Neutered bunny has become more territorial/lost litter habits

[Ryan]

Hi! I’ve made a few posts in the past regarding my two buns, Pumpkin and Peanut.

Pumpkin is a mini Rex that has been with us since October 2016 and has been the sweetest little thing! Once we spayed her she calmed down with constant marking and did better with her litter training: overall the results we expected in her behavioral changes were incredible and she’s been a loving free-roaming bun ever since.

Peanut has been more than a handful despite being a tiny Netherland dwarf. We got him a few months after Pumpkin. We’ve made some mistakes since then: the day we brought him home we tried introducing the two of them, but Pumpkin wasn’t spayed yet and Peanut was barely a month old while Pumpkin was about 6 months old, while also in Pumpkins territory(our bedroom) and she immediately attacked him. Since then they just don’t get along no matter how we try to introduce them. They’ve both been “fixed.”

Enter my problem regarding Peanut: before we neutered him, he was reasonably well behaved. He’s never really let us touch him, but he’s getting better when food is involved. He used to use his litter at least sometimes. However, in the past month or so, he’s stopped using his litter entirely, favoring the carpet, no matter how identical we clean it or how we prepare his litter. He’s also somewhat aggressive towards feet depending on the time of day and where we’re at at the time. We have a separator in our house with a small hole that Pumpkin and Peanut can sniff or look in to to kind of meet each other and he has a nasty habit of getting her attention and having her come over only to scare her via growling.

We can live with the fact that they may never bond, but our biggest concern is his lack of litter box usage regardless of our training. Since he’s fixed and has his own free-roaming space as well, what methods could be suggested to try to improve his behavior and his litter use? Given the situation we don’t want to cage him or reduce his space if possible, and he does his business while we sleep or while we are away at work.

[Deleted User]

I’m assuming that you’ve tried cleaning the pee off the carpet and putting the rag in the litter tray to help him make the association?

You may need to restrict his space to really try and get the message across to him. I think that sometimes when buns have 1 litter tray and large free space, they get this sense that the world is their litterbox lol.

Other than those things and neutering (which you’ve already done) I don’t have any other suggestions at the moment!

[Wick & Fable]

If his neuter was within 1-2 months from now, post neuter craze may still be in effect.

For Wick (also a nethie if that helps), making the snake hiss sound loudly (something I’ve associated with litter training early on) has deterred him from pooping/peeing outside the litter box. Every time he arcs to pee, I hiss and him to stop. Then I hiss him/bring him to the litter box where he’ll stay until he pees or gets distracted by the hay in it. I also hiss, pick him and the poop up and put them all in the litterbox when he poops. What’s nice about a sound is it can be done right when you see an accident happen, while going to grab them is not as instantaneous. The connection between a slight scolding and pooping/peeing is only made if it occurs as close to each other timing wise as possible.

I fully know Wick understands the concept because the only times he poops/pees outside is if

1) (poop) He enters a new place, which is just natural and he’ll stop once he’s acclimated.
2) (pee) He is upset at something and wants to express that.
3) (pee) He perceives it impossible or inconvenient to get to the litter box (i.e. waking up from a nap and not making it to the box in time).

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[DanaNM]

Sometime bunnies can get in the habit of peeing outside their box, and it sounds like he is also in his sassy teenage years, even with the neuter.

I had good luck with Moose with positive reinforcement training a long with adding an additional litter box in the area that he would usually pee around. If he has a very large space, you might even want to add two extras.

Basically it involved leading him to his box with a treat periodically (like taking “potty breaks”) during play time, and then rewarding him for jumping in the box (use either a clicker or “good boy!” to let him know he did the right thing before giving the treat). Then giving him an extra pellet if he actually peed. He picked up on it super quickly, and it then became a game where he would jump in the box, and look at me expectantly for his pellet. I would much rather interact this way than follow him around cleaning up pee!

Definitely try to pre-empt him, as Wick says… the second you see him even thinking about it (usually backing up into a corner and lifting that tail) lead him to the box.

You will need to watch him like a hawk at first, and see if you can pick up on when he pees. Moose would always pee after meals, so I knew to make him take a “potty break” after meals.

It also helps to make the litter box very appealing with lots of fresh hay and soft bedding.

It’s funny that you say “despite being a Netherland”.. in my experience they are the most feisty!

There is also a slight chance that his neuter was incomplete… If it’s been longer than 2 months since his neuter and he’s still acting hormonal, might be worth asking your vet about.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Floppyhoppybunnies]

Is he going in the same place or just all over the show? I ask as maybe he wants his litter box in a specific place. My male is desexed and was TERRIBLE with litter training until he bonded with the female. He just would not go where he was supposed to – but he had never used a litter box before I got him either. Now that they have bonded – there is much less issue. I did have to watch him and redirect him when I changed their pen. Recently he started going about a metre away from the litter box, so I put another litter box there and slowly slowly moved it to where I want him to go. He has adapted to this so far but I do put a towel down where he used to go, no accidents yet

I have also changed where their hay is available, It is only available now in the litter box or on a plastic surface where he wont want to pee (and get his feet wet!)

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