Free roaming and litter boxes

[Max2021]

Hello all, I am in need of some advice. Max is about nine months old. I adopted him a month ago and he was neutered a week ago. As soon as I brought him home, we started working on litter box training. We use an extra large, enclosed cat litter box which remains in his 5×5 stay pen. I tried the hayrack but he wouldn’t eat from it. Anyways, after about a week, he got the hang of it. He never urinates outside of his box and I rarely see poops in his pen. When I take him to the basement to run around in his playpen, I also take his litter box downstairs. He uses that litter box nicely. No accidents. I would like to allow him full access of the transition area between his stay pen and his play pen (which is basically the first floor of our house- dining room and living room). The past week, I have allowed him to wander around in this area. I noticed that he pooped a lot in our living room. So, I have a few questions:

Question #1- because he pooped a lot in the living room, does that mean he is not fully littered trained? Do you think he needs more time? I thought he was litter trained before he was neutered (as mentioned above)…

Question #2- Should I have more than one litter box on the same floor of the house? Or will he learn to run back to the litter box in his stay pen?

Question#3- Max eats a ton of hay when he’s in his stay pen, constantly  jumping in and out of the litter box. I noticed when I allowed him freedom, he did not venture back to his litter box at all to nibble on hay. Do free room bunnies tend eat less hay?

 

Thank you!

 

[DanaNM]

Since he was just neutered a week ago, and you have made a lot of changes recently, most of the poops you are seeing are probably territorial poops. A lot of times they will initially scatter poops in a new area to mark that territory. It usually takes about 2-3 weeks after neutering for hormones to drain.

Usually when rabbits have access to more than one room, people will have a litter box with hay in each room. Buns will tend to run back to their pen to use a box when its in teh same room, but will just pick a new toilet area in each new room. Adding more boxes with hay will also encourage hay eating.

So yeah, I would add another litter box with hay in each room. And scattering of poops around the room should get better over time once his hormones drain more and he gets used to the new space.

. . . 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.  

[Max2021]

Thank you!!!

[Wick & Fable]

1) Rabbits will virtually all, regardless of litterbox adherence, mark any new territory, especially if it’s relatively “vast” — it’s in their nature. They spread their scent to feel safe/secure, so the mere presence of poop in a novel territory doesn’t mean your rabbit isn’t litterbox adherent necessarily.

2) You should have more than 1 litterbox — for rabbits who poop over 100+ a day and also spend a lot of time in there eating hay (70+% of their diet), there should be multiple locations to carry out those activities. Also, the more litterboxes, the more likely all the business will and in those boxes. A rabbit is not confined to human social norms — they can poop and pee wherever and don’t feel embarrassed about it in the least, haha.

3) Addressed in #2 — you need more hay sources in the free-roam space to encourage that hay eating.

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.

[Max2021]

Hello- I just wanted to follow up- I’ve incorporated the tips- we have more than one liter box w/hay in different rooms. I’m happy to report he is fully liter trained as a result! Thanks again for the help!!

[DanaNM]

That’s great! Thanks for the update!!

. . . 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.  

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