This is getting a bit ridiculous

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 20sd replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 3 months ago by skibunny8503.

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- 05/03/2009 at 9:39 AM
  skibunny8503
  Participant
  1338 posts
  Ok, I’ll admit it…I did something I shouldn’t have done and now I’m paying for it. I took my foster bun out in the living room. I knew there would be a poop here and there but now we’re getting ridiculous! She was only out once (or maybe it was twice). She marked a few places, easy to clean up. Marked a spot with pee but I had my oxyclean carpet spray that took care of that. I put my other two buns out and they went nuts! It’s been oh about a week now and I have not let her out in the living room anymore (we made a nice play area in the basement). Archie, I think, marks a spot here or there but Gracie is going insane! She’s marking all over the place! Even in the dining room and bathroom where Parsnip never went. She keeps marking the same spots with urine. I’ve used vinegar, vacuumed, finally took the cardboard tube out because her scent might be on it. I thought maybe it could be the cottage but she doesn’t really mark around there. If I have company over, I can’t let them out because people will think I let my bunnies poop all over our house Will this ever end??!! She seems like such a diva at times, she wants everyone to know that the house is hers! Of course the other day when we took them outside, Archie made sure that Gracie knew the outside was his territory After he mounted her a bit, he started chinning the grass!
  
  Does anyone have ANY suggestions about this? I feel like I’ve tried everything.
- 05/03/2009 at 11:53 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  I have no idea. My buns are so absolutely “anti-other-bunny” that I don’t think I’d ever be able to foster unless there were a way to keep them completely separate at all times. Some people with multiple pairs have marking issues/poop wars always, it may decrease, it may not. Is the marking only in the living room or has there been a loss of habits in their condo too? Hopefully someone else with multiple buns successfully can come and give some advice…
- 05/03/2009 at 12:35 PM
  skibunny8503
  Participant
  1338 posts
  A few in the dining room (even though she’s never been in there) and if I accidently leave the bathroom door open, I’ll see a trail going around the toliet….it’s kind of funny because I can follow the poos sometimes that leads to her They’re pretty good with going in their litter box but for some strange reason (not sure if it’s both or just one that does this) at night they can’t seem to find the litter box. I wake up in the morning and there’s a bunch of poo right outside the litter. A few pee spots too. I found out the pee was from Archie today, but I was switching out blankets and as soon as put the new one in, he peed all over it. It might have been because it was a brand new fleece blanket.
- 05/03/2009 at 3:12 PM
  bunnytowne
  Participant
  7537 posts
  rofl a trail of poop around the toilet… I know this has to be annoying tho… I have no ideas sorry…
  
  I keep mine seperated and Ruby doesn’t go on Cottons territory except at nite afer I put His Majesty to bed and cover him for the nite. Then I only hold Ruby in the living room…. that way no marking wars start up.
- 05/03/2009 at 6:33 PM
  MooBunnay
  Participant
  3087 posts
  Do you let your bunnies out in the living room free-range, or in a pen? Are they marking the corners of the room or randomly around the room? If they are peeing and pooping in the corners, I’d recommend letting them out in an expen for a bit, and you can put a sheet down on the floor and then put the expen on top of that. That might cut down on the marking for awhile at least until the scent is gone.
  
