Pooping and Peeing right in front of litter box Help!

[Eenglis1]

So I have 2 buns, one male and one female and they are both fixed and have been for over 2 years. Their cage is an XL dog crate with carpet on the floor and an X pen attached to it with a large area rug under it to protect the carpet in the room. And they are in that for about 2/5 of the day and then they get to free roam around my carpeted bedroom from when I get home to when so go to bed (which is about from 3-11). However that was during the school year and now it is summer so they have been out of their cage pretty much all the time. They have 2 large sized, high sided litter boxes in their cage with a large hay rack behind them and they seem to use those perfectly fine when they are locked in their cage for the night. In my bedroom, outside of the cage, I have another large sized litter box in one corner, a corner litter box in another corner and then I giant guinea pig cage bottom up against a wall and I use wood pellets as the litter. I have all of those outside of their cage because they had started to pee and poop in those specific places and started ruining my carpet. I thought by putting litter boxes where they were going would help to save my carpet and they did start to use those when they were out. However they have both started to pee and poop right in front of the large guinea pig cage bottom litter box instead of going in it ?. I do also foster kittens in another part of my room and I have fostered for a while and the rabbits have been perfectly fine using the litterboxes outside of their cage when I’ve had previous fosters but for some reason they are going out of their litter box and I don’t know why. I really can’t trust them in my room alone anymore out of the fear that my carpet is going to be completely ruined. Why don’t they just go back to their cage and use those litter boxes instead of going all over my room? I know this is a little long but anyone who can help would be great.

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, I wonder if the foster kittens are triggering some territorial marking?

I feel your pain, I’ve had buns lose their litter box habits from time to time.

Usually the recommendation is litter box “boot camp”. Since they are using their box fine in their cage, restrict their space to the cage/pen for a little while, and then start slowly increasing the amount of space you give them (you might need another pen to help mark their area. You can also have them take “potty breaks” where you return them to their cage periodically to encourage them to use their box.

Since the extra litter pans didn’t seem to help, it’s your call as to whether to keep them or not.

I will also say that it helps mine to always have lots of enticing fluffy hay in the box to encourage them to jump in.

Have you actually seen them pee next to the box? Sometimes buns jump in, but then stick their bum over the side.

One other thing that helped me when my girl was peeing outside her box, was to mop it up with a paper towel and place it in her box, but then wait to actually clean it up until she was locked in her condo for the day. If I cleaned it in front of her, she would pee again right then! I also was originally using white vinegar to clean the area, but was using it so much that I think she was remarking to cover the vinegar smell. I switched to using Nature’s Miracle carpet shampoo (I have a little spot cleaner machine… life saver), and she stopped marking the spot!

. . . 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.  

[Eenglis1]

It may have triggered the territorial behaviors but I just find it strange that they didn’t do that when I’ve had fosters before. And I definitely have seen them pee right outside the box too, they will go right in front of it and then turn around and pee ?. Another problem I have is that I have put other pens up I my room before as blockers and they just dig at the carpet to try to get under the pen which ruins the carpet even more ?. I’ve tried lots of little tricks I’ve seen other people do and they are some stubborn buns lol. But I really hate not being able to let them run around my room without supervision anymore. They also chew on the bars of their cage at night now because they are getting limited playtime. Which is of course making me lose sleep. I really don’t know what to do now I mean I can’t just stay in my room all day to watch them (as much as I would like to lol).

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