Correcting litter box habits while bonding

[Goovins316]

Hello bunny friends!

So, I am fosting to adopt a rescue holland lop doe to bond with my holland lop buck.  Both are spayed/neutered. Stew is 10 months old, free roam, and litter box trained. Polly is 11 months, I was told she is box trained, and I kept her in a 4′ × 4′ playpen for 15 days.

Those 15 days were some of the most frustrating but I think I’m over the more difficult bonding days.  Stew became distant, was leaving droppings all around her pen, and even piddled a little on the bottom self of a new bookshelf I had next to the pen. Polly is much more messy than Stew when it comes to how she eats hay (she loves to bury herself in it, it’s actually pretty cute). She’s traditionally box trained (just pellet litter and hay, which I’m not sure I’d necessarily call that “trained”) vs Stew, who I trained in a slotted litter box.  After a few weeks of feeding him on top of his litter box, I removed the the hay to make room for his growing body (I got him as a kit).  So he genuinely knows the difference between where he eats and where he uses the bathroom vs feeding him where he uses the bathroom and calling it “litter box trained” (personal opinion on that).  He’s such a good boy, I’m pretty proud of myself and how well mannered he is.

Polly wasn’t eating her cecotropes so I feed her a tablespoon of Sherwood adult pellets and unlimited hay, which is refilled throughout the day.  I just switched them both to Oxbow orchard grass cause it’s easier on my boyfriends allergies and slightly cheaper.  I have her eating her hay from a hay feeder attached to the open cage, on top of a slotted plastic cage floor that I raised and set inside a traditional litter pan. I have another set up on the way, this is a temorary DIY method to keep her out of her urine/feces while she dives into her hay.  The number of uneaten cecotropes has decreased greatly, if not completely vanished.

For the last 3 days I’ve kept her free roam, won’t even pen her up at night. Her and Stewbie are getting a long fine, sometimes I’ll see them laying next to eachother and following each other around. They both eat hay on top of her litter box and with no confrontations. Actually there hasn’t been any confrontations at all, it seems to be going quite well.  Stew was initially mounting her, I’ve also seen her mount him, and haven’t seen any mutual grooming so dominance has not been established.  Which leads me to my questions…

I’m still noticing very poor litter habits happening (poo not urine), especially throughout the night.  I’ll wake up and Stew has them stategically scattered all around the rug I have her litter box on.  I think some are hers too but I think she is more prone to accidental misses as she exits the litter box vs intentional/territorial misses. Will this issue resolve itself as they become more bonded and establish dominance roles?  I haven’t tried the white vinegar/water trick but I don’t think that would help in this case since it seems to be territorial and still close to the litter box area.  I don’t want to repell them both from the area.

Stew is still using his original litter box, as well as the new box I want them to both use.  Should I leave both until bonding is established more or should I remove it now so he starts getting used to sharing the one?

I know the cecotrope issue may have been resolved but has anyone noticed it becoming an issue due to the stress that new places and bonding might cause? Would it be recommend to feed her more pellets now or just keep her on a very heavy hay diet?

Any advice on how to break messy eating habits?  I know that’s a long shot but I figured I’d ask.  I know rabbits can develop better litter box habits after living with each other, wondering if anyone has experienced the same with messy hay habits.

Any other advice or feedback on the bonding process is appreciated.

Thanks in advance ☺️

[Wick & Fable]

I’m very sorry for the delay in your post’s publicizing! It was originally created in the Forum rules section and got lost — I’ve moved you into the BONDING section, since it’s more applicable for your situation. Thank you for your time and dedication to fostering.

It has been a bit of time since you composed this originally. How is the poop situation going? What did you decide regarding the arrangement?

 

 

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.

[DanaNM]

So, litter box habits usually go out the window during bonding, and it can take a bit of time for them to return once the pair is bonded.  In my experience, rabbits fall into two camps. One camp is buns that pick an area of their cage as the toilet, and will go there, so that’s where we put the litter box. The other camp is buns that are very trained to go in their box. These buns will actually stress out and hold it if their isn’t a box for them, and will go use the box where-ever it is in the room.

I don’t have any advice on messy hay habits… rabbits are just messy in my opinion. I find they eat more hay when I allow them to be “messy”, so I’ve given up lol.

Many people give two boxes for a bonded pair. If you want to use just one, I would use a bigger one than the ones they previously used. Making it as inviting as possible will encourage them to hop in. I like to add a fluffy hay layer on top of the screen to make it more inviting and get them to eat more hay (i also provide a hay rack). In one of my pairs, one of the buns was sitting next to the larger litter box and peeing right next to it, so I ended up adding a smaller one in that spot with lower sides, which solved the problem. There are still some scattered poops near the box but I just sweep them up daily.

As far as the cecotropes go, 1 tablespoon of pellets is plenty for an adult rabbit, so as long as she isn’t losing weight then I would continue with that amount of pellets.

. . . 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.  

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