Baby bun ONLY pooping and peeing in my room

[Bucketts90]

Hi all, new bunny mom here! I actually have a few questions but I’ll start with this one!

Milo is a 10 week old baby boy (will get him neutered when he’s old enough). He’s been with me for just shy of two weeks now. He was EXTREMELY shy at first but now he’s a happy, healthy boy – and a typical baby brother to ex-only-child Scout (a spayed 3yo cat). The two of them are being introduced slowly and under supervision but, really, he’s the boss of the house already.

The plan is to have him as a house bunny with free range of the house. We will be building him a large bunny condo when him and scout are more settled and him and I have bonded a little better. For now, he has free range of my room from 6am when I wake up until around 9 or 10 when I head to work, and again from 4pm until 9pm when I go to bed.

I’ve been struggling to litter box train him (understandable, he’s young and un-neutered) but that’s ok. My question really is this: today, he had free reign of the whole house for about 90minutes. I watched him bounce around while I did some tidying and let him and scout investigate each other a little. In this time, he did not make a bathroom mess ONCE. When I needed to put him back in the room, he hopped over to his litter box, ate some hay, hoped onto the bed and peed and pooped there!

I’m really not sure why he’s ONLY going out of his litter box in my room? Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

[Wick & Fable]

Remember litter boxes are human-created concepts. We feel like we do a good job defining a litter box (i.e. vessel with litter and food in it), but what rabbits truly look for in their toilet-area is really unknown, especially because marking is innate to an unfixed rabbit. He could acknowledge the litterbox as a toilet, but enjoys the bed much more because it’s soft.

I suggest hands-on moving the rabbit to the litter box each time it occurs so slowly but surely the association is made that “Oh, this may not be the best place to go to the bathroom.”

Welcome to BB, and definitely feel free to ask more questions!

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.

[Deleted User]

You should wait to introduce them until our younger one has been neutered. Once his hormones kick in the two of them could get into a nasty fight. They can’t bond as long as their are hormones in the mix.

[LittleSailorCash]

I have a cat and he’s afraid of Sailor. LOL. They stay away from eachother.

Congrats on your new bunny! Welcome to the amazing world of house bunnies!

Sailor (He’s 9 weeks & a boy) learned to use his litter box in about two days. Here’s how I did it: I placed some timothy hay in a small box and I buried some paper towel under the small layer of hay that had his pee on it. That helped him with the scent. I also wiped up his pee ASAP so he wouldn’t potty where he shouldn’t and remember, I use a cage cleaner from pet smart to eliminate the smell of that so he can steer towards the litter box. I also tossed his poo into the litter box as well. Try that and you’ll only have to clean it maybe every 2-3 days. You can layer it on as well! Just make sure bunny doesn’t grab on to that paper towel. use a very small piece and where your bunny can’t see it directly.

Good Luck!

[Bucketts90]

Thank you all!

I’m doing all the standard litter training techniques (mopping up, spraying water and vinegar mixes, putting the poop back in the box) but I was just really confused as to why he ONLY did this in my room *facepalm He’s still a bit skittish with being picked up so getting him in action is a bit tough but we will get there!

On another forum, someone suggested putting one of “his” blankets onto the bed to reduce the need for territorial marking so I will be trying that today!

[kurottabun]

You could try giving him a gentle push towards the box instead of picking him up when you see him lifting his tail. Sometimes it may not work and he may just pee in that spot anyway, but it’s worth a try!

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