Disappearing litter box habits

[JustBun]

So I saw a lot of people have been posting about litter habit problems and it has been some great info. I though I would put my bun’s horrible litter training problem out there since it is not exactly like the others and see if anyone has different ideas. 

I got my bunny when he was 6 months old and had him neutered shortly after. He has been litter trained pretty much perfectly after that and he is almost 2 now. He uses the litter box in his cage which has always been a large corner box just fine. I have a cat sized litter box for when he is out of his cage. I used to let him out for the evening when I got home and he would be pretty good with limited supervision. Now, he urinates and leaves giant poo piles on the carpet near his litter box if not watched closely (and even when I am watching!). It seems as if he is just too lazy to jump into the litter box. I clean up his messes right away and I started putting boxes on top of the areas he was going. He gets in the box and pees or gets on top of the box and pees over the edge, onto the carpet! He is only out now when I can watch him and I put some fresh veggies in the litter box so he might want to get in there. I have yet to see him jump in unassisted by me and if there are no veggies in there he gets out. I tried changing litters, removing the litter screen, covering areas he urinated in and moving the litter box to where he was going. The area has returned to “normal” now. But no matter what he goes next to the box, at least he does not go anywhere else in the house. 

It’s frustrating to spend most of his out of cage time sitting by his litter box supervising. I was wondering if maybe something had scared him while he was in the litter box and now he is afraid of it, a few times when I put him in it he began grunting at me which I had never heard. We live in an apartment and it is easy to hear noises from the hallway. I’m going to continue to reward him for getting in the litter box and try making it a happy place, but please offer other suggestions if you have them!  

[jerseygirl]

You could try putting his cage litterbox there instead, when he’s out.

Other then shape, how do the 2 boxes vary? If he has aversion to this box you could try completely new one, or place puppy pee pads or towels down in its place to test the theory. If he consistently uses that, it could tell you the issue likely is the box for some reason.

I was wondering if maybe something had scared him while he was in the litter box and now he is afraid of it,

That’s possible. Perhaps you could experiment by placing a cardboard hidey box with 2 entry points over top of litter box?

I read on HRS years ago that rabbits toileting right next to the litterbox is like underlining a signature. Making an emphasis on “this is mine” I suppose.
It’s the thing in the space that is specifically his. Do you have other pets? Have you had other animals or people visit? I even read an account of a tradesman coming to the home that was enough to cause a rabbit to become territorial.

[JustBun]

To answer your questions, the litter box I use for when he is out has a screen over the litter and the one in the cage does not. I tried taking it off and it didn’t make a difference. I have a gerbil but she never goes to that area, and it’s not a new thing. No new people or animals have visited. I like the idea of the hidey box over the litter box, I will have to give that a try! He went in the other hidey box next to the litter box to do his business a few times so it may be worth a try. Thanks for your advice.

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