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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 Clearly defiant

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    • Murmur
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        I have a 3 year old rex rabbit male who is neutered. He is litter trained for 2 litter boxes around my apartment. He keeps on pooping around his litter box and in the area about 2 feet wide. When I catch him doing this, he runs over to the litter box because he knows that’s where he should be. No matter what I do I can’t seem to stop this behavior. I am moving in with my boyfriend in a couple months and I am worried that this behavior will continue in our new home. Does anybody have any advice on how I can stop this?

        Thanks


      • Sarita
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        18851 posts Send Private Message

          Does he also use the litter box as well. My rabbit always pees in the litter box and for the most part poops in it….I always have stray poops though but I’m usually okay with this because they are easy to clean. Peeing might be another story though.


        • The Law Bun
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            Well I have not yet had this issue, but I have done a ton of research (have a big binder from my research) and have a few general tips from other forums that I printed off for binder.

            1) You may need to rerestrict his space. I am sure you would hate to have to cage him up in a pen (like a 4×4) but many people say its necessary if this happens to start over with litter training. Restrict his space, and he should catch on faster since he was litter trained earlier (i assume?). Either way this could be an issue of he just has too much space.
            2) Change in environments for male rabbits especially could lead to this territorial behavior even post neuter. When you go to your boyfriend house, restrict the space, because he will likely be trying to claim territory the first few weeks. But have you recently moved his litter box? Changed his cage? Moved furniture around? All of this people say lead to bad litter habits.
            3) Place his hay in the litter box, I use a hay rack to keep waste down, but most bunnies eat and poop simultaneously. This should ensure the BIG poops are in the box. Then you can start to delineate between marking territory and just regular pooping outside the box. But place hay IN the box not outside.
            4) Buy a bigger box is a useful solution for many people. As the rabbits get older, they like space in their box. My box is like 3 times the size of my bunny but she is nearly perfect, she usually will turn around in it because she prefers poop in 2 corners and pee in 1 and hay in the rack. Small litter boxes=bad litter habits from what I have read in many bunnies. So look at getting a big litter box.
            5) Medical issue. You could see a vet but I doubt this is the issue considering there is no other pee dribbles etc.
            6. Is there pee near the litter box? Maybe you need a high sided litter box so that the butt doesnt hang over. Many people find this to be the case and the bunny pees over the edge of the box, which high sided boxes prevent.

            Good luck hope these helped! But seriously, restrict his space and see if it eases up after a week or so. Sometimes its necessary. And expect territorial marking when you go to your boyfriends (expect it but hope it doesnt happen ).


          • Murmur
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              Thanks for the replies.

              I live in a small apartment so his space is fairly limited already but I can try cutting it down. I adopted him when he was 6 months old and neutered. This behavior started over the last year and it’s been a struggle. He is a very confident, aggressive (not towards me) rabbit. He uses his litter box in his hutch religiously and never goes to the bathroom outside of it. When he is out of the hutch his other litter box is across the room in the corner he chose. He never pees outside of the little box. I am in an apartment and I noticed that all the stray poops are near my front door that leads into the apartment hallway. Is it possible the smells from the hallway are making him feel like he needs to constantly mark his territory?

              This behavior surprises me because he is so well trained and not skiddish at all. He just had a full checkup at the vet and he is in tiptop health.


            • Sarita
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                I think this is common behavior to be honest. My rabbit who is litter box trained also has stray poops in places throughout my house – 90% is in the litter box. My rabbit is free roam 24/7 and goes up and down stairs.

                He will poop on my bed when he is up there – but this seems very common for rabbits as your bed (and couch) smell very much like you. It’s annoying but since it’s just poop I sweep it up with my hand.

                My rabbit is neutered and he’s approximately 5 years old.

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            Forum BEHAVIOR Clearly defiant