My family (Mom+Dad+3 year old daughter) bought Fred from a Flemish giant breeder approximately 3 weeks ago. Fred had fleas and we treated those for the first couple of weeks. (Woo! for flea-free!) Supposedly he is neutered, and supposedly he is about 10/11 months old currently. Supposedly he lived with a similar family type briefly before they had to relocate and, sadly, gave Fred back to the breeder.
About 4 days ago we started to let Fred out of his crate and into the living room. We had decided that he would ultimately have free range of that room. The first 4 days went very, very well. Fred went back to his crate to munch, potty, and take a drink periodically. Fred was so incredibly well-behaved. He mostly just hopped around and flopped down for a good, stretched-out rest.
He had 2 “accidents” outside of his crate of dropping 1 poo pellet each time right in front of his crate door but I suspected they were purely accidental since both happened as he was relaxing in front of his crate door and, perhaps, simply forgot to get up in time to go to the litterbox.
Tonight we opened Fred’s crate (we had done grocery shopping so he had to be crated while we weren’t home) and he began his usual roaming and lounging. We’ve made very sure that his crate is his “safe space” to get away, potty, eat, etc. without anybody pestering him. My daughter knows not to mess with his crate or him when he’s headed toward it so even she is aware that Fred’s crate is Fred’s little “home” inside home.
I usually sit relatively close to his crate on one end of our loveseat and watch tv, game, and browse the ‘net. He kept coming up and wanting to try to get behind the loveseat there (he wouldn’t fit anyway) and I shooed him away (gently moved him away with my hand) twice and he hopped off and enjoyed the other area of the living room.
About an hour after I had shooed him he came back around to that area of the loveseat. I didn’t shoo him this time, but, instead, just monitored him to make sure he didn’t try to dig at the wall to get behind the loveseat. I saw him flick his tail up a few times and…spray urine. A massive amount of urine.
He sprayed up onto the loveseat, wall, and down on the floor before promptly scurrying off. I retrieved him and crated him so he could be refreshed where his littlerbox (still) is. I used a pet spray to clean up the urine I could, but now I’m definitely concerned that he will continue to urinate like that.
Is this actually normal, expected behavior from a neutered male rabbit? (Is there a way to check he is indeed neutered?) Is this because he is still roaming around the room and wants to mark “his” territory? Is this any indication that he isn’t happy here? Is it because I shooed him away a couple of times when he really wanted to check it out? Does he need a litter box inside his crate and outside of his crate even though the living room is not large? Is urinating elsewhere a sign that he wants his litter box changed (it’s been 2 days so I suppose I could change it)? Is it because he’s still relatively young?
Side note: Flemish giants urinate A LOT.