hutch cleaning vs. litter training

[Stephable]

Hi!

I’ve had two bunnies for about a month now and have been trying to litter train them. They live in a hutch with two litter boxes in their favourite corners and we don’t get any pee outside the litter boxes anymore (yay!) so I think they’re starting to settle in and figure things out. They do still poop everywhere though. I assume it’s a territorial thing because they’re still pretty new to the place. Both bunnies are desexed.

I know that the poop could be territorial so I’m wondering if there’s a certain way I should go about taking and cleaning their litter tray, refilling their water bowl and cleaning the hutch that would reduce the likelihood of territorial poops.

Any info is appreciated!

[Reeem]

It depends if the poop everywhere is just bad litter box manners or actually marking territory. Not sure if this is true but i’ve heard that the dropping would have a shiny look to it and smell way worse if they are marking territory. My bun is not spayed so she does mark territory by peeing and pooping everywhere. There is no way to clean the space in a way that they wont want to mark territory.

[vanessa]

Agree with Reeem. A few questions…

I assume they are bonded? If they are not – then they will mark until they have accepted each other’s presence.

How old are they? Young bunnies need to learn that they want to be litter trained. Young bunnies poop and pee everywhere. As they mature, they will be more inclined to want to use the litter box. I found that my youngsters started to show signs of improved litter habits by 6 months.

How big is the hutch? My buns all have impeccable litter box habits – except one female. If she is in a space that is smaller than 4×8 (as a single bun) and somewhat larger than that (with a second bun in the space), she will poop everywhere. Once I give her a larger space, she goes back to pooping only in her litter box.

Assuming your buns are not youngsters, and are newly bonded – how long have they been bonded? A newly bonded pair might still be pooping everywhere to establish rank.

How new is their hutch? They might still be “establishing” their presence in their new hutch.

Hope this helps.

[Stephable]

They are bonded, not sure for how long but have been since before I got them (about a month ago), they’re about 8 months old so not super young. Their hutch is a bit small :c It’s a double story thing that came with them so they’ve had it longer than I’ve had them but again, not sure exactly how long. I’m already looking into getting them a bigger hutch (have been since getting them but the spay/neuter was a drain on my funds :s) so maybe that’ll help!
Thanks!

[vanessa]

It doesn’t have to be an expensive cage. I’m sure there are folks here who have created inexpensive cages. I started with a pvc frame that I wrapped with chicken wire. Then I made wooden enclosures. Now I use x-pens (inexpensive), and NIC cubes (can add up). You could scour the second hand stores for baby gates. They are easily destructed by bunnies – but I find my buns leave the fence alone if I drape a towel over it. They are not interested in a towel. X-pens are super convenient. You can set them up in a 16 square foot area, or use a wall as part of the fence, and make it larger that way, with 1 x-pen. I suspect your issue may be the short amount of time the buns have had to get use to their new home, and the size of the cage. That being said – whenever I make major changes to my bunnies homes, they poop everywhere to mark the change as theirs. You might find they settle down with the pooping over a few months.
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[Stephable]

Yeah, I’m sure I could make some that’s not too expensive but I don’t have a whole lot of time or expertise haha, Unfortunately they’re currently living outside because my mum doesn’t allow pets in the house so my options are fairly limited to things that are warm/cool enough, secure and safe, etc. I’m hoping to move quite soon so hopefully they’ll become indoor pets and everything will be a little easier!

I’ve actually had them inside with me for a while today (while mum isn’t home) and they’ve been using their litter tray the whole time (and running around and causing chaos, haha) so hopefully it is about size and they’ll sort themselves out once I get them some more space!

[Stephable]

Yeah, I’m sure I could make some that’s not too expensive but I don’t have a whole lot of time or expertise haha, Unfortunately they’re currently living outside because my mum doesn’t allow pets in the house so my options are fairly limited to things that are warm/cool enough, secure and safe, etc. I’m hoping to move quite soon so hopefully they’ll become indoor pets and everything will be a little easier!

I’ve actually had them inside with me for a while today (while mum isn’t home) and they’ve been using their litter tray the whole time (and running around and causing chaos, haha) so hopefully it is about size and they’ll sort themselves out once I get them some more space!

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