Bathroom stalking bunny

[WeaselSally]

My rabbit has 2 litter boxes: 1 in her cage and 1 in the bathroom of my apartment.  She rarely goes potty in her cage.  I think she tries to hold her #1 until I get home, despite me putting wee-wee’d papers in her cage litter  box.  Due to being in an apartment, I cannot leave her unattended in my house when I am at work.  I would like her to feel comfortable going #1 and #2 in her cage box, and I don’t know how to accomplish that other than putting her #1 & #2 in the cage litter box.

Additionally, her main litter box is in my bathroom next to the toilet.  I have had her for about 1 month and she has been using it just fine for #1 and #2.  Recently, however, she has started becoming territorial with the entire bathroom, not just her litter box.  She will be running around the house but when I go in to use the bathroom, she comes charging in and glares at me while I do my ‘human business’.  She will move my feet, try to chew on my toes and otherwise, push me out of her bathroom. She seems fine, however, if she is already in her box doing her business and I come in to do mine next to her.  After I leave, in either situation, she walks the entire bathroom to inspect if I have changed anything.  She also does not like me cleaning her litter box, which I try to do when she is not around. 

Her litter box is of her choosing, a gold pan.  I use Carefresh natural paper bedding, and only remove the #1 soaked portion, leaving a few wet papers in the clean box.  My bunny is a rescued 3 year old New Zealand white and is spayed.  The only other issue she has is a steel determination to get under the couch which is covered in chicken wire and cinder blocks.  She is convinced there is a weakness she can exploit. 

Any ideas on how I can stop her being territorial over my/our bathroom?  I really don’t want to feel like ‘sneaking’ into my bathroom every time.  Due to the size of my apartment, I have to change the wee-wee’d papers every other day or the entire place smells like wiz.  Thank you!

[Q8bunny]

Are her two litter boxes identical?

I know this isn’t technically funny, but it did make me LOL as I pictured having to pee while an irate bunny glared at me.

[WeaselSally]

The litter boxes are different.  The one in the human bathroom is a plastic gold pan that she claimed as hers.  The one in her cage is a corner mount one from the pet store.  I cannot seem to find an identical gold pan to put in her cage, and truth be told, its too small for her but she refuses the pie tins, box lids, and plastic trays I have tried to give her. 

[WeaselSally]

And yes, it is comical to have her glare at me with squinty eyes while I do my thing. Almost like Lilo from Lilo and Stitch when shes pushing her big sister out of the room.

[Q8bunny]

LOVE Lilo & Stitch

Chewie was called Lilo until he turned out to be a cute and fluffy little bunny boy

[WeaselSally]

Update: I changed out her gold pan for a 14 inch metal dog bowl. After putting her gold pan into the dog bowl, she got used to the dog bowl and I was able to remove her gold pan. Now that he gold pan is no longer in the house, her bathroom aggression has gone away, thank goodness. She no longer tries to eat my toes or move my legs when I am in the bathroom. Additionally, she will now use her corner litter box in her cage during the day. Evidently there was some bad, overly possessive mojo with her gold pan.

Happy bunny=happy human

[ThorBunny]

Glad you can both toilet in peace now!

[Q8bunny]

Little gold digger…

[Muj Mom N Bun]

Girls and their gold!!!

[Muj Mom N Bun]

My gal just acts like she owns the fridge!

[Author]

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