news on Craisin…..peeing on her bed

[5cats1bun]

she just called me all upset, he had peed on her bed for the 3rd time since he’s been there, is pooping everywhere (not so cute anymore!) , the thing is he was pretty much perfect about the litter box with me so I don’t know if this is to much free time all at once. Also she doesn’t want to discourage hom from being on the bed cuz she likes him hanging out with her on the bed. Any thoughts on why or what to do? thanks folks!

[osprey]

In a new environment, restrict space is always a good idea at first.  He’ll try to claim everything as his by peeing on it, so she has to restrict him to an area that he is comfortable with, then give him more freedom as he calms down.  Beds/pillows are like a pee magnet for bunnies, I guess because we spend so much time in them the smell of us must be overwhelming to a bun.  I would definitely counsel keeping him off the bed until he earns it by keeping his pee under control. 

[Spacehopper]

A plastic shower curtain!!!! worked for us and the Bumstar as I too didn’t want to NOT have him on the bed with me. I even went through the sleeping in bed UNDER the the duvet and shower curtain but it was just FAR too hot and sweaty, so that had to stop. Brian HATED the feel of the plastic, and soon learnt not to jump up and pee, and so carried on peeing in his litter box only instead of as well as. It could be worth a try.

And as osprey said our beds must stink to a rabbit, we found Brian would only ever pee on the boyfriends side (may sound good for me, but not when i would get awoken by a grumpy bugger who would refuse to go near it so i would have to change the bed etc..AND HE WANTS KIDS?!  I think not!!)

 

But give that time too, as bun will soon realise that the bed is OUR domain!!!

[MooBunnay]

Giving a bunny complete freedom as soon as he gets to a new place definitely causes the bunny to run and mark EVERYTHING Tell her she should really keep him in a pen when he’s not supervised, and give him some supervised free time out of the pen. That way, when he starts his territorial marking she can pop him right back into the pen. Just like dogs or cats, a bunny won’t be perfect in a new place without a bit of training!

Also – I have bedroom bunnies, and if she doesn’t let him on the bed for awhile, it won’t change how much he likes to be up there. Mine weren’t allowed on my bed for a loooong time, until they behaved in my bedroom. Once they behaved in my bedroom I made a set of stairs up to my bed. NOW, they sleep on my bed all the time – with no territorial marking (OK, there was ONE pee incident, but I really think it was laziness and not territorial!)

I’d really emphatically recommend she keep him in a pen for awhile, or else he’s just going to keep marking and driving her nuts. She might feel like its mean at first, but it would be much sadder for him if she got so fed up with it that she decided not to keep him. I forewarn every one of my adopters that the bunny WILL do some kind of territorial markings the first few days, and to protect their house (and their patience) they really need to keep the bunny in the pen, and train the bunny in the new environment.

[5cats1bun]

I posted her the link to read this, might help coming from other people besides just me as I did mention this is what I thought the problem was, hopefully she will look at it!

[MooBunnay]

Oh good! Maybe she can join the boards as well

[5cats1bun]

I think she was gonna as she seemed pretty thrilled about the site

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