BUNNIES DO EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE

Here's something which cat and dog owners most likely don't know. The rabbit litter box is more than a place for them to relieve themselves.

Being grazing animals, rabbits like to eat and deficate at the same time. Placing a handful of hay at one end of the litter box will encourage bunnies to use it as a toilet. The hay is the bribe that lures rabbits in. Soon they become accustomed to eating and doing their business there. In fact, many bunnies become defensive of their litter boxes as it represents their domaine's marked place.

I've heard of some rabbit pairs or groups who share litter boxes. Others want their own. Whichever is the case, litters are more to a rabbit than a toilet is to us humans.

Rabbits are territorial creatures. They often will fight if not introduced properly. Like people, some fall in love instantly while others develop an instant dislike for one another. Then there are those who need to have time to bond with each other.

Some rabbits like to nap in their litter boxes. They feel either safe in there or they want to protect their marked space. Either way, it's a good idea to have several boxes available if the rabbits figure they'd rather sleep in one while using the other for a toilet.

In my many years of living with rabbits, I've found it fairly easy to litter train them. One instinct of bunnies is that they don't soil their warrens. This translates to keeping their sleeping and safe places clean. Rarely have I had rabbits mess in their hiding place boxes. There's often something wrong with them when they do that.

Having lived with rabbits as house pets, many being free range companions, I wrote a book called When a Man Loves a Rabbit: Learning and Living With Bunnies It's a memoir of all the wonderful things I discovered about them as well as the mischief they got into. Find out more about this charming paperback at Bruce Atchison's books page.

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