Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Frustrated with “litter trained” bunny

Viewing 10 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • smileykyleigh
      Participant
      59 posts Send Private Message

        My bunny is a 2-3 year old neutered male holland lop. He usually does really well with his litter box, but we are having a couple of issues.

        1. We have hardwood/linoleum floors so we have to put down a sheet or blanket for him to have any exercise time. If we don’t, he will sit in the litter box the entire time he’s out of his pen. I have no issue with putting something down for him to be comfortable on the floor, but the problem is: he seems to forget he is litter trained while he is out! He ALWAYS pees on the blanket/towel, and poops EVERYWHERE on it. Even if his litter box is 2 feet away from him. It is very frustrating!

        2. He also poops all through his pen every night. He doesn’t seem to do it much during the day, unless he is eating pellets and leaves a few stray ones, but every morning there is poop everywhere that needs swept up first thing. Is this just territorial marking? And if so, will it ever stop?

        I’m just frustrated and was wondering if anyone could offer any advice. I really want to get him a companion but I’m afraid his litter habits will get even worse if we do.


      • tanlover14
        Participant
        3617 posts Send Private Message

          I think he’s doing that because he thinks the towel/sheets are litter! It’s a common mistake. I would try and find something that isn’t so soft and fluffy to put down… Maybe some seaweed grass mats? Something that he isn’t scared to step on but isn’t so.. litter like either?

          What kind of bedding do you have down in his pen also? If you have any bedding in the bottom, take it out as that could be causing the problems inside his pen as well.


        • smileykyleigh
          Participant
          59 posts Send Private Message

            There is no bedding in his pen. He has a sheet of plywood with sticky tile, covered mostly by a foam puzzle mat. Not the little kid ones though, big squares-it’s actually flooring protection for a gym.

            The only bedding is in the litter box. He came with a bag of recycled paper bedding, I’m trying to switch him to wood stove pellets because the paper bedding tracked everywhere, but he wasn’t real thrilled with stepping on the wood pellets, so I have a little paper bedding over top of the pellets to provide some cushion.

            I just don’t know what to do as far as flooring options for exercise time. I don’t want to get something really messy as his pen is in the living room and he will be exercising in there. I was thinking about getting some more of the puzzle mat type things, but he has peed on those on occasion too. (at least those are easily cleaned though compared to a blanket that has to be washed).

            You have carpet, right? Your buns don’t do anything on your carpet when they are let out?
            The only room in our house with carpet is the baby’s room, and I’m pretty sure my husband will freak if I put him in there LOL


          • BinkyBuster
            Participant
            101 posts Send Private Message

              In my room I have some of those giant puzzle pieces, like you said. I have them placed all over my floor so he has something to grip on (I have hard wood so he can never hop properly without slipping.) I just leave them on the floor all the time, and he can binky and 500 all over them no problem.

              He hasn’t ever had any problems on the puzzle pieces. But, if yours does I’d suggest soaking it up and throwing the paper towel into his litter box.
              I also heard that you can watch them and if they start to do their business out of their cage you can say “no!” so they realize they’re doing something wrong. Best thing about those puzzle pieces is they’re so easy to clean!

              Have you recently moved here? When I moved him into my student house he ended up pooping all over the floor, to mark his territory. It lasted about 2 weeks I’d say. Also, whenever my boyfriend comes over he feels the need to mark too. He puts his clothes on the floor and they’ll end up getting pooped around Maybe he’s just trying to mark? Good luck!


            • tanlover14
              Participant
              3617 posts Send Private Message

                We do have carpet and it was a NIGHTMARE to get all three bunnies to stop using it as a bathroom. It’s a major reason while they’re still not free-roam 24/7. We don’t really trust them yet as they were getting perfect but then we brought another bunny into the house which set them all off again. Oy VEY. I actually got the problem to stop through clicker training. I would give Fleury (my biggest problem) a treat for going into his litter box and using it the right way. I started off by saying “Fleury Litter” and nudging him inside. He would get a treat. I would do this every time he came out of his cage for play time and during play time until he got the hang of getting in the litter box when I said it. Then once he started urinating in it, I would give him a treat for peeing in there too. He eventually caught on that THATS what I wanted him to do. So now before they get play time both of my boys (my only problem bunnies) get put in there litter boxes as soon as they come out. They usually go and we usually don’t have many accidents now as they have been learning. We keep a VERY good eye on them and as soon as one of them shows any sign of thinking about going pee (sniffing around a certain area, getting into the position, or tails lifted) we immediately shoo them into the litter box. It’s worked very well but bringing a new bunny into the mix didn’t help so we’re back to putting them in their litter boxes every so often whenever they come out for play time. It’s all about rewarding for good behavior. It took a lot of time and effort to sit and watch them constantly to do it right – but they eventually caught on and usually only have accidents now when they are pissed off at me. LOL. I would try it if you have the time! ALSO, while we were getting them to do it, we lessened their play area so they only had a small space. When they mastered it in the small space then we widened it to it’s normal size and put a litter box in another area and made sure they realized it was there also.


              • lindsay715
                Participant
                152 posts Send Private Message

                  RE: your second problem, I think this is pretty common with bunnies. My two are free-roam, but they have a little corner of the apartment designated for their litter box, food, water, diggy box. There is cloth set down on the floor as it’s not carpeted. They always leave poops around that area. 99% of it is in the litterbox, but for some reason they like to “decorate” their corner. I have found they are more inclined to do it when their litter is messy. The more poop in the box, the more they decide to “expand” their toilet area.

