Frustrated

[SirBunny]

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with one of my rabbits who pees on my bed and digs large holes in the carpet. Sorry if this is a long post, I just really need to vent.

Moby is a 1 year old neutered Netherland Dwarf. He is kind of a grump but I love him. However I recently adopted another dwarf who is only 4 months old, but she is not spayed yet.

I have them both set up in my room. It’s very tight but it seems to work, I take turns letting one of them out at a time every few hours. Here’s a picture for context:

For the first year I had Moby he had free roam in my room, so he isn’t as used to being caged part of the time. The main issue I have right now is that Maby (the white bunny) will pee on my blankets the second she gets on top of them. So now I take off my sheets and blankets every morning and put them back at night. That’s fine, just one more thing I have to do.

I let Moby out at night because he has always slept in bed with me, right at the foot of the bed. I like to feel him jump around and get excited in the morning before I give him his favorite treat. He only ever peed on the bed before I got him fixed and then he stopped almost immediately. However, since bringing Maby into the picture, he now pees next to my pillow, right next to her cage, every single night. With or without blankets. My mattress has become filthy and disgusting and stained with rabbit urine.

So last night I became fed up with it and tried blocking access to my bed. Moby got over it a few times but he stopped trying after a while. I wish I didn’t have to do this because my room is already cramped, and now it just looks barricaded with cages and fences. I’m a college student and I would be embarrassed to brings friends or a date into my room. The eventual plan is to have Maby fixed, and once her and Moby bond I will remove all the cages in my room and hopefully they will both stop peeing on my bed.

So I woke up this morning to Moby frantically digging a spot in the carpet in the corner of my room, he absolutely destroyed it. He was probably frustrated he wasn’t allowed on the bed. I shooed him away and tried to cover the spot but he was back at it within minutes.

Do I have to cover the entire floor with rugs and blankets too, now? How many concessions am I going to have to make before he runs out of things to destroy? I love Moby, he has really helped me through tough times and depression this past year but I have reached a point of frustration where I am considering re-homing him, which I would never do because I knew when I adopted him that he is my responsibility no matter how frustrated I become.

Sorry for the long post, I just really needed to vent. Maybe some of you have advice. Will the bed peeing stop *if* and when they bond? Should I keep my bed barricaded even though its cramped and looks ugly? I wish I had more space but I have to keep them both in my bedroom in my current living situation.

[Bunny House]

The only way you will get them to stop peeing is if both are fixed. They are peeing to mark their territory, I know your boy if fixed but he knows there is an intact female in the house and he wants to make sure she knows your room is his. She is peeing to mark her territory too. Fixing her and doing all the pre bonding will help ensure they don’t keep peeing as they will not have a need to pee as they are both buddies and no one is competition.

They need to be kept in their pens besides their exercise time(in a neutral territory and clean after each one uses) so they will not keep peeing in your room. After she is fixed for a month or so then you can start pre bonding and it should be rather easy for you and then you all will be happy. Do not let them play in your room as they will smell the others scent over everything and pee and dig all in your room.

I know it’s frustrating but don’t rehome him just because you haven’t gone through the proper steps for both of them

[SirBunny]

Why do they only pee on my bed, nowhere else? if it was on the floor or something, I wouldn’t mind, but this is right next to my face where I sleep…

 And I should probably have rephrased that sentence – I am not ever going to rehome him. I meant that the frustration was making the thought appear, but I know that it would never happen.

[Bunny House]

I get it, I’ve wanted to do that to my buns, they have to be the most difficult animal to train.

As for the peeing by your face, I would say it’s because that is where most of you’re scent it and they want to pee on it so it tells the other bun that you are theirs. I know crazy but that’s how they do it.

I suggest you go buy a mattress protector so if you do let them on your bed(only after both are bonded) you’re mattress won’t get destroyed, that’s what I did because mine got nasty and I ended up replacing it.

[Sirius&Luna]

Oh, having unbonded bunnies can be a poop and pee nightmare! They pee and poop to mark their territory, so the bad news is, this will probably continue until they’re bonded. I know how frustrating it is (I had three unbonded bunnies a few months ago, and they shared different time running around the same room. They all pooped EVERYWHERE, but they are now bonded, and it’s now only the occasional stray poop outside the litter tray), but try and remember that it’s temporary.

Obviously they can’t be bonded until they’re both neutered, but I suggest heading over to the bonding forum to make sure you know what to do when the time comes! It’s good to start switching them between spaces now.

As for your bed – lots of bunnies like to mark soft things, and things that have particularly strong smells of human. So, a couple of suggestions that have worked for some others – put one of your bunny’s blankets on your bed – this way it already smells of him, and he doesn’t have to mark it. Secondly, try putting a shower curtain over it when you’re not there – at least that way the pee doesn’t soak in if he does pee.

For digging, try putting some heavy tiles in corners that he’s digging and chewing at.

It also doesn’t look like he has any chew toys, so even something as simple as a cardboard box might help occupy him for a bit. Willow balls, hay matts and apple twigs are all good options too

[Taloan7]

My bun will pee on the couch whenever we have been gone all day. She doesn’t do it if I’m gone a normal amount of time, but if we’re gone longer than usual we come home to pee on the couches. I almost think it’s a way to reassure herself when she’s feeling stressed with a situation. “They are gone too long! Okay, go smell their scent, now I feel close to them. I’ll jut pee here too.” I guess it’s a sign she loves us? It’s frustrating to deal with, but for us it’s happened less and less as time goes by and she feels more secure. Hopefully when things settle and this becomes the new norm it will stop happening.

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