Good litterbox behavior out of cage, but bad inside

[PB and Z]

Hello,

I’m am new to the binkybunny.  I adopted two angora bunnies Zatanna and Princess Buttercup who were born on 6/21/10 and were altered on 12/3/10.  I was wondering if any one could help me with some litterbox trouble I’ve been having with them.  They are pretty much perfect about going in the litterbox when they are out for playtime which a lot of the time since I am a student and a lot of days I can be home and they can run around while I do work.  But they are pretty bad about going in their litterbox when they are in their cage.  They go in it but they also wee and poo on the sides of it.  Does anybody know why they might do this or how to stop them from doing it?

Thanks!

[Monkeybun]

Do you have any kind of bedding or litter in the cage? Anything soft like towels or a pet bed? If so, you should remove it, and just keep a litter box and their food inside.

[PB and Z]

No they don’t have anything soft.  They had newspaper in there which I removed because I thought it might have been that, but then I just had puddles.

[jerseygirl]

They go in it but they also wee and poo on the sides of it. Does anybody know why they might do with or how to stop them from doing it?

So they are peeing over the side of it?
You may need to provide a box with higher sides or a large box overall if they share it. Do you see them try use it at the same time?  Could one be peeing beside it when the other is in it? It sometimes happens when they get territorial about the box.

Do you have a different box for them when they are out or do they go back in and use the one in the cage ?

Welcome, by the way!

[PB and Z]

They have a different box for when they are out at playtime that is slightly larger and with higher sides. The one inside the cage is big enough to fit them both but has rather low sides since I wasn’t worried about them kicking stuff out because of the high sides of the cage. I’ll get one with higher sides for inside the cage and see if that solves the problem.

Thanks!

[Beka27]

With two buns a large box (or two medium size boxes side by side) is always a good idea. I’d try that first and see how this affects the messes. How large is the footprint of their space?

[PB and Z]

The foot print of their space is about 4 feet by 2 feet with a second level that is about 2 feet by 1.5 feet.

And then their play area is like a 15 by 10 foot space. I have a long play gate that I put up and they run around like a third of my living room.

[Beka27]

Can you expand the size of their cage with an xpen, or open up the play space to them permanently? 4×2 feet is really small for two larger rabbits.

[PB and Z]

Yes, that was actually my project for this week.  I just bought an xpen that will add about 9 square feet to their space.  But I have to move where the cage is currently so that the xpen doesn’t wind up in the middle of the floor blocking off the living room from the kitchen.

Do you think adding more space and adding another litter box or a larger litter box will solve the sloppy box problems?

 

Also, how do you get the picture of your bunnies in your posts like that?

[Beka27]

That pic is in my signature. I think it’s under “my profile” at the top of the page. You can upload a pic from there.

There’s a fine line between too big of a space and too little. Try expanding it a bit and add a second litterbox.

[PB and Z]

Okay.  I finally cut down the file size enough to let it upload the profile picture.  So those are my girls.  Buttercup is the tan one and Zatanna is the black/grey one.

Okay so do you think putting up the whole xpen space is a little too big?  Because I can remove a panel or two to make the space smaller.  Also, should the two litter boxes be side by side or should I have one in the cage and one in the xpen space?  And also should hay be provided at both if they are split up?

Sorry about all the questions, I just want to make sure I do it right!

[Elrohwen]

When I had only one small lop, he was in a 4’x2′ cage connected to an xpen (so 4’x8′ total). I bonded him with a second lop and they now share that entire space. I honestly don’t think there’s such thing as too much space and I would give my bunnies a whole room if I could.

I have two litter boxes and they are right next to each other in the 4’x2′ cage part of their set up. They throw hay around and make a mess with it, so I like to keep it in the plastic bottomed cage instead of out in the xpen (which has a rug down and it’s a pain to get hay off of a rug). I would try both ways with your two and see what they prefer. I would definitely put hay in both boxes, so it might be easier to have them next to each other and keep the hay in one area. If they start peeing somewhere in the xpen, then move one where they are choosing to pee.

