Need Help! Almost kinda litter trained

[crystal muse]

My bun, Rocket, is almost 12 weeks old now and after only 1 week, he was completely litter box trained and now has no accidents in his cage. And every night I let him roam free in a  3 foot by 10 foot hallway for about 5 hours (and I’ll probably give him a bigger space later).

SO the problem is that in the hallway, he poops everywhere!!! He has two litter boxes out with him in the hallway and he does pee in there, but he just scatters his poop in any available space except the litter box! I have carpet as the flooring and thought that was the problem, so I put fleece, but there was the same amount.  I tried a lot of things to prevent him from pooping everywhere, but nothing is working.  He’s fine in his cage for the rest of the day, just not in the hallway. I’m not sure what else to do. So does anyone have any tips to get him to use his litter box in the hallway? Please help. Thanks!

-Crystal

[Monkeybun]

Get him neutered

Seriously though, he’s at that age when his hormones are ruling his actions, and he is marking his territory. Neutering will help

[Bam]

I agree with monkeybun. Scattering poop is a definite marking-behaviour. My bun did that too, I thought it was just his personality, I thought it couldn’t be helped. Then I got him neutered for other reasons and the poop-scattering stopped.

I know it’s not a nice thought to have so cut into your furry little friend who is healthy and doesn’t really need surgery for medical reasons. But you will hopefully have a long life togeather and having your rabbit neutered makes things a lot easier.

[Beka27]

Like the others said, this is a marking behavior. The poos aren’t actually that bad because they can be picked up, or if you have a hand vac, they are easily sucked up. Be aware that as he gets a bit older and the hormones becomes more prominent, he may start marking with urine as well, and possibly spraying urine. If he’s 12 weeks now, his testicles should descend sometime within the next month, and he can be neutered then. Don’t wait too long to get that set up or you might be facing a bigger issue than just poo marking!

Has he been in for his baseline exam with a rabbit vet yet?

[Koralsie]

When I was first training my bunny, it took her longer to learn to poop in her litterbox than it did for her to learn about peeing. Like you, I kept her in a smaller space at first, and whenever she pooped anywhere other than her box, I just picked it up and put it back in the litterbox. She got the idea after a week or so, and after that we rarely had an accident.. until.. she hit about 7 months (cue dramatic music). For her, I guess that is when the hormones kicked in. She started scattering poop everywhere, nipping people, destroying everything, and generally being a pain. I got her spayed two weeks ago, and the litterbox habits immediately went back to normal. She also stopped nipping. (However, she is even more hyper and destructive than ever for some reason.) Anyway, it sounds like neutering is a good idea. I’ve heard that some bunnies get the hormonal flood sooner than others. Also, as some others have mentioned, males spray pee once the hormones really get going. Get him neutered before you have to deal with THAT! Good luck!

[crystal muse]

Okay, I definitely will get him neutered as soon as I can, but he’s only 12 weeks so I’m going to have to wait. Besides just the scattered poop, he doesn’t nip or act aggressive, but I know that can change. But, until I can neuter him, is there any way to get him to stop pooping everywhere, or do I just have to wait until he is neutered for him to stop?

-Crystal

 

[Beka27]

Not really… you just have to keep picking them up and throwing them in the litterbox. He might catch on a little bit.

[Bam]

Like beka27 says, keep picking up the poop and throw it in the litterbox so he’ll know that’s where poop is supposed to be. When he nolonger needs to mark with poop, he knows where to leave them, so to speak.

My rabbit never displayed any aggression, nipping etc, but he fell in love with my dog and pestered her, he kept courting her and that’s why I had him neutered.

[Koralsie]

I can second Beka’s and Bam’s comment about just picking up the poop and putting it in the litterbox! That’s what I was said in my post above too. It worked with my rabbit. I kept her in a smallish space at first and picked up every little piece of poo that she dropped and put it back in the box. After one week, she rarely had another poo accident. Good luck!

[Author]

Messages