Litter box Training: How many droppings outside the box are normal?

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This topic has 12sd replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 3 months ago by Mackenzie.

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- 04/25/2020 at 4:58 PM
  Mackenzie
  Participant
  4 posts
  Hello everyone,
  
  I just got my mini-lop about a month and a half ago. I looked very hard for the neediest, most affectionate bunny I could find, and to my delight, I found Ollie. Due to his intense desire for social interaction and reciprocal affection, I’d like to have him as a free-roam bunny. I believe that he’s around 6 months – 1 year old. I got him neutered 1 month ago, so his hormones should theoretically be dwindling by now, and litter box habits should be more consistent.
  
  However, he still has a few strange behaviors lately, and I’m wondering if anyone else has had these issues:
  - Between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. today, he has left us 52 droppings to clean up in a 200 square foot space. No pee, but half his daily droppings from what I’ve read. I tried training him in a 50 square foot space, then moved up to 100 square foot, then 200.
  - He almost always pees in his litter box(es), except that on bad days when he may pee 1 or 2 times outside of his litter box, exclusively at night. I’m convinced that he is either very sleepy and doesn’t feel like making it to his litter box, or he’s mad that we’re locking him in the kitchen for the evening (where his bed and litter box are) and “anger pees” by the door, about a foot from his litter box.
  Due to confinement, my husband and I are home all day with him, and we change his litter box twice per day, providing ample fresh Timothy hay.
  
  Question: For those of you who have sufficiently litter box trained rabbits, how many droppings outside of their boxes is “normal?” Is it possible that maybe Ollie’s just not fully litter box trained yet and this process will take a little longer?
  
  Thanks ahead of time for any advice!
- 04/25/2020 at 5:06 PM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  Hi there, welcome 🙂
  
  So, depending on the bun, some level of poops outside the box can be normal. Especially single poops scattered around, which are used to mark territory and will prob decrease with time, since the space is new.
  
  It’s possible you may have given him a bit too much space too quickly, and he might still have some hormonal urges. Are the poops you find in big piles or single ones scattered around? And is there hay in locations other than the litter box? If they are piles, you can try adding another litter box, or restricting the space again for a while.
  
  Regarding the peeing, is it on his bed? Many bunnies will pee on anything soft. Many bunnies will also poop while they eat hay, so restricting hay only to the litter box should help as well.
  
  I think in your shoes I would restrict the space for a while, make sure his hay is only accessible while he’s sitting in the litter box, and that there are not soft things or grass mats etc that he might confuse with the litter box for a while. Continue just scooping up poops and tossing them in the box. But it also might just be something he does! My bunny Bun Jovi never pees outside the box, but he often will poop in his sleep and leave piles around! But he’s also almost 12 so I’m not going to hassle him about it. 🙂
  
  . . . 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.
- 04/27/2020 at 8:34 AM
  Mackenzie
  Participant
  4 posts
  Hi DanaNM,
  
  Thanks for the warm welcome and advice! 🙂
  
  To answer your questions:
  - His droppings when I had him in a bigger space where everywhere and scattered. When I have him in a more restricted space, they’re usually only within a foot or so of his litter box. I just don’t know how many are normal to have out of his box per day: 5? 20?
  - The only place I have hay for him is in his litter box, and I have two litter boxes next to each other. I move one when I open up his space to another corner, and he goes back and forth between litter boxes.
  - He doesn’t pee or leave any droppings on his bed, fortunately. I have an old t-shirt for him in a cubby behind some drawers with two entrances, which he seems to like.
  - For the time being, I’m using towels to cover anything cloth that I let him on, such as a large area rug, so that I can easily see if he’s peed and clean it up by just washing the towel. He does occasionally pee on the towel, but only when they’re under the table on the large area rug. However, I also keep these towels in his normal space because the hardwood and tile are too slippery for his feet, and he ends up slowly doing the splits a lot if I don’t put something down for him. He never really pees on these unless they’re under the table.
  I think you’re right about restricting the space again. I’ll see if I can find something in between that works, and open the space to him at a slower pace this time.
  
  That’s good to know that Bun Jovi sleepily uses the bathroom! Witty name, by the way :). How many droppings would you say he leaves around, and in his sleep?
- 04/29/2020 at 1:58 PM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  Sounds like you’ve got a good plan!
  
  Bun Jovi (I can’t take credit for the name unfortunately haha) prob leaves around 20 -30 poops around each day? In little sleeping piles? He is a grandpa now (he’s like 12) so I’m usually just happy to see healthy poops and don’t care where they are! It also helps because he’s bonded so it’s always hard to tell who’s poops are in the litter box.
  
  . . . 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.
- 05/02/2020 at 4:56 AM
  Mackenzie
  Participant
  4 posts
  Okay, thanks! It’s good to get a baseline of what you see on a normal basis.
- 05/02/2020 at 11:35 AM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  Yeah, I think every bun has a different base line. I’ve had some bunnies that rarely leave a single poop outside the box. Others will leave the single ones that are for territory marking, and then there’s Bun Jovi, who will leave full on piles. About half the time he’ll turn around and eat the full pile, so at least he’s helping me clean up! LOL
  
  . . . 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.
- 05/03/2020 at 10:02 AM
  Bella The Bunny
  Participant
  15 posts
  I have 2 bonded rabbits named Bella & Buddy! The normal dropping number outside of the litter boxes is like 5-10 a day. I find that sometimes some rabbits are less coordinated than others, so they will hop in the litter and the poop won’t come out all the way and when they jump out it will fall on to the floor. The rabbit might be doing the right thing by jumping in to the litter box, but doesn’t quite understand that’s where the poop needs to stay.
- 05/23/2020 at 12:34 AM
  Louiethebunny
  Participant
  604 posts
  My bun Louie is 5 mo, in his foster home we were told he often peed and got droppings outside of the box, but once he came home he got a big spacious litter box, and he only gets 1-3 droppings out of it every few days. Maybe a larger litter box might help?
- 06/05/2020 at 10:00 PM
  Losgunna86
  Participant
  13 posts
  I dont mean to hijack your post. But we have 2 buns in a 4ft x 6ft pen. We have a normal sized cat litter box for them. They’re still only 12 weeks old and we got them at 8 weeks. We use equine pine pellets in the box with hay on top.
  
  At first they almost exclusively used the litter box. But now they’re peeing outside the box. The poop doesn’t bother me, as I scoop it up multiple times a day. It’s cleaning up the pee that’s annoying. They’re a large breed bunny flemish giant/new zealand cross. So I wanted to wait a bit to get them neutered to be sure they’re fully developed. Not to mention I’m out of work due to COVID and won’t have our 2nd income again until August.
  
  Do you think neutering them will make a big difference in their litterbox habits?
- 06/05/2020 at 10:46 PM
  Louiethebunny
  Participant
  604 posts
  neutering them can make a WORLD of difference in litter training, they pick it up much more easily and a lot of their territorial marking habits cease.
- 06/07/2020 at 12:29 PM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9054 posts
  @Losgunna86, yes neutering will help! They might be starting to hit puberty now. Puppy pee pads are now your friend. 🙂
  
  . . . 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.
- 06/07/2020 at 12:47 PM
  Wick & Fable
  Moderator
  5813 posts
  Living in envy of these amazing litter habits. Someone tell my Wick to stop peeing to express his discontent please XD
  
  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.
- 07/29/2020 at 7:45 AM
  Mackenzie
  Participant
  4 posts
  @Wick: Ha, Ollie does that, too. I call it “anger peeing.” It only happens occasionally, but it has a certain defiance to it when it does happen.
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