Fluffy and her litter tray

Question
My rabbit lilly has been kicking her litter out of her tray?  Why would she be doing this?  How can I stop it?

Answer
Hi,

in the spring and fall it seems rabbits are a lot more active in digging, some may say generally they see it more in females than males.  Rabbit hormones are higher in the spring and fall.  So they start doing behavior that can be uncharacteristic of their normal selves.  Even fixed rabbits will do this, as they still are producing some hormones from the pancreas.

One thing you can try is taking a cardboard box (no top) the size of her litterpan, and cutting a circular hole in one side of it for her to hop in and out of the litterpan, and when she kicks up litter it will be more contained by the box.

Another suggestion would be to, if your existing litterpans can take an attachment that prevents litter being kicked out easily, to purchase that and put it on the litterpan.  If your litterpan doesn't have a kick-guard attachment for it, you might want to consider looking for new litterpans that come with kick-guard extensions and replace the old litterpans.

One thing you can do to get her energy out and cut down on the litter digging a bit is to give her another place to dig without it being a problem.  A "diggy pile" will be something that she can get into and play and not cause a mess.  You can take a nice big cardboard box, put a couple of holes on different sides to go in and out, and fill the inside with cut up, clean (but no longer used) cotton tshirts and towels.  Make sure necks and arms of tshirts are cut open all the way so she can't get stuck - also don't use tshirts with anything on them (no beads, iron-on logos, - discard all those pieces, you only want plain cotton parts).  You don't even need to put it in a box, you might just put it in a corner she likes, or right in the middle of the floor.  Many rabbits love tossing and digging and playing in soft cotton towels and tshirt pieces.  And it's not nearly as messy or unwanted behavior as litterpan digging is, and it might help reduce her doing that while she's in the mood to dig.  It's a great exercise toy for rabbits too.