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Forum HABITATS AND TOYS Free Roam Buns – Accidents???

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    • njbunny
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        So I had my bunny 1 week now and he is really doing great with his litter box. He was consistently peeing in the box and would go back into the cage to use it when we had him out to play with him. Every day he is allowed to run around for a few hours while we are upstairs. Yesterday because he was doing so good and is not chewing anything I left him out unsupervised for a bit while I was downstairs. He had access to the room his cage is in, the hallway and my bedroom. I am pretty sure he never left his room and when I peeked in to check on him he was just laying on the floor of the room. Anyway, later in the day I noticed a wet spot on the carpet. He had peed while he was out by himself. Is this normal? When we are around he goes right into his cage to pee but when he was by himself he peed on the carpet. I was thinking because he was doing so good (97% of his poops are in his box/cage and 100% of his pees were in his box) I would be able to let him free roam the upstairs. He is older but we have no idea how old. Deff an adult. He is neutered. Did I give him too much freedom too quickly? Just wondering those of you who let the buns free roam during the day, do they ever have accidents? I hate following him around like a hawk when he is out but I feel like I still have to do that now.


      • Sarita
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          I’m not sure one “accident” is really an indication of continued behavior. You really have to give more than one day to see if this is a one time occurrence or will be a behavior that continues.


        • njbunny
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            Yes, I am deff going to give him more time, was just wondering if the free roam buns are 100% litter trained or they still have an accident from time to time and that should be expected.


          • Monkeybun
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              It might help to have another litter box out, so if he has to go, he’ll have another one close


            • njbunny
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                I will try that. Where he peed was not even 10 feet away from his cage but maybe he was just being lazy hehe. I put a box in the hallway and he jumped right in and used it (didn’t even touch the hay) so he deff has it figured out.


              • Beka27
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                  It’s been a couple days… any accidents since?

                  I agree that it might have really just been an accident.


                • njbunny
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                    Ok so here is the latest. He has not gone outside of his cage/pen area other than that one time but I also have been limited his time out to an hour a few times a day. One thing, yesterday I switched his wee wee pad (used in the middle of his cage to cover some cracks in the plastic) with a washable incontinence pad (very thin almost like a quilt material) and he had a accident in his XXlarge dog crate overnight. He NEVER pees outside his box in his crate. It looks like it was in the corner opposite the box so not sure if the new material is the cause or if he was eating hay next to the box not remembering to get in? I am going to try the pad a few more times to see how it goes. Hoping it is a fluke.

                    Regarding his pen (half incontinence pad/half sheet). He peed on the sheet part in the corner furthermost from the box. The pen is maybe 7′ by 9′ and he is in there during the day when not out to play. This is not his first accident in there but he has been doing pretty good going mostly in the box (1 box w/ hay). I blocked off half of the pen to try to limit the space and slowly open it back up to him. I am wondering if I also need to have another box although the space is not that big. He is an adult and was neutered but not sure exactly when.

                    Oh, one thing I just realized the accident yesterday in the pen (on the sheet) was right next to his grass mat that I had just added that day. This is the second grass mat as the first one I put in his cage got pee on it when he peed near that as well. he does not really seem to chew on them so I wonder if I should just get rid of them since this is the second time he has had an accident right next to it.


                  • LongEaredLions
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                      I have free roam bunnies and what I have found is that when you free range them, they do tend to not go as much in the cage base litter box, but all over the cage. They use the cage as one giant litterbox, and don’t tend to go to the bathroom in the free roam areas. Might just be my bunnies, I don’t know.
                      As for the Seagrass mat, could you hang it on the side of the cage so he can still chew it but can’t pee on it?


                    • njbunny
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                        If they use the cage as the bathroom how do you handle the pee?


                      • CheriB603
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                          Try removing all the soft stuff from the floor (sheet, wee pad) as they like to pee on soft things. Can you duct tape over the crack?


                        • njbunny
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                            So for the pen (when he cannot be free roaming) just leave the shower curtain plastic down? I don’t know what else to put over it that would be waterproof but not soft. I looked at linoleum flooring but all the products said they were not waterproof so I did not want to have the pee seeping into the linoleum. I also was afraid the pee would run off the flooring and make a mess. 

                            Once he is better with the box in his pen (not having any accidents anywhere) can I reintroduce a sheet or something like that or do some buns always need to be on a hard surface for their home base?

                            Regarding the pen accidents, the first was a poor design (I had a dead end that I think he considered a litter box) which I fixed. The second accident was where the litter box used to be but I had moved it (was trying to see if he wanted to use the dead end space instead..grrrr). The next accident was in another corner near the front of his pen so I kind of blocked it off with toys so it did not have a 90 degree angle anymore. And the last accident was right next to his grass mat (put it in that day) which I think he considered a litter box since it technically is a hay like material which is where he normally pees. So in 1.5 weeks he had 4 accidents but I think I understand why they happened. I did not consider the flooring material was too soft. I am right now testing the too much space theory by cutting his pen space in half. If he pees in that then I will be pretty confident it is the flooring material. What a pain trying to guess what he is thinking!

                             

                            He really isn’t bad. Most of the accidents have been in the pen so I do feel like eventually we will be able to give him much more free roaming time (more then 2-3hrs). I am just so nervous he will pee and I wont know about it. I literally follow him everywhere he goes when he is out which makes for little work around the house! He is so good otherwise. No chewing, digging, etc. He is a perfect gentleman.


                          • LongEaredLions
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                              Posted By njbunny on 11/17/2013 04:23 PM

                              If they use the cage as the bathroom how do you handle the pee?

                              I put down towels, then fleece overtop. The fleece wicks the pee down to the towels, and the towels absorb it. They don’t pee out of the litterbox as much as poop, but they still do.

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                          Forum HABITATS AND TOYS Free Roam Buns – Accidents???