How to litter train?!?

[Abi_Bunnylop]

My two bunnies, Ray and Leia, seem to be quite territorial.  I just got them a few days ago and every time I let them on my bed or just generally where I reside for any period of time, they pee on said surface (once including me [it was Leia]. but I think she learned her lesson when she went into time out for 10 minutes while her sister got to stay out).  Im also fairly sure that they’re spraying urine on the wall behind their water bowl.  I’ve recently read a lot about litter training and here are two suggestions I found; don’t let them out of the cage for longs periods of time until they are litter trained (that leads to bad habits), and don’t go into/disturb their cage (this will cause them to be more territorial).  So basically don’t let them out of the cage and don’t go in the cage… I don’t think people understand how difficult that is.  Articles also said to let them out for a little bit while you clean their cage.  However, when I do this, they just follow me around because they want food (I may or may not be feeding them by hand as often as I can).  It is also notable that they mainly pee right beside the door that I have to reach into to clean the cage several times a day.  I added a liter box by the door just now so — oh yep, now they’re sleeping in it, sigh.  I’ve done the whole put the hay in the litter box and put the pee paper towels in there and pick up the poop every 20 seconds — ALL OF IT.  At this point I don’t even know what my question is.  I guess its why are they so friggen territorial at 8 weeks?  I know it may be because they are not spayed yet but should it really be this bad at only 8 weeks?  I mean I though sprain urine wasn’t until at least 3-4 months.  Help

[tobyluv]

It can be very hard to completely litter train a rabbit that hasn’t been spayed or neutered. Other reasons that they are peeing outside of the litter box are because they are in a new place with new people and they are marking their territories, plus, rabbits like to pee on soft surfaces, such a a bed. It would be best to keep them off of the bed for now. When you first bring a rabbit home, it’s best to limit their area, and not let them roam all over those first few days. You could attach an x-pen to their cage to give them more room for play and exercise, and if they are out in the pen, that would give you an opportunity to clean out their cage and replenish their food and water, since they hopefully would exit the cage and be in the pen area.

Your rabbits will need to be separated before they are 12 weeks of age. For one thing, rabbits are often mis-sexed and it could turn out that they aren’t both female, then you are presented with a litter in a short while. Even if they are the same sex, they will need to be house separately at or before 12 weeks old. When puberty hits, aggression can come with it. If rabbits fight, they can severely injure each other. After their spay surgeries and recuperation, you can properly re-bond them.

[sarahthegemini]

You’ve had them for just a few days. It takes longer than a few days to litter train. Not to mention they’re in a new environment so things are going to be a bit messy while they settle in.

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