  Are you still fostering? Maybe since the scent is still there it is causing the bunnies to continue marking. I know territorial marking can be a pain, its one of the toughest things to stop in my opinion. For me, the most important thing was blocking off the corners of the room where the bunnies liked to pee the most.
- 05/03/2009 at 6:53 PM
  Kokaneeandkahlua
  Participant
  12067 posts
  That’s a good point, even if she wasn’t in the other rooms, her scent may be there from you handling her and going in those rooms. I feel your pain, my two pairs are now side by side in a room with a divider and “Poop wars” does not begin to describe the situation! LOL
  I guess my only suggestion would be to wash and change clothing after handling the foster bunny to keep the scent limited and Moobunnies expen idea is great too!
- 05/03/2009 at 7:38 PM
  skibunny8503
  Participant
  1338 posts
  Yup we’re still fostering. She does it in some corners but it’s always be the corner of the couch which we are currently blocking off because I will have a fit if she pees on our new furniture again grr! We took the tunnel and the cottage out but I’ve been seeing Gracie mark over by our newspaper holder and chinning it too. That I do need to keep though.
  I wear a zip up hoodie to carry her down the basement (which we have to walk through the living room to get to) and I take it off once we’re done.
  We were debating on adopting her but if Gracie is going to cause a problem and poop and pee everywhere, I don’t know if I have the patience to deal with it…or enough carpet cleaner! o_O
  The NIC cubes are up around the edge of the couch…and Gracie’s not to pleased about that.
- 05/04/2009 at 2:33 AM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  It really is tough, you may have to just limit their access for a bit so they can understand what is “their” territory and what is the “general” territory that they are not allowed to mark in. When they start marking, you herd them back to their space. This can be difficult and time consuming, but persistence can pay off.
- 05/04/2009 at 5:41 AM
  PEPPA GEORGIE
  Participant
  268 posts
  Oh god sounds like a nightmare, really does spoil some of the enjoyment doesnt it. Well i used to always clean the area as you say but then put something on top of that bit like piece of furnature they cant climb on etc so they cant go on that actual spot. Although they will prob just find another spot to do but they might start to notice where ever they pee they cant go anymore sort of thing. Shame they dont do a bunny pheromone spray like they do for cats marking.
  My bunnies are starting to get better but still territory marking. I do sometimes wish i had got one huge flemish bunny and they would not have another bunny to mark for lol Do lone bunnies still territory mark?? I quite like the idea of restricting their area for awhile. If you take them to a place they have never been like the garage floor or somewhere do they still mark? I was wondering whether it is only familiar territory that they mark when they smell foreign smells. If it was that i suppose you would need to restrict them and remove all smells and make it smell unfamiliar again. um.. difficult though. Was thinking this along the lines of being a prey animal in strange smelling places they wouldnt mark as wouldnt want preditors to know where they were etc. Do they mark as soon as they are out? I notice if mine have been in for a while they dont do much for the first hour then they become comfortable and seem to relax into the whole marking business. Will we ever get to the bottom of the whole poo business.
- 05/04/2009 at 11:24 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  Yes, some single bunnies mark as well. Some pairs of buns never mark… it depends on the indivudual bun.
- 05/05/2009 at 3:32 AM
  PEPPA GEORGIE
  Participant
  268 posts
  arrrr there is yet hope for me and my pair then lol xxx thanks for that xx
- 05/05/2009 at 6:17 AM
  3crazybuns
  Participant
  222 posts
  Wow… Wish I had suggestions, but I don’t… this just sounds very annoying!! starting to scare me a bit too!
- 05/05/2009 at 7:28 AM
  skibunny8503
  Participant
  1338 posts
  It’s calming down a bit. We blocked off the couch (which we had to tie down the grids because Gracie was actually picking them up and moving them over). I was thinking of maybe getting urine be gone that’s in petsmart…I wonder how well that would work. Says it gets rid of pet scents so they won’t mark again. We’ll see.
- 05/08/2009 at 6:47 PM
  skibunny8503
  Participant
  1338 posts
  For some reason Gracie started peeing all over the place. I don’t get it! So we went to Petsmart and bought some Urine Gone. It says to spray until it soaks up the spot, but I only got part of the room done until I ran out. So I ordered a 48 oz of it on amazon and it should be here in a few days. I let them out for a little big and she didn’t pee (during the little time she was out) but she did start pooping eveywhere. I even took out the newspaper rack but still going. Plus she kept chewing at the grids around the couch trying to pull at them. I was NOT in the mood to hear her doing that the whole time. She doesn’t get the word no though. I pushed her head down and told her no….she looks up and goes back to the grids….NO..goes back…ugh! I even pulled her aside in the dining room and held back from running and told her if she pooed one more time she was going back in the cage. She ran off by the living room, stared me down….I did the same….then…poop poop poop. Picked her up and put her in the cage. I’m just going to keep doing that. If she goes to the bathroom, she’ll be picked up and put her in cage. I feel bad for Archie though because I feel like he’s being punished too for her mistakes. I just bought an exercise pen and got it in the mail the other day.. would it be a good idea to put the pen in the dining room or middle of living room and when she poos put her in there while Archie gets the rest of the room?
- 05/08/2009 at 10:57 PM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  It may that you may have to give her a full-blown refresher course – meaning limit her freedom entirely if putting her back does not stop. The great thing is that xpens are perfect for expanding space and giving exercise time out while still limiting freedom.
  
