again. Progress will go faster each time you do it. 

We hope you found these tips helping on how to litter train your rabbit! For more animal care tips, check out some of our other blogs.