bunny urinating on their bed

[Agatha]

Hello, I have two 3-year old female rabbits that are bonded and both spayed. I really want to give them something comfortable to sleep in other than mats. When I purchase a bed for them, they do not sleep in it and only used it as a bathroom. They are both potty trained and do not urine anywhere other than their washroom. I have tried to put those pee pads on the bed incase they urine on it; however, they just eat it.

I have seen pictures/videos of other people’s bunny sleeping on beds and they look so content. Is there a way to prevent them from urinating on their beds? Or should I give up as they seem to enjoy sleeping on the floor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Bam]

Unfortunately many buns like to urinate on soft things like beds. Some buns like to shred soft beds and cushions and pull out the fluffy stuffing. The beds that have worked best for my buns are the little wooden doll beds. I put pieces of vet bed in them, but some buns like to pee on vet beds too.

Rabbits dont need soft places to sleep on, and many rabbits prefer to lounge on  hard surfaces. What rabbits really like though is to lounge on elevated “platforms”, such as the tops of boxes or foot stools or a doll bed. Platforms are great vantage points, rabbits like to get an overview over their area. They also like to lounge under chairs or tables (prey animals like protection from dangers from above – this instinct remains in many buns even though their housed safely indoors). So if you are providing your buns with those sorts of things, they will be very happy. There are f ex cute little cat tents that you can put directly on the floor, many buns like those.

The tendency to pee on the soft bun bed could change over your buns’ lifetime.

Bunfluencer web pages don’t give a very accurate representation of life with buns. Buns are messy. Youngish buns like to bunstruct. The more “famous” bunfluencers get a lot of free stuff so they can throw stuff out as soon as there’s the slightest hint of wear, like a pee stain etc.

 

 

 

[DanaNM]

Yep, agree, many buns just don’t do well with soft surfaces, despite the portrayal on the internet! If they seem happy on the floor then no need to worry 🙂

Agree that giving hides as well as a possible elevated place to sleep is more important than a bed. You could experiment with dif surfaces if you want. Memory foam bathmats can work well as long as the buns don’t try to eat the foam. One of my buns has a large hide that I attached a memory foam bath mat and one of those crate-liner type beds to the top of,  she loves sleeping there.

. . . 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.  

[LBJ10]

If they pee on the bed, then you know that your bunnies are just not the kind that can have soft beds. Honestly though, most bunnies don’t seem to care about having something soft to lay on.

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