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Forum BEHAVIOR Rabbit that never got pee trained?

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    • gimkeat
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        I have two bunnies: one ND/HL cross (Little White) and another ND/local cross (Little Grey)

        I have adopted White since he was 7-8 weeks and he has been a perfect bunny in terms of pee training department. However, when we adopted Grey when he was about 6-8 months old, and he never got 100% pee trained.

        Two months ago, we had decided to put them together in a big cage, hence we brought them to a respectable vet to undergo neutering op. We bonded them slowly after their recovery from the neuter and they responded to each other well.

        Since mid May, we have put them together in the same cage. They have never humped each other or fighted since then. White has still been perfect in the pee train department, he was 100% litter trained before and after the neuter, even after he got a new cagemate. However, Grey has never been pee trained until now. In normal days, Grey usually pees outside the pee tray (the pee tray is high and big, and Grey can hop in easily) 4-5 times per day, especially when he is excited (eg. expecting for food) or when the lights are off.

        We have got Grey for approximately 4 months, since then we have been pee training him (use paper to soak pee and put in pee tray, clean stains with 50% vinegar etc). We have been reading a lot and we are fairly confident that our training method is fine (we welcome any good suggestions though). Grey has been neutered two months ago (his testicles were not descended, vet had to make a small incision near groin to take his testicles out. Could this affect his pee train?) One point to note is that Grey never lifted his tail while he is peeing, that makes it harder for us to spot the exact time when he does it.

        Currently our patience is running out, after 2 months of pre-neuter + 2 months of post-neuter pee training, he is still peeing 4-5 times outside the pee tray per day. Is it possible that Grey might never get pee trained? Or do you have any special ways of pee training him to share with us? We really do not know how to deal with him anymore. Thank you!

         

         


      • Beka27
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          I would keep working with him. Continue to confine them both in their habitat. Some rabbits are “excited pee-ers” and this might not change…

          How large is their cage, is it a condo with levels, or a pen? What is the flooring made out of? What type of litterbox and litter are you using? How often is the box getting changed? Do you have one box for both or two separate boxes? During exercise time, is he peeing everywhere or is it just in the cage?


        • gimkeat
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            Ya i am fairly sure Grey is “excited pee-ers”. > < And he might be a "fear pee-er" also, whenever i hold him by hand to groom him or try wipe his urine soaked leg, his tail will shiver and this often accompanied by peeing.

            Their cage is about 120cm x 60cm x 60cm. Currently it has only 1 floor, they will get their 2nd floor when they are fully pee trained.
            The flooring is made of plastic (bare flooring) and the litter box is a plastic box with breeder celect paper pellets as litter (covered with bathroom mat). The box is getting changed at 2 times per week. I had two separate boxes some time ago, but the training was not successful, hence recently i switched to one bigger and higher box hoping to lesser the cofusion. They have a few hours of free time in the pen per day, and most of the time outside Grey behaved quite well, the frequency of missing litter box is much lower outside the cage.


          • Beka27
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              I had to use a conversion tool to convert that from metric to standard, I’m hopeless with centimeters… lol.

              So the cage is 4 feet by 2 feet. The footprint of the cage alone is not large enough for two rabbits. The pen that you have, is that permanently attached to the cage so they have access to it at all times? I think in this situation, the problem with peeing everywhere is due to the space being too small. Use the large pen as the habitat, and if you wanted, you could keep the cage attached and use that as a hay rack/litterbox. I would think that would solve most of your problems.


            • gimkeat
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                yes what i ultimately want to have is for them to roam freely in the house, however they need to be pee trained beforehand. Isn’t confinement one of the best way of pee training them? Thus i keep them in cage and let them have free time every day.

                Regarding to the “excited peeing”, is there anyway to reduce this behavior? I am trying to delay the feeding their feeding time whenever Grey pees when i walk near. So Grey will not see food as a reward for peeing outside. > < Is this behavior counted as incontinence?


              • gimkeat
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                  I’ve just spotted Grey sleeping on his pee. He was just lying there and when he got up, i found the flooring beneath was covered with puddles of pee. His abdomen fur was all wet and stinky.

                  Aren’t rabbits naturally fond of cleanliness? How could Grey lie down onto puddles of pee by himself? > <


                • jerseygirl
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                    That does seem like something is up. Maybe he gets chronic urinary infections? Have you ever had his urine tested?

                    You mentioned you got him at 6-8months old. Where was he before that? Do you know what his living conditions were like?


                  • gimkeat
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                      Posted By jerseygirl on 06/15/2011 05:36 AM
                      That does seem like something is up. Maybe he gets chronic urinary infections? Have you ever had his urine tested?

                      You mentioned you got him at 6-8months old. Where was he before that? Do you know what his living conditions were like?

                       

                      Yes the tests came out clean. However, Grey’s urine is often yellow color but White’s urine is transparent most of the time (they have the same diet and environment). Should I be concerned over this?

                      Grey was bought from a pet shop as mentioned by the previous owner, and he suffered from soft stool when he was small. The previous owner suspected that he was weaned too early. I am not sure if his undescended testicles syndrome was due to this malnutrition when he was a kit, but he is of good size now. I am not sure how was his living conditions as the previous owner sent Grey to my doorstep, but she mentioned that she kept a few bunnies together.

                      I am pretty sure it is a behavioral problem. Grey is very timid compared to White (probably “bullied” by other rabbits before we got him). But he does not have urine leakage problem, and most of the time he was munching hay, then leaped out of pee tray to urinate outside, and leaped back in continue munching hay like nothing happened before. This happens about 1 out of 5 times.


                    • LoveChaCha
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                        Yellow is normal.


                      • gimkeat
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                          any idea if it’s better to feed pellets/vege in the pee tray or outside?

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                      Forum BEHAVIOR Rabbit that never got pee trained?