Biting!! pooping everywhere

[Cuckoo]

Hi, I am a new bunny mom and new to this place.

So I got a male dwarf bunny from somebody who does not want him anymore. She said he’s about 6 month of age and litter trained. But he has not been neutered. I am getting him neutered this thursday.

But, the pervious owner littered trained him in his entire cage. So after hours of cleaning his cage. I set up a litter box covered in Newspaper, hays, and some bedding. He doesn’t seem to like the bedding, he digs them out. So I removed the bedding and he does just fine in the litter box. He still poops some outside of his box. But reading from everyone else, seems like he’s just trying to mark his territory.

However, when I try to let him out to roam around the room. He’ll poop just right outside and around of his cage. I can’t tell whether he’s going to go or not, it seems like every hop he leaves some poo. Some people say they raise their tails when they need to go, well, seems to me his tails are always raisd? Is that a problem?

And also,I try to pick up his droppings and dump it back to his litter box to show him that’s where he should poo. (I leave the ones in cage alone, because its his place, I respect that) But even the outside one, whenever I try to pick it up, he’ll run over to bite me. I can tell he’s warning me to back off his territory. This has become very troublesome for me, I don’t know how to treat him not to do that. I’ve tried to spray him with water, clap my hands, squeal when he bites. Nothing has helped…

Would neutering him be better with this behavior? I am very confused.

[Michelle&Lolli]

Yes, neutering will help with his behavior in general and especially with marking his territory. But it will take up to a month for his hormones to clear out of his system. If he is still fairly new to your place, he is most likely still marking his territory. He will quit doing this so much as his hormones go away after his neuter and as he gets used to his new home. He will still leave a few here or there because they just need to re-establish their “territory” every so often.

If you can protect your hands/arms in some way – like with oven mits or towels – he should learn after he bites and you don’t react that biting isn’t working for him anymore. So you would clean up his poops like normal just with something protecting yourself so you don’t feel it and you’d just continue on after he decides to get all stupid male on you and bite you. lol

I was never able to tell when either of mine were pooping either. Mine only seemed to raise their tails when they were going to pee. They’d sit there, then hop off and there’d be a pile of poop left behind.

And it’s wonderful that you are getting him neutered! Did someone suggest it to you or did you learn about rabbits before taking him? So many people just get bunnies without researching them then don’t understand how beneficial neutering/spaying is. So kudos to you!

[Cuckoo]

Thanks,
I did many research on rabbits through searching a pet that suits my schedule. And many people suggest that neutering and spaying is good for them. That’s why I decide to get him neutered.

I am just troubled with his behavior at this moment. He’s new to my house and doesn’t me peting him so much (i get nervous, got sweety hands..)
so I am still gonna give him a little more time for him to get use to me.

[Michelle&Lolli]

Since he’s 6 months old, he’s right at the age for his hormones to really start kicking in. So that you are getting him neutered this thursday is a very good thing. And once the hormones go away, he should quit with his behavior. He might still be a bit aggressive about things at time, but he shouldn’t just come up and bite you. Good luck and let us know how his neuter goes!

[peppypoo]

Agreed with Michelle – neutering should help these behaviors. Of course, it’s not going to be an immediate cure-all, but it should definitely help in reducing things like marking and biting, and make things easier in general.  Thank you for rescuing the poor bun, and doing proper research before bringing him into your home! It makes me happy every time I see that there are responsible new bunny owners out there .

[Cuckoo]

happy to hear that guys!! Knowing that his behavior would lessen makes me feel better.

Yesterday he seems a lot more friendly when I got home. But a few hours later, he goes back to territory mood and poop everywhere. however, stopped biting  or he would nip me softly. I guess the squeal does help.

Still no idea if he has opened up to me yet. Any signs I should look for?

[Elrohwen]

Yep, sounds like he’s a hormonal little guy! He’s running around your house and marking it as “his” with his poo, then when you pick it up he gets ticked off, because he just spent time marking that area. Haha. Hormonal bunnies can be a bit crazy, but neutering will definitely help. It’s good that he’s not biting so hard anymore! My bun uses his teeth on me sometimes, but he’s able to put his teeth on me without actually biting down, so they can learn to inhibit their bite or communicate with you in other ways.

