litter trained but pooping everywhere

[MD]

I have a pair of adopted bonded female bunnies, both neutered, which have been living with me for 2 months. They were litter trained at the shelter and I have a nice big litter box for them, but they are also using the rest of their cage as a litter box. I thought it was marking at first, but this is a lot of volume of droppings.  It is really bothering me–I am a neat person and I don’t like all that mess.  I don’t know why they are doing this. Lately they have been digging in their litter box and tearing up all the newspaper below the carefresh and hay. I don’t know how to discipline them and I’m ripping my hair out over this. I’m so frustrated, I’m almost questioning why I adopted them in the first place.

[Deleted User]

Hi, I had the same problem. You will have to litter train them again (thats what I did) because they are in a new environment and might think that they are allowed to use the whole cage. The quickest way that I have used, is to take out everything from the cage, except the litter tray, and everytime they poop or wee outside of the litter tray, put it in the litter tray. Soak up the urine in a tissue, if they use the litter tray, then give them a treat. Remember not to put anything in the cage, not even bedding. Hope it works for you

[MooBunnay]

Hello,

This is quite a normal thing for bunnies that have just moved into a new environment. Since they have been p reviously litter-trained, I think you will have success in getting them back to their good habits. Here is what I recommend, as it is the way I trained all of my bunnies:

1. Put a lot of hay in the litterbox itself over the layer of litter, bunnies pee and poop while they eat, so this will make sure they are in the right spot If you’d prefer, you can also put a light layer of hay in the litterbox, and hang a hay rack right above the litterbox as well.

2. Remove everything from the cage bottom other than the actual cage flooring (e.g., any extra rugs or anything they are bunching up, but you can leave the toys. If you are using a mat to cover a wire cage bottom or anything like that, leave that in)

3. Since you are a neat person – you probably do this anyways – but for a couple weeks – thoroughly clean the cage floor at least 2x a day, when you are home, clean the cage bottom any time you see any poops outside the box. Put all of the poops on the floor into the litterbox, and clean the floor completely with vinegar. This will really enforce the litterbox using, because the litterbox will have all their poops in it, and the cage bottom won’t smell like a litterbox at all. If you have a rug or carpet cage bottom, do the same, and blot the cage bottom with vinegar and paper towels.

Using this process – I have actually trained all my bunnies in 2 weeks max. I think for a lot of bunnies the key is to keep lots of poops in their litterbox, and the cage floor spotless – it really teaches them where the poops are supposed to go!

Good luck

[MooBunnay]

Oh – and the digging in the litterbox is quite normal for bunnies to do – I would recommend buying a cat covered litterbox (e.g. Booda Dome) because they can dig and dig but the litter won’t come out! In place of newspaper and carefresh – try using feline pine instead. I think its the newspaper that really atracts them to start digging and ripping. Do you have any seagrass mats? You can put those on the cage floor, and while your litter training, it helps because you can just dump and poops on the mat back into the litterbox, and these are something the buns can dig and chew on that will distract them from the litter box.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Yup, I tried shredded newspaper in my litterbox once, and they immediately removed it to play with it! I’d switch the litter like moobunny suggested!

[babybunsmum]

yeahi tried the newspaper in the cage thing too.  thought it might be okay for him to lay on & soak up pee that wasnt where it should be.  when i woke up the next morning i couldnt see the bunny at all!  he had shreded the whole pile of newspaper and burried himself in it… lol.  oh… AND it was full of pee and poops.  he had loads of fun i’m sure but it was more of mess to clean than i had anticipated!

[MD]

Okay, I am trying the litterbox-retraining method.  It’s only been a few days, so I’m not sure how it’s working yet.  Misty (my white bunny with black markings) decided that it would be fun to pee on the carpet.  I think she is the main offender.  Daphny (my gray bunny) seems to know not to do that, or at least I haven’t caught her making a puddle or pile.

[MD]

So far, no luck with retraining them to use the box.  They’re still going everywhere–just looks like less because I’m cleaning so often.  Not sure what to do.

[babybunsmum]

i’d say keep hanging in there.  since it hasn’t quite been 2 weeks yet they may just need a little more persistance to catch on.  one thing i was wondering… where do you have the litter in relation to the room the enclosure is in?  i’m wondering if they’re trying to tell you to move the litter to a different spot.  this may not apply depending on your set-up there, but i mention it because i had to move baby bun’s litter into a corner where she always peed in.  as soon as i moved the litter there her habits improved a LOT. 

[Scarlet_Rose]

This is a cage and not an x-pen? Hmm, do the two females get along O.K.? Have you tried placing the hay for them to eat right by it to encourage them to use it? This is sounding more and more like territorial poo rather than bad habits. How big of an area do they have to run around in? My other thought is that they think their litterbox is a play toy for digging. So, what *might* help is providing them with a diggy box and they just may leave thye litterbox for their business. Have you placed the poo in their litterbox? Another thing would be resorting to placing a grate or harware cloth in the litterbox to prevent digging.

An observation I’ve made with my two is that during the winter they tend to dig in their litterbox more than the summer. I’m guesssing it is instinctual because I think they are trying to dig a burrow for winter. Has anything changed with the house, with you, new people or…?

[Spacehopper]

Mine are litter trained, but since we did up the bedroom they now also use their cage to go toilets in. It really is quite annoying, but if it keeps them happy, and at least they don’t do it on the bed…lol

[Deleted User]

I have a 1 1/2 yr old satin that i got 2wks ago and I am a new bunny owner…he is neutered..he came to me because he was getting beaten up by his buddy rabbit that was not neutered..so this is all new to me..help…for the first few days he used the litter box really well…he still does for the most part…but there will be like 2 days in a row that he will go all over the house!!!! The litterbox that the person brought seems to be too small…when he gets in it…he takes up over half of it..it is one of those corner ones..he weighs about3-4 pounds…should I get a larger litterbox or wait him out…the prevous owner does not answer her phone….please HELP…his name is Beepers and he is a joy otherwise…he does not let me pick him up..i just got to pet him a week ago

[Sarita]

Janymae – definitely get a bigger litter box – those corner boxes don’t really do the trick in my opinion! I only use those for one of my rabbits that actually back up in the corner to pee and poop otherwise they aren’t any good. Get one in the cat section – a regular litter box.

Also MD – what kind of litter are you using? I find some rabbits can be very picky about the litter too!

[Deleted User]

Hi MD
Iam using carefresh bedding for litterbox stuff and timothy hay combined…Beepers seems to like it…when he usess it…

[tishaalba]

Jan I have a 1 1/2 year old bunny(I think) as well we both got them in a similar situation. I’m litter training him but what I do: he poops and pees in the litter bOx (Most of the time) but if he does outside I just pick up his poops and put them in the litter box.but he’s probably just marking hi territory with them. That way his cage is always clean and he recognizes where hes supposed to go

[tishaalba]

Jan I have a 1 1/2 year old bunny(I think) as well we both got them in a similar situation. I’m litter training him but what I do: he poops and pees in the litter bOx (Most of the time) but if he does outside I just pick up his poops and put them in the litter box.but he’s probably just marking hi territory with them. That way his cage is always clean and he recognizes where hes supposed to go

[Sarita]

Tishaabla, this post is from 2007 – please do not respond to old posts, it confuses people – you should start your own posts.

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