Rabbit Pooping Near Food and Water Bowls

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 6sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 8 months ago by DarylGS.

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- 07/01/2018 at 10:15 PM
  DarylGS
  Participant
  6 posts
  My rabbit has a large pen that serves as her main area (about 42 sq. ft.). Attached to that is a wire cage with a litter pan on one end and on the other end is her timothy hay and a raised platform with two bowls (water and pellets). As of late, she starting pooping on the platform where her two bowls are located. She still uses the litter pan, but I’m finding a LOT of droppings on the platform. Does anyone know WHY this behavior would occur and HOW I can discourage it?? Any help would be appreciated.
  
  Daryl
- 07/02/2018 at 12:15 AM
  kurottabun
  Participant
  908 posts
  How old is she? It could be that she’s becoming hormonal. Hormonal bunnies tend to leave poop and pee everywhere to mark their territory. If she’s a young bun then she needs to be spayed at the appropriate age (6 months is normally a good age), not just to help with the hormonal behaviour but also because unspayed females have a high chance of getting uterine cancer.
  
  That said, many bunnies like to eat and poop at the same time. Lots of people put the hay on top of the litter box instead so they can munch while pooping
- 07/02/2018 at 5:08 PM
  DarylGS
  Participant
  6 posts
  She is going on 2 and already spayed a long time ago. However, I didn’t know that rabbits like to poop while they’re eating. Maybe I need to move her bowls so they are at her litter box instead of the platform??? I just don’t know how she’ll react to that since it’s been over a year since her platform and bowls were set up……but the strange thing is that is simply a “snack” bowl. When I feed her after coming home from work, she doesn’t poop at that bowl at all….just the one on the platform.
- 07/02/2018 at 5:19 PM
  Wick & Fable
  Moderator
  5834 posts
  Rabbits can change their inclinations as they get more used to the environment. I am not a rabbit mind reader, but I imagine it’s like when you have a revelation of “wait, was that hallway always there?”, where the rabbit suddenly perceives that they can do something outside their routine to make their life easier. In this example, it’s easier just to poop right there, then hop over to the litter box. As kurotta mentions, rabbits like doing those things all at once.
  
  It’s good that you’re being conscientious of keeping routine, but a think rearranging the bowls won’t be too traumatic. Plus it’s a health hazard for that material to be around eating/drinking stations. Wick will sometimes kick a poop in his water bowl, and you can imagine how bad that could get for festering bad bacteria and attracting bugs!
  
  The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 07/02/2018 at 7:00 PM
  DarylGS
  Participant
  6 posts
  Oh well….I feel kind of bad. That part of her eating area was close to my desk. When her snack bowl was empty, she would stand up and look at me to let me know it was time for a refill. Well, I guess I’ll have to put her bowls next to her litter box where she can poop while she eats all she wants. My only other problem is her nails…can’t cut ’em. She does not like to be touched or petted…UNLESS you are feeding her. She’s not unfriendly…she comes running when she sees me, when I sit down with her she nuzzles and puts her front paws on me, even gave my leg a brief bath once…but she just doesn’t like being touched. She’s been here for a year come the end of August. I resolved myself to the fact that my poor bunny is just plain weird! But I’m sure she loved eating a hole in the couch about the size of a dinner plate. Didn’t find out until way too late she had been munching on it. I let her run loose outside of her pen and put up barriers to keep her in one area, but unfortunately it was too close to the couch and she found a way to circumvent the barrier and get back without me ever knowing….did I mention she is obviously smarter than me? Sighhhhhhhhh…..
- 07/02/2018 at 9:14 PM
  kurottabun
  Participant
  908 posts
  I think it’s pretty normal that bunnies don’t like to be touched, and the ones who like it are actually the weird buns lol!
  
  I try to sneak in nail trimming sessions when Kurotta is lounging around. He absolutely detests being picked up but he lounges a lot so I do manage to sneak in a few toes at once when he’s all sleepy and can’t be bothered to move. He does retract his paw sometimes but it’s usually just for a short while until it slides back out again. Maybe you could try that?
- 07/03/2018 at 8:29 AM
  DarylGS
  Participant
  6 posts
  Wow….really? I thought I had the only crazy bunny who will touch YOU all she wants, but hates you touching her! People think cats have attitudes and a mind of their own…..they should try having a rabbit for a few months!
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