This bun is driving me crazy!

[Rexxar]

I have no idea what his problem is, but he keeps peeing outside of his litter box! He had completely gotten the hang of it, so I’ve let him have free run of my bedroom all day and night, with nothing but the occasional poo outside. But, just a few days ago, he’s started peeing outside of his cage. The first couple days, I shut him up in his cage for a few hours, and let him out again, and all night, nothing happened, but once I got up and ate breakfast, I come back to my room to find a huge puddle =\ He’s been in his cage for the last 24 hours because now, every time I open his door, he hops out and pees on the floor! I don’t know what to do! 

[LoveChaCha]

I read your previous posts/topics and I see that he is a young rabbit. It looks like he needs to be neutered – it will help with his litter habits. When the hormones kick in – rabbits seem to forget how to use the toilet properly

[Rexxar]

I don’t know if he’s old enough to have hit bunny puberty. The vet said he couldn’t have been older than 4 weeks.. 4 weeks ago, so he’s about two months old. I thought they usually didn’t start til 3-4 months?

I brought him out to look at his teeth, maybe they were bothering him. His teeth are fine, but one of his toes is crooked!

That ‘missing’ toe is over on top of the last one on the right.  I don’t think it’s broken, but surely it hurts. Maybe he’s misbehaving to tell me his foot hurts? Should we go to the vet? 

[Monkeybun]

I would take him in if it’s not looking right. And to get his teeth checked too. You can look at the front ones, but the back ones are extremely difficult to see without a scope.

Are you sure he said 4 weeks? A bun shouldn’t be separated from its mama til 8 weeks old

At any rate, it can be very hard to litter train an unaltered bun, especially a baby. Don’t punish him by keeping him in a little cage 24/7, maybe put something down ont eh floor that you can toss int he wash if he pees on it. he can’t help it, he’s a baby

[Elrohwen]

Babies can be hard to litter train until they’re older and neutered. It’s possible that he’s older than the vet said (4 weeks is very very young to be away from mama) and it becoming territorial.

What surfaces does he pee on? Many buns find it tempting to pee on carpet or soft surfaces, especially those that smell like us (beds, couches, etc). It could help to put down something non-absorbent so he will learn not to go there.

[Rexxar]

He was very tiny when we got him from the pet store. I think the vet was right about his age. I don’t remember if she checked his molars, but I imagine she did, though no one mentioned it.

We’re scheduled with the vet for tuesday.

For a while I had an old fleece blanket down on my wood floors. He had just a couple accidents on it, so it’s been in the laundry. Last night he actually peed on me while I was getting him some fresh hay. It seems he’s only been peeing while I’m around to notice it. I’ll make sure to ask the vet when she thinks we can neuter him.
He knows he’s supposed to use his litterbox, he does it all the time, I don’t think I’ve ever woken up to find a puddle in the floor, so he’s probably just acting up right now. Any tips on keeping the poos outside of his cage to a minimum? There’s just stray pellets all over my floor, which isn’t a big problem, but I’d like to sweep less often x.x

[Sarita]

Well, rabbits don’t really know they are supposed to use their litter box and they don’t act up just to act up – training is a matter of positive reinforcement and also routine. When they hit puberty they start getting hormonal. So neutering them helps. Also retraining with positive reinforcement helps once they get neutered.

[Stickerbunny]

He may be marking while you are in the room, but that is hormonal. Unaltered buns will mark things as theirs, even their slaves. If he’s really that young, he was separated from his mother way too young and lost a lot of the socialization that babies get from their litter mates as well. Just be patient with him until he can be neutered and his hormones calm down, then he should go back to normal. Until then, may I recommend some water proof playmats for your floor?

[Ahvo]

My first vet said Ponyo could be fixed after about ten weeks, but I made his appointment for a little over a month after that because the second vet he saw said he was a little diddy in her opinion. His balls got so darn big… But he stopped peeing on my bed completely and utterly about a month after his neutering. And stopped courting and humping me, too, thank god. <3

But the peeing everywhere thing can be such a hassle… I remember. Ponyo is the perfect litterbutt now though. I just plopped him in his litter tray every time he had an accident, and moved any poops he did into it while he could see. And now I’ve got Ringo being a piddler, but she’s just doing exactly what he did at her age, but luckily I know not to let her on my bed for long now. Thanks Ponyo.

[LoveChaCha]

Ahvo,the first vet said your rabbit could be fixed at 10 weeks? Am I correct? O_O That is really early! Boys are usually neutered around 4 months of age.

[Ahvo]

Yeah, I figured. It’s a good thing we waited so long. .__.

[zpipes]

Cute rabbit though.

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