Help! Bunny good with litter boxes inside condo, not so much outside

[bridgetfrill]

Hi everyone, I’m a relatively new bunny owner. I had one before as a teenager, but I didn’t really know what I was doing, and although I don’t think my bunny back then was particularly unhappy, I want to do everything properly 12 years later.

I just adopted my beautiful bunny, Liv, about a month ago. At the shelter they told me she had good litter box habits, and they weren’t lying — I put together a bunny condo for her, and after some initial issues, she’s been really good at peeing only in her two litter boxes. However, whenever I let her outside, she always pees on the carpet. For now, she only has access to my bedroom an en-suite bathroom. (I can actually keep the door to the living room open though, as she doesn’t like going outside on the shiny floorboards — can’t blame her, she’s mostly just sliding around on her fluffy paws.) I tried restricting her to a smaller space in the bedroom, but that didn’t really help either, cause the fence I put up was low enough for her to jump over. (I ordered a taller X-pen though, so maybe that will work.) I also put 4 litter boxes in different corners of the room in addition to her in-condo ones, and she has been using them, but she still goes to other places, too.

Of course I read all I could find already, including the tips on this site and on this forum, but I still haven’t had much success. I’m almost always too late to catch her in the act, and even when I’m not, my firm voice or gentle nudge doesn’t stop her, cause she’s a brave little bun and not afraid of me at all. (Which of course I love in general, but it’s not very helpful in this case.)

Because she’s so good with her boxes inside her home, I can’t help but think it’s a territory issue. She is neutered, and over a year old. Also adorable (see picture) and super friendly, so I’m never mad at her for more than 5 seconds, but I can’t keep buying giant bottles of Nature’s Miracle forever… I want her to be an active part of my life, and not just sit inside her (pretty swanky!) condo when it’s not specifically her playtime. 

If anyone has any tips that are not all over bunny sites already, but worked for them, please let me know!

[SeaTurtleSwims]

How many litter boxes do you have set in the room? I ended up with three litteer boxes in my bedroom- one stays in the cage and two I just pull out from the closet when it’s time for the bunny to run around. Not saying three is the magic number, but it worked for my bun. I just put them at either end of the bedroom, but you could also arrange to place them in the space where she is urinating/pooping. If it is scattered individual pellets, she might be territory marking her new home which usually lessens as they settle into their new groove.

I learned an easy lesson the hard way- I was feeding my rabbit all the good treats (carrots, berries etc) to encourage him to like me more outside the cage, but that also encouraged him to have to potty more outside the cage! So, now I don’t feed him stuff like that when he is roaming. He just has his regular access to pellets/hay/water.

Good luck!

[Mikey]

It could also be that the room is still pretty new to her. Her peeing and/or pooping around your room is her way of getting her smell around so that it feels like “hers”. It helps a bun feel at home I would give her a few months and a few extra litter boxes to adjust completely and hopefully stop going outside of the litter boxes. Is she spayed? If not, she should be spayed not only to ensure she will have a longer, healthier life, but spaying also decreases territorial marking

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