  You may find that if she is the xpen and Archie is running about, she may mark or pee along the sides of pen. And it may cause some frustration where she will chew on the bars which will be annoying too. So if I were you, I would probably put her back into a two-week refresher course – it could take longer or not so long.
  
  Keep us updated on what ends up working for you.
- 05/09/2009 at 6:06 AM
  PEPPA GEORGIE
  Participant
  268 posts
  This is another totally random idea here so sorry about this but you never know. Well here goes. Have your bunnies actually met your foster bunny yet???? Dont want to make it worse but sounds like that not possible…. How about you let them sort of meet her on neutral ground. Maybe once they know the source of the strange smell they wont feel the need to mark so much. Might not work but as the smell is around all the time and they now know the other bunny has been there, maybe to them it is very much the unknown. Maybe if they get to actually meet the source they will be like “oh its you” and if they get to assert their dominance a little they might feel like they have told other bunny that it their home, and feel superior enough and reassured that it is still there house. Sorry if this is total nonsense but their minds do seem to work in a different way, maybe like when we are jealous of someone and feel insecure, often when we meet them we realise it really isnt all that sort of thing and feel a bit more secure. xx
- 05/09/2009 at 10:26 AM
  skibunny8503
  Participant
  1338 posts
  BinkyBunny, we did limit their space with an xpen last night, but I had kept Archie in there too. So I’ll leave Archie on the other side when we let them out. I’m thinking it might take longer; Gracie’s a bit stubborn sometimes
  
  Peppa, they did see her through a baby gate and know something is on the other side. She’s suppose to get fixed next month (I think, I’ll double check). So I was thinking about introducing each other after she’s fixed since she’ll have a different smell.
- 05/09/2009 at 10:30 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  I can see what you mean Peppa. I’m not sure if that would work, but it might at least lessen it? The only problem is that I don’t think the foster is spayed yet… so I would be very hesitant to actually have them out together as they could fight viciously and injure each other.
  
  Are Gracie and Archie okay together tho? That’s really good that they’re not fighting amongst themselves, esp. for the bond being so new.
- 05/09/2009 at 10:45 AM
  skibunny8503
  Participant
  1338 posts
  Posted By Beka27 on 05/09/2009 10:30 AM
  I can see what you mean Peppa. I’m not sure if that would work, but it might at least lessen it? The only problem is that I don’t think the foster is spayed yet… so I would be very hesitant to actually have them out together as they could fight viciously and injure each other.
  
  Are Gracie and Archie okay together tho? That’s really good that they’re not fighting amongst themselves, esp. for the bond being so new.
  
  Yeah she’s not spayed yet. I’m going to email jen and ask when she’ll get fixed. I thought she said around June 15th. Yup, Gracie and Archie are great! I actually think their bond has gotten stronger since I got her. They follow each other everywhere, she’s been grooming him more and usually Gracie and Archie will lay in on opposites sides of the cage when they’re sleeping but I’ve been seeing Gracie lay with Archie more
- 05/09/2009 at 5:56 PM
  MooBunnay
  Participant
  3087 posts
  Since you have the ex-pen now, I think it would be a very easy way to begin some re-training. Put a sheet down, let them out in the pen with the litterbox, and then if they make a move to pee or poop outside of it, try to herd them in. That way you can also keep the pees and the poops contained for awhile
- 05/09/2009 at 6:27 PM
  skibunny8503
  Participant
  1338 posts
  Gracie is doing a lot better (so far!). She only pooped twice and she peed once and I immediately put her in the xpen. She was MAD! She was digging at the cage and chewing on the bars. I did a little experiement. I took the bunny in Parsnips pen and put it by them…Archie started sniffing it and had that look in his eyes like he was ready to mount. Gracie didn’t do to much to the bun but as soon as Archie started to sniff it, the jealousy came out and she cased him away from the bunny! He’s such a softy though that he immediately licked her face and forgave her.
  
  Jen said that she’ll schedule Parsnip to be fixed after June 13th and will keep her for 10-14 days until her staples will come out then if we want to keep fostering her we can.
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