Rabbit Tossing Litter

Question
Hi! I adopted my beautiful black Polish dwarf girl from the shelter about 7 months ago. She was already fixed and litter box trained when we brought her home from the shelter. Since then she has had a regular routine every day of being in her "pen" - our enormous walk-in closet to which we keep the doors open but fence off the bottom half so she has space to run around, a cardboard house, chew toys, mats, litter box - and being allowed to run around the house during the day.

This morning I woke up and found that she had dug and tossed her litter ALL OVER her pen area. She was standing at alert (ears up and facing me) staring at me when I came up to her pen. I reached in to pet her as I usually do, and she put her nose down and ears back for grooming, and then went hopping about her pen as usual.

This isn't a serious problem, but I would like to know what caused her to toss her litter everywhere. As it was in the middle of the night, I didn't see it and don't know whether she was just digging or had actively kicked everything out. This has never happened before. A few nights ago, I did find a little spray of litter on the floor, but I've seen this happen when she binkies and hops in and out of her litter box energetically, causing it to fly out with her. Today however, it looked like an entire corner had been dug out (the side where she usually urinates) and the rest piled up or pushed over the other end, completely covering her hay and the floor and mats past it.

She loves to rearrange things but usually keeps her living area extremely clean, so I don't understand why she would do this. We also give her a thick amount of litter, which we pack in and change once a day, and hay on the other side, so I know it wasn't because it was dirty. Does this behaviour indicate anger, or was she just playing? How do I stop her from digging her litter out again?

Answer
Hi,

well, rabbits are born diggers.  She may have found a new sport.

Part of it is seasonal.  Rabbits seem to dig more in the spring and summer.  And females dig out the warrens and birthing areas.  So even fixed, they have enough hormones to want to dig a bit.

It's also part personality.  Some rabbits just enjoy it more than others.  Others dig at things rather than dig up or dig in stuff that gets tossed everywhere.

There is no magical solution, other than to accomodate the litterbox digging and provide potential alternatives that are fun.  what has worked for us:

1.  Getting a bigger litterpan.  A big cat litterpan with higher sides.  Less material can get kicked out.

2. Using the right litter.  The best and also least expensive is hardwood wood stove fuel pellets.  You can get them in 40 pound bags for about 4 dollars.  Lasts 1 bunny a long time, easy to know what part needs to be cleaned out and replaced.  Safe for their lungs.  A little heavier than other litters so not as much of it launches out, if you have a bigger litterpan.

3. Alternative diggy area.  The best is a pile, or larger (2 ft by 2 ft) plastic cage tray (from a pet supply or Farm and Fleet store) full of cut up old, soft cotton tshirts (cut all sleeves and necks completely open!) and towels.  Place the diggy pile or diggy box in one of her play areas.  She will probably mark some of this and it is easily washed and returned.  Most of our rabbits love bunching up, digging in and nibbling on soft cotton materials.

Let me know how it goes.  Lee