Heehee, he’s adorable! I have a rabbit who is not the greatest and he usually pee’s in the litterbox but poops everywhere else – well, he’s just a darn mess anyway.

He’s in a pen that is on particle board with linoleum then another cheap large rug to cover it and 2 washable rugs that I change and throw in the wash. He also has perpetual poopy butt so the small area rugs are a must. I don’t think it’s a matter for him of not wanting to learn, it’s more medical – arthritis and chronic poopy butt.

Cute picture!  Looks like there’s a discussion going on.

Ok, now to get serious.

So did you get Baby fixed or did his former owner have this done? 

With his habits being like this a long while, it’ll be hard to (has been hard) to work on. But you may be able to achieve some improvement. Just because rabbits are inherently clean animals.  So I’m thinking there has to be some sort of reason behind his inability to train.

How good a relationship do you have with your vet?  It’d be good if you can investigate things without it all becoming a big expense.  Could he have had and undescended teste or even a 3rd one no one was aware off.  Does he display any dominance behaviours?  It is said males will spray other subordinate males (when intact) Also, I’ve heard spraying can be a form of stress relief.   My other thought was could he have bladder stones?  This could cause chronic UTI’s and possibly some of the behaviour. Binky Bunny experienced some behaviours with her Jack  – mostly excessive humpiness during bonding to Vivian.  It turned out he had a bladder stone that was causing discomfort and it was sort of his way to deal with it they think.   My other thought was some sort of thyroid or adrenal imbalance…Sorry can’t remember which!

As to managing things as they are, there are some products that might help. I was thinking those material pads for furniture that are used in aged care. Sometimes they put them on the beds too. They are very absorbant and wick away moisture and can be washed. They could be pricey though and you’d need at least 2.   These ones are chair and floor pads.   Only thing is something like this might be more enticing for him to pee on.

He is so cute Andi!!! That’s so great of you to take him when no one else would have!

what a cute photo, and my Toby had the Sprinkler down pat before his neuter too!

Mine are funny. One couple, Pringles and Toby are really good about using their litter box. Lola and Daisy are weird. I think it’s mostly Lola, but they poop and pee where they eat and just lounge in the haybox. For a long time I just kept washing the rugs in the condo, then just one rug as I started feeding in one spot. Then just washing a thick towel I would feed them on. Since I’m a bit slow sometimes I finally realized that putting their food in and over the litter box took care of the problem….lol

The common play area is still a nightmare ;-(

I feel odd spending money taking a ‘healthy’ rabbit to the Vet for care, i wouldn’t if i had just him, but I have so many others that need that $$ if an emergency comes up.

I hear you! Sounds like you’ve coped with Baby’s habit for a good while now too. Wouldn’t it be lovely though one day to wake and he was over it?!!

Honestly though he sprays, it’s not like everyday, or every week. It’s never in his cage, only in the common area. Spencer actually did a spray as this weekend I saw, but he can’t get near the height 3lb Baby can lol (Spencers like 8lbs).

Baby! tehe. hey, didn’t you mention “napoleon complex” before?

Posted By Andi on 05/25/2010 10:12 AM
When i got him, they had their 2 story house with a smell pen in front, it was from there I tried all sorts of litter training, cutting their space down to tiny area, cleaning the pee up multiple time a day, placing the dirty paper towels in the litter pan, sweeping all poop into the litter pan, catching him, putting him in the litter pan etc.

You probably did this but I’ll ask anyway…   Did you do the completely bare floor (no newspaper, no towels, no bedding etc) and just litter in the litter box?

I was reminded of this thread after you mentioned Baby’s habits in your “Trios new digs” thread. I’m again thinking on possibility of a non complete neuter in these rabbits that won’t train. Or maybe it’s just known that some just will not train? I don’t know as my experience with rabbits is limited.

If a teste did not completey form or did not descend, this could contribute to spraying and bad litter habits I would have thought. Also, a hormone imbalance might be a contributor. Maybe pick your vets brains?