My buns newest “trick”

[Stickerbunny]

Somehow they peed UNDER their litter box. Yes under. Not beside, not off the side of, under. Their room smelled so I went to change the litter box thinking maybe that was it… I lifted it up and there was a huge puddle of pee right in the middle of the under side. And I checked, there is no hole in the box. How they managed that, I have no idea, unless they moved the box, peed, then perfectly placed it right back in it’s spot, since the pee was so far underneath it and not on the outside/edge like if they’d peed and it slid underneath it.

I swear bunnies think up new ways to torment their slaves every day, stinkers.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Mine pees under hers all the time. She actually just pees over the side and it puddles and spreads under the box Yay.

[Huckleberry]

Hmm… I wonder how they pulled that one off?! I can picture one bratty bun propping up the pan with one paw while another wiggles their butt underneath the pan and both of them snickering to each other. haha

Mine has been flinging her urine up the wall! I keep having to clean the wall around her pan from where she has been digging and flinging it up about 2 1/2 ft higher than the pan… Buns will really try everything to make you want to tear your hair out.

[bunnyfriend]

Uggggggg…remind me again why we take care of these fluffy little monsters? I’m sorry that really stinks! As you know I’m struggling with my rabbits peeing too, I feel your pain.

[Stickerbunny]

Huckleberry lol I can so see that… 3am “hey, what present can we leave for our slave this time?” “I have an idea! Here, let me lift this up and you make a huge mess so she has to search for it and when she goes to lift the box up, it gets ALL OVER her hands!” “Oh, hey, great idea!” … and yeah I get poops up the wall stuck to the wall paper from their flinging it, I think Monkeybun found the perfect name for a bunny.

Bunnyfriend haha I know, I tell them they are lucky they are so cute. I’ve been struggling with mines litter habits for months now since they bonded, hopefully yours won’t be as stubborn. I’m almost resigned to them just not using the boxes except when they feel like it.

[jerseygirl]

Stickerbunny, I had been wondering how this situation was going with your pair. Sorry to hear there’s been no improvement. I get the pee pools under the box also. Usually from somebun peeing right next to it and it running underneath. The spot where the pee starts dries up and can be hard to see where they went. Or it happens when they pee over the edge.

Is is just one of your pair or both that have been difficult with their littering post-bonding?
 

I know you’ve said Powder doesn’t cope well with being caged but now that he has a bonded mate, would that make it less stressful for him? Just thinking you could try reducing their space right down to try improve the litter behaviour.  Still thinking to do this for mine. I only even confined mine to large area, not to a very small pen or cage.

Huckles, I get the splatter up the wall too. :/ Joy of joys. I notice it mostly in boxes I have just newspaper and hay. With a grid over some of the others, it helps reduce the flick factor a bit.

[Stickerbunny]

It’s both and no, with a bond mate it’s not any better with him and cages. Last time I had them both in a pen together he bit her neck and pulled out her fur in his panic (only time he’ll ever show aggression to her, no matter how bratty she’s being). I’m not sure what happened with him and cages before I got him, but it seems very deeply ingrained that something very, very bad happens there and he freaks out as badly as if I am about to eat him. They use the boxes more if I leave it a bit messy, being satisfied their scent is properly in the area, so it’s marking just no idea how to stop the marking. If I clean it up totally they come back in the room and immediately mark it again. And no matter how many boxes I add to the room (I had half of their bedroom, which is the master room of the house, filled with litter boxes at one point lol) it’s always start at the last litter box to the left, then about 1-2ft to the left of that and that is where they mark.

They pee beside it all the time and it sometimes goes under, though my vinyl flooring underneath it has little ridges | | like that so it’s hard for it to travel sideways unless there is a lot and most sticks to the pattern. They have been rearranging their furniture though – I went in the other day to the hay box being in front of the door, blocking me from entering til I moved it lol and they keep pulling my old clothes out of storage somehow (there is no hole in the suitcase, so don’t ask me how they get to the contents) and adding to their bed, luckily the stuff in there is just clothes that no longer fit or are too “teenagery” for me to care about.

[jerseygirl]

Heheheh. Sounds like the squatters have definitely moved in! The marking at the farthest box and just left of that sound a bit like boundary marking do you think?

