Does she hate it, or not understand it?

[caudex]

Well, I started out with good intentions… but I think Sophie-monster does not approve.

She has a pet store cage… not bad for her size, but small. I decided to buy an x-pen, attach the sides to her cage, and leave her a “yard” to play in while I was at work. It would also transition to holding her someday boyfriend, once she’s spayed. I went and bought a carpet remnant, backed with rubber, to put inside. Put in her toys and a new phonebook, a nice slate tile to lay on when she’s hot… I should have taken pictures, cos it just looked THAT nice.

She foot flicked in it and chewed the bars. I think she doesn’t equate it with “Oh yay, more room while Mom is gone!” but with “…I’m out of my cage and there is a FENCE. WTF Mom??” She also pooped outside her cage much more, making a pretty big mess by the time I was home. I figured she is a.) an irritated snotty teenage bun, b.) not used to so much space unattended, and maybe c.) not litterbox trained quite as well as I thought. Whatever, I have patience.

Cue this weekend. I had to leave her overnight, til about noon the next day. Made sure she had everything she needed, and tried putting her litterbox outside, in her pen, since she was clearly spending time out there. Put her in it, showed her where it was, she seemed to get it. Time to put her in the pen, she had a hissy fit.

Got home Sunday afternoon, opened the door… trashed pen. Peed and pooped all over, water and food flung… and a perfectly PRISTINE, spotless litterbox, not even her hay was touched.

The little monster! The rug is thrown away, and she’s back to in the cage with free time morning and night til I figure this out. Is this purely attitude or hormones, does she not understand the litterbox as well as I thought? Do I need to go the condo route instead? I’d rather not, they’re pricey and I don’t have the talent or the patience to make one myself… but if that’s the only way the little lady will behave herself, and someday accomodate a room mate, I guess I’ll have to look.

[Stickerbunny]

Since it’s a new area for her, she’s likely marking it. And since her house changed, it’ll take her time to get used to it. Buns don’t like changes. lol Did you add a litterbox to the x-pen area, or just the one in the cage?

I would use linoleum for the flooring for the x-pen and let her have supervised time in it until she’s accustomed to the change.

[jerseygirl]

Since you’ve got the pen I’d go with that. You prob just have to limit her time in it at first.
 

I figured she is a.) an irritated snotty teenage bun, b.) not used to so much space unattended, and maybe c.) not litterbox trained quite as well as I thought.

I think it’s all of these things combined. Lol Give them a new zone and they will mark it up with territorial droppings. Her being young and not spayed yet contributes to this.

Keep trying it and offer a box in the pen area and leave one in her cage. Also limit how much time she has in the pen until she gets used to it and better in her habits.

[caudex]

She has just the one litter box for now. I was hoping she’d get it, cos I hate to limit her space by putting in a second box.

I have noticed that her marking in general during her free time is getting worse… must be time to reschedule the vet. She was so well behaved that I thought maybe I had her age wrong.

Will linoleum, by not being absorbent, discourage the peeing, or just make it easier to clean? The pooping is annoying but manageable, the peeing stinks and I worry about my apartment’s deposit.

[Elrohwen]

Sounds like she was marking her new territory! Probably a hormonal thing as well, though fixed bunnies will mark new areas sometimes.

Using lino or something else non-absorbent will discourage peeing. Bunnies like to pee somewhere the pee is absorbed – they don’t like leaving puddles around to step in.

[caudex]

Well, I’m back, with a different flavor of the same question.

I put down linoleum for her after I last posted. (Boyfriend was with me in the store for heavy lifting, rolling his eyes as I deliberate between colors and textures. He’s good and loves her, but lacks my devotion…so far. ) I also switched over to wood stove pellet litter, which she seems to use more reliably. (I caught her chewing it earlier– is that okay??) No problems for weeks. I started trusting her overnight and at work. A couple of poops each day, a pee spot once or twice. She seems to get it. Then this morning… Again, I should have taken a picture.

There were FIVE puddles on that linoleum floor from overnight, and I can’t even describe how much poop there was. Everywhere. We had a pretty good night last night, I don’t think I offended Her Royal Monsterness enough for her to want to trash her pen deliberately. She has so many toys, she had salad, hay, water, a clean cage… what the heck! She still poops on the carpet, especially when she’s excited, but she’s going to the Vet in October, so I can deal with that. But the pee! I have an $800 deposit I’m gonna want back! How do I make her understand how many toys 800 bucks can buy?!?

But seriously. Any other thoughts on how to deter her? I clean with a pet safe cleaner and the enzyme odor break down stuff from the store here. She seems really unconcerned by vinegar.

[Sarita]

Is she going to the vet to get spayed?

How is she trashing the pen? Is she moving the litter box around? You can attach that. Is she digging in the litter box? Add a grate. Have you tried putting her hay in the litter box to entice her to use it?

I think as far as litter training, it’s not a matter of detering her – it’s a matter of enticing her to use the litter box and praising her when she does use the litter box…what size litter box does she have? Is it a regular cat size litter box?

[caudex]

She has a cat sized box, and generally uses it very well. She went weeks using it just about as perfectly as I could expect an unspayed girl to use it. (yeah, the vet is for spaying)

She just randomly decided that the floor would be her litterbox for the night. Upended her diggy box, which she’s not done before. I can take it out of the pen, but it’s not the moving things around so much as soaking everything in pee, which is just sitting in puddles, or running all over the floor where it slants, potentially getting to the carpet outside the pen. (backup underneath isn’t working cos the pee just continues to run til it finds somewhere to absorb it) The poop is also wet and falling apart where she peed on it after, just generally making a huge mess that’s hard to clean.

Her habits are good enough that I believe she knows and understands the box now. She generally goes back in to pee and munch some hay a few times when she has free time. She just… didn’t today.

[Beka27]

Spaying should make a big difference. Some unspayed buns are good with keeping their potty business where it belongs, some aren’t. At this point it’s just dealing with it until she can get altered. Maybe put in a second cat box too.

[Stickerbunny]

What you can do to stop the urine from spreading to the carpet is get some 2x4s or other type of wood boards and create a “box” around the underside of the pen so you can slant the linoleum UP so it can’t hit your carpet.

[jerseygirl]

Ditto Stickerbunny, I was thinking similar. If the lino edges extend further then the pens perimeter then you could put 2×4’s under the edges of it. Then the edges are still out of the way of bunny teeth.

Reading this latest with Sophie, it honestly sounds like she’d had enough of being in the pen that day. I have one that creates a mess as he doesn’t like being penned up. Spoilt brat that he is!

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