Signs that he’s opening up to you would be lounging in the middle of the floor (only a comfortable bunny will stretch out in the middle of an open area), letting you pet him, watching what you do, or running up to you. Some hormonal bunnies run circles around those they love while making a soft honking – it’s like the mating dance – so if he does that, you’ll know he likes you 😉

[Emmie]

Posted By Elrohwen on 04/26/2011 10:43 AM
Yep, sounds like he’s a hormonal little guy! He’s running around your house and marking it as “his” with his poo, then when you pick it up he gets ticked off, because he just spent time marking that area. Haha. Hormonal bunnies can be a bit crazy, but neutering will definitely help. It’s good that he’s not biting so hard anymore! My bun uses his teeth on me sometimes, but he’s able to put his teeth on me without actually biting down, so they can learn to inhibit their bite or communicate with you in other ways.

Signs that he’s opening up to you would be lounging in the middle of the floor (only a comfortable bunny will stretch out in the middle of an open area), letting you pet him, watching what you do, or running up to you. Some hormonal bunnies run circles around those they love while making a soft honking – it’s like the mating dance – so if he does that, you’ll know he likes you 😉

 

Haha, oh it’s so funny when they do that little circle dance! I’m standing there, trying to do washing and Zelda’ll just start running around in circles around me.

[Cuckoo]

 at this point, I haven’t observed any of that. Guess he doesn’t like me yet.

Just noticed today at work, I got more bruises on me than ever before. hope that my coworkers doesn’t mistaken that as domestic abuse from my husband. lol

[Michelle&Lolli]

If he isn’t circling, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t like you or anything. If you just got him recently, it might take him a while to get comfortable enough to lay stretched out and things like that. Some rabbits warm right up to their people and others take a while.

Eddie was stretching out, giving kisses, etc within a day or two of me bring him home. Lolli has just recently started giving me kisses and I think it took around a year before I started noticing her laying stretched out in the middle of the room. And she’s almost 3 years old! So it all depends!

[Carol]

One thing I tried that helped with the pooping was I watched and my bunny Bean (who is also about 6 mo) seemed to poop the most in one area (she still pooped all over too but there was one corner that had the most). In that corner I placed a towel that she had peed on and gathered some of the poop from around the room and put that on the towel as well. When I took her out of the cage and let her out I first put her on the towel. It took about three days of this but she no longer poops all over the room and I have switched the towel for a litter box. I hope that helps

[Cuckoo]

thanks for the tip everyone.

I am about to change my bun’s name to poophead; because today i basically followed him around the room, while he explore, picking up his poop. every stop he made, he poops.

One thing that i noticed tho, he starts to mark me. He would chin me, then poop a whole lot while doing that , like seriously a pile of poop. I then sweep it all up, dump in his litter box.

I was wondering if I am reinforceing his bad litter habbit, if I should just put him in his litter box whenever he does that. Or I should wait til’ he’s done neutering….

[Michelle&Lolli]

It could be that he has too much room right now. The best way to litter box train is to limit their space and pick up the poops in that space until he masters going in the box only. Then you would give him more space. Once he learns to go back to his box or in a box close by, you would give him more space. And so on. Once he’s properly trained, he will still leave a few poops here and there to “remark” his territory. Even though he’s the only rabbit. Cause it’s just what the little poopheads do. lol

You haven’t mentioned him peeing anywhere outside his box. But if he is, you would simply use a paper towel to blot up the pee and then put that in his litter box. Lolli learned to pee in her box a lot sooner than she did pooping. In fact, she never really did cause I was lazy.

By simply putting his poops in the box, he will eventually learn (hopefully soon) that that’s where he needs to go ALL THE TIME. You’re not really reinforcing his bad habits. Right now, he’s marking his territory. However, a lot of rabbits do need retrained after they are neutered/spayed because their hormones kick in before that’s done and they start marking up a storm. Once he’s neutered and his hormones go down, he really will get better about all this! Honest!

[Cuckoo]

Currently I am keeping him in a small room (bathroom), but if it were go smaller than that I guess I need some fence type of things. I looked at the Xpens, they seem great, but would get in the way with other things. should I move him to my living room or kitchen (breakfast area, we don’t have a table there) and extend his roaming space with NIC cube? I saw some people built condos on the forum. I wonder how that works…

Ps. Hard wood floor all over my apartment. He slips all the time….

[Michelle&Lolli]

Ok, well it mainly sounds like he’s marking his territory due to hormones starting to kick in. So I wouldn’t worry too much about it now and just start training him again after his neuter. He should get a lot better about his marking and pooping in general after his neuter and his hormones go down.

(((Hugs to both of you!)))

[Elrohwen]

I agree with Michelle – just keep doing what you’re doing for now, and after his neuter he’ll improve a lot. There’s not much you can do when a bunny is determined to mark their area because of hormones, but at least you can keep reminding him of what he should be doing. If you just let him go wherever he wants it will just encourage his bad habits. By cleaning up after him you’re letting him know what you want, even if he’s not ready to comply.

