Bonded buns forgetting litter training!

[sophie_gretel]

My 2 bonded girls are litter trained, for the most part. They haven’t ever been perfect at it, but they were good enough for me. They are free roam, so their base is set up in the kitchen. They haven’t ever gone to the bathroom on the carpet or kitchen floor, except for stray poops here and there. They have always gone somewhere in their cage, when they had one. Right now their set up is a large dog crate bottom surrounded with grids, but always open. I have 2 litter boxes filled with pellets and also have a layer of pellets on the dog crate, because they don’t always use the boxes, but they always the go somewhere in the crate, which is fine. This has worked up until recently.

 

I also have a male bunny that isn’t old enough to be neutered yet. He is housed in our bedroom, which is carpet, but since he has horrible litter habits right now, it was really tough to keep up with the cleaning when he was out of the cage. I had a very short lived idea to make a fenced area in the kitchen because the linoleum is way easier to clean than carpet, as I am sure you all know, . I had grids cutting the kitchen in half and were 2 grids high, but I couldn’t find a way to keep it stable enough to not get knocked around. As soon as my girls realized he was there, they were way too curious to leave the “fence” alone. Little bunny is a little devil too, and since he is super tiny can slip through any little crack. So he did eventually find a way out and he and Gretel had a tiff and tumbled around a little bit. Don’t worry, everyone was okay. Now he is back in my room and we just deal with the cleaning. Now back to the point.

 We cleaned up the kitchen area with vinegar, but they are peeing and pooping all over the floor! It’s not in just one particular spot too, so putting another litter box wouldn’t solve the problem. I’m assuming it’s for marking purposes, but how can I remedy the situation. Is there a special cleaner, or have they forgotten how to use the litter box?

[RabbitPam]

I doubt they have forgotten, but they are definitely marking and telling him that’s their turf. You will need to get him litter trained by himself to start to make progress, I think. I assume he is neutered and they are spayed? If not, he is going to be very hormonal, marking and dominant until he is. He cannot get near either girl if they aren’t spayed yet.

Might try an xpen for his limited area. Usually, it takes a little while to get them fully litter trained, and a confined space, while not free roam, is helpful for them to get the hang of it. They actually learn to use the litter pan in their favorite spot. You can watch for him to pee, and wait to let him out until after you’ve seen him go, just to increase the odds that he won;t pee where he shouldn’t. But right now it’s probably territorial for all of them. (Who’s that new kid I smell in my house?)

[sophie_gretel]

They are both spayed, but he isn’t neutered yet. The bedroom is working out okay for now, the only thing we are struggling with is when they knock the gate down, but it doesn’t happen often.
Even after cleaning the area, they are still marking. Is that just something I have to deal with until I get my male neutered?

He has perfect litter habits in his cage, it’s when he’s out that the problem starts. I have a few litter boxes in the spots that he likes, so he isn’t peeing on the carpet much but he poops all over the place! I’m hoping that he will catch on once he gets neutered.

[RabbitPam]

Yes, I’m afraid he’s just really hormonal and it sets them off and makes him mark. It should improve a month after he is neutered. Once it’s done, and his hormones have died down over those few weeks (and watch out for one final surge of marking/aggression after the spay) he will be more able to start bonding with them, and they will be less territorial. Hang in there, and get that appointment!

[sophie_gretel]

Thanks! I cannot wait until he is neutered and bonded with them. Life will be much less stressful. Although, bonding them will be the biggest stress of all!

[Stickerbunny]

Cleaning doesn’t stop the fact that icky male thing was in their space. Keep cleaning and they should go back to boxes eventually… of course when you bond all three they might lose habits again. The joys of territorial buns. Something you just have to deal with when you bring a new bunny home until things settle.

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