[jerseygirl]

You might find they will mark the new space with poop at first. Just keep putting it back in the box and it should stop after they feel they’ve marked the new territory sufficiently.

They look very cute! We don’t get to see many pics of angoras on the forums. The site is going thru updates so some things are changing. Currently the avatar (small pic under your name) is also the profile pic. If you are wanting to add a signature (text &/or picture), go to “Forum Preferences” just under the notice about updates at the top of the page. Click edit and you should see Signature box. To add a pic here you need to paste in the HTML code for the image. File size up to 300kb is allowed. I believe the image dimesions are automatically adjusted. Once you Save the image should appear under your posts in the forums.

Personally, I resize pics and Save using MS Paint because the file size is much less kb then other editing programs.

[PB and Z]

Okay thanks! I’m in the process of setting up the addition to their space. I’ve got to pick up a few things to complete it but I’ll keep you posted!

[PB and Z]

Okay so I made the addition to the girl’s space and they seem to like it.  I think I want to give them a different floor though because Zatanna likes to pull at the edges of the carpet.  I was thinking just one or two low-pile area rugs that would cover the space – does anyone have any suggestions?  I added a second litterbox into the cage part and it seems to be working – no puddles or piles of poo outside of them so far!  I attatched pics so that you can tell me what you think.  Also, is it normal for them to bite at their playtime gate and the pen like they are escaping convicts?

Thanks!

[PB and Z]

[jerseygirl]

Also, is it normal for them to bite at their playtime gate and the pen like they are escaping convicts?

Yes. Bunnies and barriers….they’ll often try make their way thru it. I believe it’s an instinct thing i.e. they always make sure they have a bolt hole. Some just view it as a project.
You could add a sheet of cardboard attached to a pen panel and see if they’ll take to tearing at that instead. Makes a mess but it’s better then them chewing on the bars.

Do you shut them in the cage or do they now have access to the pen space all the time?

I think I can see a hay rack over the litter boxes. That may have been part of the issue before, them both trying to get in the one box to access the hay.

For flooring, a rug is a good option since they’re used to being on carpet. It will save the rooms carpet also. If you get a carpet mat/rug and the edges extend past the boundary of the pen then they shouldn’t bother them too much. Or you could use a cotton rug that you can take up and wash as needed. Lots of people use fleece blankets also.

[PB and Z]

No they no longer get shut into the cage now that I attached an xpen to it. The cardboard boxes/mini hidey houses are attached to the side door to keep it permanently open and also give them a step to get in and out of the cage and then I just open up the xpen door to let them out for normal playtime/cage cleaning time where they have their bigger hidey house and stuff.

Yeah originally the litterbox was turned the other way so that they could both sit in it (or so I thought!) with the hay rack in front of it. But I turned it around the other way to get the other one in there and still have a space for them to lay if they want to be inside the cage.

The fleece blanket sounds most economical – lol – but won’t they pee on it or is that only when its used as a bed?

[PB and Z]

I ended up finding a nice low pile area rug that extends just beyond the limits of the pen and the pulling at the carpet has seemed to stop. They are still rattling the cage so I think I”m going to get some grass mats and attach them to the bottom parts of the pen so they don’t hurt their teeth.

[PB and Z]

Okay.  So they now have the two litterboxes and they were pretty good for a while but I keep finding a puddle (always in the same spot) next to the litterbox (circled in red below).  I always clean it up with vinegar as soon as I see it and the last time I found one I put the paper towel that I soaked it up with into one of the litterboxes so maybe that would help.  But I found another just a few minutes ago.  Should I move the litterboxes to the otherside of the cage so that they cover that spot to see what happens then?  But I’m pretty sure only one of them is doing it and I don’t want to mess up the other’s behavior.  I’m not sure which one it is though because they seem to switch who is using which litterbox.

[PB and Z]

The girl’s litter problems are no more! Yay!

[Beka27]

Good! What happened to work for you?

[PB and Z]

Well to teach them that they now have two litter boxes instead of one, every time I saw/see them squishing into one litter box I separate them so they are each in one. Also, anytime there was a puddle I would put the paper towel I soaked it up with into the litter box.

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