[Cuckoo]

That’s great to hear!!!
I sweep up his poop using a broom, he doesn’t seem to mind that, no attacks or anything. But whenever I try to pick one or two up with hands, he charges after me..
I have to say, it’s really scary, considering that it’s coming from a rabbit.

They are neutering him tomorrow~ yay!!!Hope that goes well!

[LoveChaCha]

Haha he is being territorial over his poopies and does not want mommy touching the poopies

Sending good healing vibes to your baby!!

[ohsnap_dragon]

Hey Coukoo-

Yeah it took a looooong time to train my bunny. Her name is Betty, and all my dear friends call her Betty Poop, lovingly adopted from the cartoon Betty Boop. As you know in my forum post that your helping me with, things arent going to well litterbox wise in her cage, but I have some pointers on some of your problems, as i’ve recently been through all of this.

Yes, him nipping you as you pick up his poops is a territory thing. While I was training Betty, we had the same issue. She quickly learned to recognize the exact way I would bend down to pick up some poops, and would run over to tell me she didnt want me to do that by lightly nipping me, and running around my feet pooping lots more. Other times I would sweep them all up into the dustpan, and that set her in an eternal war against the broom. Even now, if I take the broom out to sweep something out, Ill turn around and out of nowhere, there will be poop scattered everywhere. I have to constantly hide the broom from her because she will literally attack it anytime she sees it.

So I strongly recommend not to clean up after him while hes watching. I would put Betty in another room or in a box or something whenever I would clean up after her, and she stopped feeling threatened that I was trying to challenge her territory or something.

Also, the general tip of putting the poops in the litter box yourself is helpful to show your bunny why the litterbox is there, but I was always losing track of how many I would put in versus how many she would put in. I had no idea if she was actually using it to poop or not for a long time. Just something to keep track of.

So for months and months I was working so hard to litter train her, and eventually I got her to always pee in her litterbox, but could rarely ever get her to poop there. I was so relieved she was peeing in her box, because thats the WORST to clean up, but she was still pooping everywhere. I tried so many things for so long, but to what seemed to no avail.

Finally, I found the trick for her. I think the final reason rabbits start pooping in their box is different for each especially when theyre young, but for betty it was treats. I started keeping a little cup of raisins on a table near her more frequently used litterbox. When she was out, every 20 mins or so I would pick her up gently and place her in her litter box, and then give her a treat. She quickly got the picture, and would run right into her litterbox everytime I walked into the room, so she could get a treat, and then she would hop right out, and then hop right back in to get another treat. I dont know how her understanding of litterbox=treat lead her to start pooping there, but it did. It might have been because her persistence would lead her to sit in her litterbox for 20 mins to get a treat, while i pretended not to notice she was there, and she had nothing else to do for those 20 mins except to poop, but really I have no idea why. Any way, once I started this excessive treat initiative, she was pooping in her litterbox 90% of the time, in only 1 week, after months of desperation on my part of trying anything. Now the problem is that when shes in her litterbox, and I come anywhere near her, she thinks shes getting a treat, and she gets so excited she forgets to poop, lol. I have no idea if this will be the determining thing for your bunny, but its worth a try.

As for the two of you bonding, it seems that treats would help considerably. I would give him a treat while petting him or holding him a few times a day, and he’ll learn to associate you with good things. Even though you said he doesnt like you to pet him much, its a very important thing to establish with your bun, because it mimicks grooming, which is the easiest and most essential aspect of bonding. So basically your saying “I love you and want to take care of you” in rabbit speak, and he’ll eventually let you start loving him and taking care of him in a way he understands. So treats would probably help start letting you touch pet him more.

haha sorry its so long, Im not very concise. Hope it helps!

[Cuckoo]

Thanks ohsnap_dragon
Like everybody else posted here, he’s just very territorial. I made an observation today.
I lock him in a bigger room along with his litter box. If I am not in the room, he would poop and pee in the litter box.
Once I am in the room, he roams around and poop everywhere. So I guess it’s his way of telling me “my place!” and whenever I pick up his poop he would charge after me going ” what part of MINE don’t you understand?!”

So as long as I am not in the room, he’s perfect bunny. *Signs

as for bonding goes, I do try the treat thing. First couple of days, he’s scared wouldn’t eat anything out of his cage. only when he goes back to his cage, he would eat stuff of my hands. Now he runs over to me when I put out a hand looking for food =D

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