Litter training trainwreck?

[Ashley&Bing]

I have done all that I can to help Mr. Bingley learn to use his litter box. Well, all that I know to do… He pees in his box, but only half of his poop makes it in. I have to clean up after him several times a day. Poop literally falls from his bottom while hes hopping around. Does this ever end?? Please help…

[BinkyBunny]

 Baby bunnies are typically messy!  Cute but messy.   Though you will find some bunnies take to litter training even when they are young, many times when they reach sexual maturity, hormones take over and territorial pooing and marking will begin to happen.  I read in your other post that when he walks he poos…that sounds territorial.    I also read that you got him on May 30th, so he can’t be too far from reaching that 3 month mark of sexual maturity and so I suspect you are dealing with territorial marking too.

Are you planning on getting your bunny neutered?  That can help with settling down hormones that can drive a bunny to mark. 

Does he make “piles” in one area though?  

What have you tried so far as far as littertraining?   (It’s still a good idea to continue with littertraining even though he’s young and not neutered) 

 

[Ashley&Bing]

I am planning on getting him nuetered. And yes, he makes piles right next to his litterbox, which is the most frusrating part! I am still going to continue though. How old are they when they can get nuetered? And I also have problems with him peeing on his hay,whichis really gross because I don’t want him to eat it after that!

[angelicvampyre]

Take a deep breath and know that it gets better.. it has to get better right???? with my guys Bugz was great with litter training he got it down pat ASAP even before he has his special trip to the vets. When I added Anya it all went to hell, but after her op both of them where back to being good, not great but really manageable. Now I have rufus and well it is all out warfare! i mean come on how can one rabbit physically poop that much! But with time and hopefully a bond it will get better. So know that he will get better.

As for how old they can be, most people do it around 5 months. It really depends on your vet, my rabbit vet will do it earlier if the rabbit weighs enough but she is just a rabbit vet she does nothing else so I would trust her, with general vets you are better to try and wait till everything has dropped that way they can do an exteral neuter rather then cutting him open to go hunting for them.

As for eating hay that is peed on, well they will do this no matter what you do. You can try a hay rack that sits near his litter tray, this is what I have done, that way he can sit in his litter tray and do his business but still have access to a fresh source of hay. My guys love hanging out in their trays eating form the hay rack.

[Beka27]

Most vets will neuter as soon as the testicles descend, typically between 3-4 months. It’s normal for them to want to poop and pee while eating hay, so you can use this to your benefit to littertrain him. You’ll go thru a lot of hay, but it’s will help him develop those good habits.

[RabbitPam]

If the piles are next to the litter box, you might try getting a wider box that covers that area too. Just bigger, so your bunny uses more of the litter pan and less of the floor.

[Ashley&Bing]

I actually moved his litter box that he rarely used right next to the one he always uses and its was so full of poo after a few hours. So that did work. Thank you! And when he went to the vet, he hadn’t descended yet, but that was abnout three weeks ago. He has now though, so when I get back to the city his vets in, I’ll make an appointment to see if its too early or not.

Random question though… Does anyone have trouble keeping their bun off thier bed?? I did no think he was big enough to even think about getting up there, but once he figured it out he’s up there non-stop. I feel bad because I have to put him in his cage when I sleep, even though he is very active at this point.

[Deleted User]

rabbits love soft things, and I’m afraid he may even decide that it would make a nice place to pee. If you don’t want to cage him, you might like to block your bed off with NIC grids, so you would be caged in a sense.

[Michelle&Lolli]

My female Lollipop likes to pee and eat hay. It took me a while to figure this solution out for some reason though. LOL I keep my two in a pen, so I had a small cardboard box I’d use as a hay box. I kept getting frustrated because Lolli would pee and poop all around the hay box. She knew to use the litterbox, but when she was eating hay, she’d eliminate right there. Well after some time, I finally got smart and dumped the hay in the litterbox. Problem solved.

I kept excluding that solution because it IS really gross. But hey, it solves the problem and they both seem happy as clams with it. They still leave droppings all over the place. This seems to be the territory thing and while it drives me nuts, there’s not much I can do about except keep them penned up longer.

[Ashley&Bing]

Well he actaully just got nuetered Wednesday. He has recovered greatly from is surgery, but still poops next to is litter box. I even put a line of three litterboxes where he eliminates the most and I still catch him going right next to the boxes instead! It is not nearly as bad though as before. I made him a pen with lots of fun things to do at night while he is active. But when I would wake up in the morning, there is literally poo everywhere. Except his litterboxes. And I mean everywhere. It was so gross! So hopefully when we get back home this isn’t nearly as bad. I appreciate everyone’s advice! Thanks!

[Monkeybun]

It will take a month or so for the hormones to die down. SO don’t expect over night changes from him

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