Litter training – he poops EVERYWHERE

[Lisa B]

I’ve tried everything: several litter boxes, hay in the litter boxes, putting his droppings in the litterbox; I am out of ideas. He will not let me pick him up so I cannot place him in the litterbox without him thinking it’s a punishment. He does not urinate around the house; only in his cage. Put he poops while he hops around like he isn’t even aware that it’s happening. Has anyone experienced this and have any solution at all? I need some help! (I’ve had him for two weeks, he is about one year old.)

[Lea]

My un-neutered boy does this too. I’ve been told it’s a territorial thing. Is yours neutered?

[rabbyrabby]

My young bun (in-tact male) poops everywhere too haha.

Hay goes in, poop comes out.  Hoping for improvements here myself.

[litheandgraphic]

Definitely the neuter situation is the first thing to ask. Bunnies are much more prone to litterboxes once they’ve been fixed. But it’s also important to mention that 2 weeks is not really very much time to have had your bun, either. Bunnies often take quite a lot of time to get fully comfortable with their environment, and with you! Pooping everywhere is a sign of territorial marking.

If he’s unfixed, consider getting him neutered as soon as possible. After that or if you decide not to do that (it’s highly recommended that you do), what you can try is slowly letting him get used to his environment. Keep him in his enclosure for a while, letting him get fully used to the space and to “chin” and mark as he will so that he knows that that is his space. Try to avoid cleaning or reaching inside his enclosure while he’s inside – this will make him feel more insecure about his space, as would a giant foreign hand dropping into your living room would make you feel insecure!

Continue as you have been by picking up after him and placing the waste inside the box. Then, slowly expand his world and allow him to explore other areas. You may still find for the first month or two that he is continuing to do territorial marks, but this should eventually go away, especially when/if he gets fixed.

[Lisa B]

He isn’t neutered yet, but that sure would explain his territorial behavior. Thank you guys so much!! He’s getting really aggressive when I go near his droppings and the areas he uses, I bet it’s because he hasn’t been neutered!

[Lisa B]

No he isn’t neutered, I bet that’s it because I’ve heard that too! We need to get our boys neutered ASAP hahah

[Flopsie]

speaking from personal experience, neutering or spaying the bunny will likely have a very positive impact in fixing this.

without going into why, let me just say that my bun, pre spay would hop and poop at the same time. Literally as she was hopping around it would drop randomly.

However once spayed this has yet to happen again (knock on wood!)

[Author]

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