I wonder if you could let them live in the room for a week without entering it other to put food and refresh water. Still allowing them to visit other areas of the house though. It would get a bit feral in there but maybe…just maybe they’ll feel like their territory has been adequetely marked.
I’ve thought to do same with Jersey & Rumball though their zone gets feral within minutes thanks to Jersey.
I never did proper “cementing” in a cage or pen when they bonded and sometimes wonder if thats why I had trouble re-establishing litter habits.

ETA: The master room?  So this is a room used alot by you also? Or master bedroom?

[Stickerbunny]

Hmm, you mean not cleaning it at all for a week? Would that risk making them sick, being in their own smelly mess that long? Think I would be more comfortable trying that in the spring if at any time, so I can at least open their windows to keep the air fresh.

[jerseygirl]

I know, it can’t get gross pretty quickly. With some litters (like wood pellets) you can go almost a week without having changed it. Thing is, you have to get them using it consistantly in the 1st place!
I’m not really sure it would help. I’m just brainstorming. :p   It sounds like your having left their boxes a little soiled has helped some.
 

[Stickerbunny]

It’s not their boxes that need to be soiled, it’s the floor around the boxes being dirty a bit that helps – but it gets really, really gross really quick lol I use yesterdays news, so I can just scoop the soiled litter out and then change it when needed but getting them to use the boxes instead of the floor, so far has been completely unsuccessful.

[jerseygirl]

*nods & empathises*

[LittlePuffyTail]

Mine pees under hers all the time. She actually just pees over the side and it puddles and spreads under the box

Olivia does the same thing. I keep a roll of paper towels right beside her condo for these little puddles. I think she makes a mess on purpose. It seems to be the days she has less run time. Pay back!

[RabbitPam]

LOL I am laughing through this whole thread guys. It’s the way you tell it.
I think most of us discover that our floors aren’t totally flat after all, when we find that hidden puddle.

One suggestion to keep it marked and scented in the box, to appease them – soak up the peel from the puddles and mishaps and put the urine smelling piece of paper towel back into the litter pan with the clean litter and a few stray poos. That keeps the odor in the place where it belongs.

Me to Real Estate Agent: I’m sorry, I can’t live in this new house.
Agent: Why not?
Me: It doesn’t smell like me. (as Rabbitpam hops away)

[Stickerbunny]

lol I just saw your post Pam – I do keep some in their litter boxes when I clean it, it doesn’t help. They still insist that OUTSIDE stays smelling like them too, exactly 1-2 feet to the left of each litter box, no matter where I place them. I swear they measure it out in hops, ha. Since that day the urine has stayed outside on the grooves of the vinyl, so they had to have planned that one.

But, I did stumble onto something that is interesting – boyfriend let them out REALLY early yesterday (9am) because they were up making noise when he woke up. They didn’t use outside their litterbox _all_ day, there was just what they had done over night. Now, Stickers has never had free roam since she’s a wild child (chews things, digs carpet, etc and can’t be trusted out of her room without supervision) but Powder used to be 100% free roam until they bonded. Now he’s locked away at night. I wonder if he’s using out of the litterbox because he’s locked up and he doesn’t like it and Stickers is just using where he goes? Not that I can fix it if that is the case – she would wreck the house if I let them free roam. My rabbits are so backwards about everything – no enclosed neutral area for bonding and instead of confining it seems freedom helps their litter habits. o.O

[RabbitPam]

LOL. Rabbits are rule-breakers.

I used to call them Protest Poops. Cat did it. Bunny did it. It’s like living with mimes – they don’t speak, so they get the message across in other ways.
I think you are definitely onto something. Might be as simple as letting the out earlier in the morning, or part of the house and baby gate the No-bunny Zones.

[Stickerbunny]

They are in the only room without carpet, so every room is a no-bunny zone (well, no bunny without supervision) except for the one they live in – Stickers sees carpet, she has to eat it / dig it if no one is watching lol she shredded the laundry room (which was JUST recarpeted before we got her!) carpet already so it has to be redone. I let them out today when I got up and again, they used the boxes. So, I guess it is protesting – the brats… I don’t work atm, so I guess I will be opening the door when I get up in the morning and leaving it open til bedtime.

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