Litter/Ramp

Question
Hi!
My 3 m/o holland lop doe is having some trouble with training;
1. I know young, unspayed rabbits have trouble with litterbox training, but
mine seems to be picking an area to use, and not having "accidents"
elsewhere. The area is along the back wall of the top floor of her hutch (she's
confined to the top for now - you can see the hutch at www.cyberpets.co.nz
just search"superpet premium rabbit hutch"). I have two corner litterboxes,
and I've placed them at both ends, but she seems to go equally in the boxes
and between. I've read that white vinegar is best for cleaning up the urine,
but i dont have any so i just scrub it with soap and rinse it well. I want
something strong-smelling as a deterrent, so what about orange peel? The
juice would be sweet and she'd just lick it, but rubbing the peel on the floor
both smells nice and the bitter taste would deter her, right? Any advice on
how to handle this would  be helpful :)
2. As you've seen if you've gone to that link to see my hutch, its a two-story.
However, her initial attempts to climb the stairs resulted in a small tumble,
and she seems to have lost all interest in climbing the ramp. She has lived on
both floors, but I prefer to have her on top if she's gonna take one floor
because thats where her hidey hole is. How could I encourage her to climb
the ramp? or will her natural curiosity eventually drive her to climb it? Thanks
a million!
Kara

Answer
Dear Kara,

In my experience, once a bunny chooses a spot for her litterbox, there's almost nothing you can do to dissuade her.  I know of no safe repellants that work against rabbits.  You might have to just relent and put a litterbox in that corner.

Note, though, that unless your rabbit is VERY small, she may actually be avoiding the corner litterboxes.  I've never seen one that was really big enough for any but the tiniest dwarf rabbit.  Rabbits like to be able to stretch out and stand "long" in a litterbox, and she might be choosing the corner without the box because those corner boxes are just too small for comfort.

Try a larger, rectangular box filled with pelleted sawdust litter and covered with a layer of soft hay, and I am betting you'll see improvement--especially once she's spayed.

As far as the ramp is concerned:  I could not find the link to the image from the site you gave me.  But if the surface of the ramp is smooth, then putting a 100% cotton, traction-backed mat on it will help her feel more secure.  You might also want to tack small, flat wooden "railings" on either side so she doesn't feel exposed and has a little more protection from slipping.

Until she feels that she won't slip and fall again, she's not likely to use the ramp.  So making it slip-proof and secure will not only make her curious to investigate, but also more likely to use it.

Hope that helps.

Dana