                  As for litter training in general, it has been a long and mysterious journey for my buns and I’m not entirely sure how we resolved their problems. Good luck though!


                • BinkyBunny
                  Moderator
                  8776 posts Send Private Message

                    Do you have other animals in the house?  Sometimes this can create a tendency to mark. 

                    We have hardwood floors and for the areas that do not have rugs, I have little rug type mats that I throw down for Vivian to hop around on.  Though she walks on the hardwood, she definitely prefers the rugs and mats. 

                    What did your bunny do before you put down the sheet?  Did he always have this habit?  

                    I don’t know if I have been lucky but my bunnies (Jack is now gone) but both he and Vivian would never poo or pee in the rest of the house.  The only time they did that was when I was bonding them.   Vivian has two litter box, one in the the bunny room, and one hidden in the back corner of the foyer/sun room.    The only bunny that I could not train to not poo everywhere was Bailey and she had an illness. 

                    With other bunnies in my past, like when Rucy was still alive, I would have to do refresher courses which consisted of confinement and gradually allowing more room with improved habits.  This usually took a week. 

                    I know that with some bunnies, they may be just insistent/stubborn markers but I am hoping that the training that I have my bunnies go through has been part of the success. 

                    I do allow them their own special space.  Even when Vivian is out of her normal habitat, I have a corner for her in the foyer, where she has her litter box, a bowl of water and a hidey house with a blanket.     She definitely knows it as “HER” little area.   I think that providing one or two safe places of their own can help them understand theirs versus the shared area.   Now in the wild, shared area is marked by the same group and so it’s not abnormal for a bunny to mark in a general area, however, I set rules that the shared area is not to be marked in by not allowing them too much space at once.   I will then take their marker poos that they scattered all over and put them in the litter box.  I will keep doing that over and over.  And during my free time, I will watch them, and as soon as I spot them leaving a territorial poo,  I gently escort them to the litter box (while saying the word litter box over and over — and yes, it get tiring doing the over and over — it’s like a broken record).  Once they get into the box, I have a treat ready and I reward them for going in there.   After a while, my bunnies began to understand that “litter box, litter box” meant for them to go to the litter box. So I no longer had to escort them to the box, they would just go, when I would repeat the word.   This is a very repetitive type of training, and it takes commitment and persistence…and patience.  You can’t make them feel like the litter box is punishment for what they did, hence the treat and praise.   Eventually, I didn’t have to reward them every time.  And as they improved, I then widened their space.  An extra Xpen is great for that. (as you can block them into a room, cut of access to the entire room etc as you gradually allow freedom) 

                    The most important thing though is catching them when the leave the poo and reacting then.  I know you can’t do that all the time.  We do have jobs and things to do, other than being on poo patrol.  But spending as much time as you can where you can watch closely for a while will be helpful.  

                    This isn’t something that will happen overnight.  A few days of bad habits can actually undo years of good ones.  (And of course, a medical condition has to be ruled out first).    Some bunnies may get it in a week, others may get it in a month.   And a few just won’t get it at all.  


                  • smileykyleigh
                    Participant
                    59 posts Send Private Message

                      Thanks for the input everyone.

                      I really don’t mind the stray poops he leaves while hopping about, I just get annoyed with the pee and get paranoid that I won’t clean it well enough and he’ll go back and do it again. 

                      I like the clicker training idea, I may try that. The hard part will be sitting with him and catching him in the act. I don’t sit still much with two young boys in the house

                      As for the exercise area, what do you all think of getting a roll of indoor/outdoor carpet? I saw an 8 x 6 piece at the hardware store, and I was wondering if I could use that and just roll it up and stow it away after playtime is over.


                    • tanlover14
                      Participant
                      3617 posts Send Private Message

                        The clicker training idea is VERY similar to what BB did with her buns. Definitely make it a positive thing as I had to revert to clicker training simply because Fleury got VERY aggressive and upset about us getting frustrated he wasn’t going in. We would get all worked up and angrily shoo him to the litter box and even if you’re not yelling or shouting at them they KNOW you are not happy. And it really just made our situation worse with him. Which is why I had to do clicker training since I heard it is very good for positive reinforcement. He is now almost perfect about doing it and never gets frustrated when we call him to go in his box. And he’s always looking for a treat but as BB did we eventually were able to not give treats every time but we give him one every so often to help keep up the good behavior.

                        Indoor/Outdoor carpeting is what we have the bunny condo levels lined with and it has worked GREAT for us. When we notice accidents in there (very few) we just spray some vinegar on it and it’s good. I think it’s worked well with them though because our carpet outside their condo is VERY fluffy and thick. The outdoor is very thin and I think that helps make it not quite as tempting.


                      • BinkyBunny
                        Moderator
                        8776 posts Send Private Message

                          I also like the idea of the indoor/outdoor carpet that you can roll up up and put away after playtime. I also think it will be easier to spot clean as tanlover suggested.


                        • smileykyleigh
                          Participant
                          59 posts Send Private Message

                            Thanks so much
                            He was doing really well yesterday until I took a nap and then he peed on the rug
                            But then in the evening before playtime I put him in his litter box and said “Litter box” and petted him while he was in there. When he was out playing around and started sniffing/looking suspicious I put him in his box and he peed! So I praised him bunches.
                            And last night when I got his salad ready he happened to be sitting in his box when I came back so he got lots of praise and a big sprig of cilantro.

                            We’ll keep working on it. I really appreciate all of your suggestions!

                        Viewing 10 reply threads
                        • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                        Forum BEHAVIOR Frustrated with “litter trained” bunny