At the end of my rope with my rabbit peeing and pooping on everything

[GardenBunny]

I recently moved back into my college dorm room with my rabbit and cat. Theo (French lop rabbit) has always had some issues with litter training but never this bad. It’s been about two months since his neuter and his aggression and bathroom habits are at an all time low. He goes on my bed, my desk, my roommate’s desk, the cat tree, by the other litter boxes, by his litter box, on me, on my clean and dirty laundry, on my pillow, on my chair, the carpet and sometimes in his litter box. He free roams the room because he’s too big for a decent cage but I’m at the end of my patience with him. He was so much better before the neuter but now he scratches and bites me without a thought. I’m going to start caging him again just for my own sanity. I don’t sleep enough anymore because I spend about two to three hours cleaning up after him daily. It’s nonstop with spot treating the carpet and picking up poop that’s all over the room. I have no idea what to do and if anyone has any information that would be helpful, please tell me. My boyfriend says he would be better off in a home where he can live outside or in a no kill shelter but I know he wouldn’t last long in another home because of his attitude issues. Plus I don’t want to give up on him. He was so sweet before all this. I just want my baby boy back!
Again, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I just don’t have the time to clean and spend time with him. All my free time goes into tidying his messes. He also destroys the room while I’m gone and breaks glasses and water bowls and tears at carpet but I know that’s pretty normal for a rabbit. If it was just that I could handle it but I spent four hours cleaning his mess this Friday alone. I’m at the end of my rope.

[Cinnimon&Ollie]

I would cage him until he is litter trained, a cage is not one from a pet store, c&c girds, or exercise pens make great cages for bunnies. Lennon the Bunny has a great video of litter training bunnies, that is how I litter trained my bunny cinnimon. My other bunny ollie is mostly litter trained but doesn’t go outside of his cage. Maybe if possible when he is mostly litter trained you could keep his cage up and see if he just goes in there or hopefully he gets fully litter trained. Maybe try bonding with him again to help the aggression. As for breaking things does he have a lot of toys? Are the toys he has older than 2 months?

[DanaNM]

How long ago did you move? Moving to a new place can cause a disruption in litter habits because they want to mark the new place.

I think you need to figure out some sort of pen/cage situation for him, for your sanity and his safety. That will also help with litter training, as sometimes it does help them get “organized” to be confined. As Cinninmon&Ollie suggested, and x-pen or a C&C cage would be great. You can put down a layer of vinyl flooring underneath to protect the floor.

Then you can give him some supervised free-roam time, and as he starts to improve you can give him more and more freedom.

I think in a dorm room it would be safest for him to be confined in a safe pen while you aren’t there anyway. Then you can also improve your bunny proofing to prevent him from damaging the room.

. . . 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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