Bed Pooper!

[gsilverstein]

Hello Bun –Owners-

 I just adopted a new, 6-month-old Netherland Dwarf. He is a charming, social, curious little guy, incredible about not chewing or digging and very good about his litterbox with one notable exception – my bed!  I let him run around my room and the living room when I am home with the intent of letting him stay out in my room when I am at work or asleep.  Except I can’t because of the bed-pooping issue!

One of his first days he hopped up and peed and pooped when I wasn’t in the room.  Since then, he’ll start pooping as soon as he hops on, but I’ve kept a close eye and made sure to pull him off immediately.  I’m almost positive it isn’t vindictive—when I am in the bed he’ll come over for pats and even do mini-binkys, but just continue to poop. I assume it is territorial– thinking we are in the same bunny-clan so he can do his business where it smells the most like me. 

I know he is still quite young and only got neutered less than 2 weeks ago, but I want to make sure I am encouraging him towards good behavior from the beginning.  On the same token, any suggestions about how much space to give him considering his age would be appreciated.

 

 

Thanks!

Gina and Ernie

 

 

 

 

[bunnyfriend]

Eeeeek. Unfortunately this a common problem with rabbits. Hormones definitely might make a difference, so I wouldn’t give up yet. For me, I trained one of my bunnies not to do that. I bought a pack of large puppy pee training pads and laid them over the bed (although now I think of it, they make ones that fit a bed and are disposable for young children) and I kept a litter box right next to the bed. Every time I allowed him to be on the bed I would watch him like a hawk and when I saw him lift up his tail or seem like he was going to go to the bathroom I would say no (firmly but not harshly) and put him in the litter box. Eventually he got the hang of it and he would snuggle all the time

[LBJ10]

Sounds like he’s trying to claim you and your bed.

[emkvet]

Not to worry! I was absolutely at my wits end before my lady Nethie was spayed; she was peeing and pooping everywhere! Now, almost a month after her spay, she is almost perfect! She will leave a few little poos behind, but otherwise she’s doing awesome with her litterbox. Give it time! I’m sure he’ll turn out to be a perfect gentleman once his crazy hormones have left his body! =) Good luck! He’s absolutely precious, by the way. He’d make the perfect boyfriend for my Hazel!

[BinkyBunny]

 I also agree – -his age and how he was just neutered may be part of the issue.  You had asked about how much room you should offer freedom wise. I think that while you are in training— and being that he is still young, you will need to gradually give him freedom.  Too much too soon can lead to him marking all over the place.   I would get an xpen (or two if you need), and would use the xpens to slowly expand his freedom has his habits improve.   

I would also try some fo the techniques that worked for others. If you find you have a stubborn bunny though that insists you may have to ban him from your bed altogether. I know that is not easy when you want to just cuddle with him there. Such a great place!  

I’d say wait a couple of weeks or so for more of his hormones to die down so you can set him up for success. 

Keeping my fingers crossed that you will be able to train him not to poo or pee on your bed, 

[MayaConsuelo]

Yeah I have a bed-pooper and bed-peer as well. I wouldn’t mind the pooping, you can just flick them off, but peeing in the bed is a problem. Since your rabbit is young you should follow everyone’s advice and try to train him. No amount of training worked for mine (he was adopted at 1-year-old and fixed shortly thereafter.) The only reason he’s not free-range is because the more time and space he has, the more he finds random spots to pee in, especially soft and comfy areas like the bed! He’s out whenever we’re home so he gets plenty of exercise time… I do wish he could be free-range (especially since he doesn’t chew) but he has to be supervised.

So, try to train your bun, and worst-case scenario he can only be out when people are home. If they have a big living space like a condo or x-pen it’s fine. Yeah I’m jealous of my friend who sleeps with her rabbit cuddled next to her! But that can’t happen with every rabbit, so I’ll take what I have

[BinkyBunny]

 Yes…that is true. Sometimes, with some bunnies, they will just insist no matter what.  I wish there was somehing I knew of that would help with the bunnies that just insists.  And I don’t know why some insists and others don’t.  I know some bunnies just have a stronger drive whether it be territorial or dominace, or a need to be part of the clan, or for some other reason….so hard to know for sure what is really going on. 

Oh, and I came back to this thread because I wanted to post this link to another thread where another member was having some bunny behavior issues too (not only marking, but chewing up carpet) and though she too wanted to him to be frange range, she set up a nice area for him with an xpen, and he seems to be pretty happy!  https://binkybunny.com/tabid/54/…fault.aspx

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