POOP EVERYWHERE

[lazyhistoire]

Hey guys!

My bunnies (Bun & Clyde) have been pooping EVERYWHEREEEEEEE AHHHHH

I think it’s Bun (the female) mostly. They are litter trained! What the heck is goin’ on???

Luckily they’ve peed in the box (excluding two incidents with Clyde )

But seriously, I don’t understand! It started about 2 months ago and we’ve been trying to re-train them and it’s not working!

 

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Are they fixed? I know that’s a big part of it. Samson isn’t yet and he’s marked a couple places in each room as “his”, so in the interim I just put a litterbox in each of his spots.

[lazyhistoire]

Oh yeah they are fixed, one is a 2 year old and the other is 4. THEY KNOW BETTER!!!!
We didn’t have this problem before.. urggh@!!!!

[jerseygirl]

Did you have any visitors that brought their pets into your home?
Any big changes at home in general?

What have you been doing to retrain?

I empathise with you completely. I have a 3 and 4 yr old and the female (3) has been bad on this a while, the male (4) has his moments.

[Sarita]

Well, rabbits don’t really “know better” :~)

I think you need to retrain them. Yes, what have you been doing to retrain them?

[lynnbunn]

My two rabbits had the same problem for a bit right after I expanded their home.
Have you changed anything in their area or around it?
Have your rabbits been fighting a little? (not like a huge scuffle, maybe a clump of fur in the morning)
These could be reasons that they’re marking territory.
If not, they’re just being naughty like all rabbits are!
Have you seen them actually pooping outside of their litterbox? My teenage bunn Romeo binkies in his cage all the time and kicks out all his poo. I thought his litterbox habits were bad though so I got mad at him. I had to apologize. D’:

Anyways, if there’s only poop outside, no pee, they probably don’t need to be retrained. If it doesn’t subside in a week or so, you probably want to re-nurture their good habits!

Good luck~

[lazyhistoire]

Sorry I took forever to reply to all the posts here.
I’ve been busy with bunny rescue wooo!

Yes, there have been changes. We made them a bunny condo (sort of like a NIC cage but we made it out of a x-pen)
We also brought a baby bun in the house that I rescued. She’s in a different room though but they have seen each other/met through a baby gate one time.

I was also trying to teach them to free roam a little better, but that was when they were using the litterbox.

Anytime they pee/poop outside the box we do a firm NO! I push the head down – not hard, just to show I’m top bun kinda thing.
When they do use the litterbox we praise them and I’ve restarted the process of throwing all their poops back in the box.
We clean everywhere they pee with vinegar really well.

At first they had carpet in their new condo and they were peeing on that, so we finally took it away. We also had to deny them access to the 2nd level because everytime they go up there it’s a catastrophe. even though I put another litterbox up there!

So we decided to let them use that whenever they learn to behave again

[jerseygirl]

We made them a bunny condo (sort of like a NIC cage but we made it out of a x-pen)
We also brought a baby bun in the house that I rescued.

Pretty sure those 2 things are the reasons.

I’m also experiencing the territorial marking because of a bringing a baby bun in the house. On top of the deterioated litter habits. Why do we do it?! lol

Regarding the new rabbit, even if they hadn’t seen it, they seem to know anyway. 

What was their old habitat before the new one? Is it much larger? Are you able to go into it like an xpen?
If it’s new and larger then it’s prob normal they’d mark alot at first. If that hasn’t stopped then you may have to reduce the size a bit, then extend it gradually once litter habits improve.

How are their habits when you allow them free roam time? Do you add another box in one of the other rooms?

 

 

[Lintini]

Ahh Poop everywhere – sounds like my bedroom

I would put money on the fact that they are poopin cuz of the baby bunny

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By lazyhistoire on 05/21/2011 08:32 AM

Anytime they pee/poop outside the box we do a firm NO! I push the head down – not hard, just to show I’m top bun kinda thing.
When they do use the litterbox we praise them and I’ve restarted the process of throwing all their poops back in the box.
We clean everywhere they pee with vinegar really well.

I actually would avoid pushing the head down as you may be making it worse. I understand it’s not hard and you are not hurting your bunny. But it sounds like this may be a territorial issue because it’s poos mostly — (since they pee in their box).  And if they feel threatened through a dominance move like pushing their head down, or made to feel insecure, it may make them want to mark even more.  Bailey, who was my persistent marker would actually mark less when I would pet her and make her feel secure.  https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/Lit…fault.aspx  Scroll down to “The Persistent Marker”, though the one photo looks like I am pressing her head down, I am actually petting her. 

Do they pile poo in their boxes and just do scattered poos everywhere?    If so, they could be not only re-establishing territory but they could be having some issues with each other a bit within the new territory.  If cleaning often doesn’t help, you might want to leave their poos then, picking up those less often (and when you do do that, don’t let them see you in their space doing that).   Their own scent may help reassure them which may make them feel the need to mark as much. .    

It’s difficult because what will work for one bunny, or bunny pair may not work for another.  We just have to figure out what will work for yours!

Maybe yours need just more reassurance.  

 

[lazyhistoire]

You know what, the reassurance thing makes so much sense. It’s mainly been my older girl bun. Yesterday I could tell something was wrong in the way she felt and I felt like she was trying to tell me something. I know that sounds really odd, but she and I have cohabitated for a long time and we know each other pretty well!
It’s just like when Im upset, my girl just knows. So yesterday I started holding her and giving her more love and attention. It seems to help a little. I think you are right – she might feel a little insecure.
I’ll keep on this track and let you guys know how it goes!

I don’t think they are having issues with each other. They don’t fight but they’ll start up the circling at feeding time. Thats something I know how to deal with.

Thanks guys!

[jerseygirl]

They don’t fight but they’ll start up the circling at feeding time.

ditto again. So much with your pair is the same as mine. lol
Hope you get some relief from the littering soon.

[Juli]

Be sure you praise your rabbits well when they pee/poo in the litter box. Also try leaving a rabbit treat in their box.

[lazyhistoire]

We started cleaning it more often/using less litter and praising them of course! But also putting their hay directly in the box. I’ll try treats too, thank you!

Is it possible a change in littler may be the case as well? we switched from Yesterday’s news to Feline pine recently and thats about when it started.

[longhairmike]

am i the only who is entertained by using the vacuum cleaner wand and watching all the stray pills get sucked up into the vacuum cleaner.
especially if you have a bagless where they all swirl around in a big bunnypill tornado in the cannister…

[Monkeybun]

lol mike! I have a clear canister vacuum too, it does look kind of odd when I vacuum up stray poops ;P

[Juli]

It is possible that it could be the change in litter. Maybe it is the way the differnt types of litter smell. But they should get used to the new litter soon.

[RabbitPam]

Is it possible to go back to using Yesterday’s News? They are both equally recommended, and it does sound like protest poos.
Sammy made it very clear which litter she liked best, and when I used it, she was fine.

[jerseygirl]

Litter change is often behind change of habits. Did you try the pellets with the YN on top for a while? Wood pellets do have a smell so someone might be objecting to that.

[lazyhistoire]

Ok. We went back to YN and it’s still a poop explosion. Now they do it when they’re out of the cage too. I’m about to pull my hair out!
We did just move so I know they’re adjusting. But still. … Geez

Should I make the cage smaller for now?

[lazyhistoire]

They’ve started peeing now. What’s happening???

[Sarita]

I think the fact that you have another rabbit in the house is the problem. There is really no use hiding another rabbit because they know the other rabbit is there.

[lazyhistoire]

So I just read that some people use puppy pee pads for buns so long as they don’t eat them. Is this safe? If so how do I do that?

[Author]

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