Territorial or just plain stubborn?

[mrmac]

The trio has been bonded for a while now, and have been dealing with the poo wars. They had two smaller boxes, and one larger one so we bought them a new large one and took one of the smaller ones out. There are 3 litterboxes in the pen. The poo wars have not lightened at all and now they have taken to peeing all along the front edge of the litter box and it is gross, and they always do it, and I mean huge pee puddles. I have had to flip and wash the blankets that are now basically ruined. It is ridiculous the amount of poo that needs swept up EVERY morning, and I contantly have to pick up more throughout the day. The pic below is of this morning, just one corner, the rest of the cage is like this too. They do use the litterboxes but not well, and my husband is getting sick of it.

[Sarita]

I think I would try the regular square litter boxes instead of those corner boxes – I find that those rarely are good for rabbits with litter problems. I think they tend to get too lazy to scoot their butt back inside the litter boxes and I tend to think they are too small.

[Monkeybun]

My bun hates the corner boxes, she likes using whatever corner she wants, thank you! lol. Before we got her the kitty box we use now, she was missing the edge quite a bit, due to her not facing the right way. Now she’s just missing due to her being a teenager and being all hormonal and marking stuff. *sighs and counts down the days until she’s big enough to get fixed*

[Deleted User]

ugh! This is a mean mess, I have to agree. Totally unacceptable! The trio is being nasty to you, this must be solved.

Agreed to Sarita.

You know Mac, they might like a really large rectangular one that they can hang out together and munch. I see your hay is attached beside the litter box. Make it so it’s above, and make it big.

I have zero poo wars. I just realized it. I don’t understand….

[mrmac]

Its driving me crazy! I will have to find a big rectangular one. How big is big enough/toobig?

[Sarita]

Good idea Petzy – those very large cat litter boxes would work good. Those are what I have for my biggie bunnies.

[Deleted User]

[Sarita]

http://www.bunnyluv.com/exlarlit.html

For my biggie pair I have the x-large box on the link above.  Giselle has a large cat litter box and Maxine has a low sided large box that I cannot find anymore :~( that was actually from the dog training section.

[Sarita]

Petzy, that is funny LOL.

[Deleted User]

Too big is bad for clean-up… mine is 17″ by 24″ they all fit in, but how big are Delilah and Davey? …maybe go bigger than mine then. Like 20″ by whatever.

I meant the hay rack, too, make it really large and stick it above the new litter place.

[mrmac]

No kidding! They used to be so good! I will have to get one of those boxes. Do you have issues with any peeing over the edge?

[RachelB]

When I only had one bunny (Samson) I tried those corner litterboxes and thought that Samsons litter habbits were horrible. There was constantly pee “accidents” over the edges or near the front of the box. I read on here that other people had similar problems so I changed and started using a small square litterbox (actually I was using those disposable pans that you can use to make brownies (I would reuse them until they got yucky and then throw them out). This worked great for 1 bunny.

Then when I got Ivy I decided that they needed a bigger box so they both could use it at the same time. So I went and got the biggest box I could find (probably a bit of overkill…. but the buns love it!!) My bunnies litterbox habbits got MUCH MUCH better when I got them a huge box with a high lip. Seriously this thing is enormous…. 22.25″L X 16.75″W X 6.75″H http://www.petco.com/product/15211/PETCO-Litter-Pans.aspx?CoreCat=certona-_-ProductList_Cat_3-_-PETCO%20Litter%20Pans-15211

Anyways they use it always… I havent had any accidents since (and its cut down on hay thrown everywhere too). They have to jump up into the box to use it (the lip is kinda high but Samson is a dwarf lop and can make it with no problems) so there are no chances that they will be sitting in the box and miss it.

Maybe try a bigger box for them. It doesnt even have to be a true litterbox… anything rectangle and plastic should work.

[mrmac]

They are 6-7lbs’ish and Dexter is smaller.

[mrmac]

I will have to get one this week. My husband is sick of it. It is like a mine field walking in there to clean up, then the poos get stepped on and stuck to my feet (gross!)

[Deleted User]

No, but I recently added urine guards to my litter cage. It is now physically impossible for mine to pee over the edge. You read my stink story? Well, my bf was getting ready to ultimatum me:”the rabbits must go or else….”

Again, most of the rabbit stuff available is puny, it’s best to look at the cat and dog sections.

 

edit: if they used to be good it’s not territorial, they are protesting the litter boxes.

[Sarita]

The one from Bunnyluv is not bad for cleanup. I can usually carry that one plus 2 small ones down to the garage when I clean – I take as many as I can on each trip. I do clean my litter boxes every 4 days and it can get heavy too once they have pooped and peed in it but what the heck – helps me build muscles and I get my exercise in.

[kralspace]

I don’t think you can get too big, each of my condos has a large plastic storage box, as tall as 8-10 on the sides and have no problems hopping in and out. I have a few of the small plastic dishpan tubs scattered about that the love to sit in solo.

I really wonder what my neighbors think when they see me haul 7 litterboxes out through my bedroom door to dump and wash.

[Deleted User]

Oh, they’re no bigger than mine, so 17 by 24 should do, thereabouts.

[Sarita]

I think mine are about the same size that Rachel posted but the plastic looks softer like a regular litter box – may have to check those out in the x-large too.

[mrmac]

Well I should say Davey and Delilah were perfect before Dexter, but I believe most of the poos are from Dex. Dexter had pee issues from the start, but now I think most of the pee is coming from Delilah. Davey has mini poos so I can always find the ones that are his! Delilah tends to scoot her butt high up so I will have to find something with a taller edge. Yes I read about the stink! EWW!

[Deleted User]

Dexter still having the peeing issues? You didn’t say.

Make a fresh start with new litter setup.

[mrmac]

My husband bought a box today hopefully it works. Dexter’s pee issues have dissappeared, he is really good about peeing in the box but not pooping, he just sits and let it all out. Anywhere he sits, he always leaves a couple behind. I think Delilah is the source of the peeing, although I think Dexter is occasionally guilty too. Davey pee tends to be slightly red every once in a while so I can see where he goes in the boxes (Davey has always been great with the litterbox).

[Deleted User]

Did you change anything about their place for hay yet? Would they all pee in the box if you loaded it up with hay on top of the absorbing litter material? You could gradually decrease the amount that you use for this purpose and eventually just have a supply above the box, but I find the hay in the box in the beginning really helps whenever I change any litter aspect.

[mrmac]

Yes, I put in the new box, removed the last teeny one. 2 of the 3 have hay in the box as well as a rack above it, they had a hayday sitting in every box-“ooh theres hay in there!” This morning we still woke up to poo all over but I dont think it was quite as much, but still enough. I didnt find any pee spots, which is always good. The pan is like 18×15. Dexter was sitting in it last night and Davey decided to jump in with him (Dexter still has a little fear that he will get bit when Davey or Delilah approach) so he bolted out, Davey looked around like “Did I do something?” Delilah is a big fan of the new box, she likes to dig in it, but at least she not flinging litter everywhere.

[Deleted User]

Let’s see if Delilah’s pee accidents resolve with this new way. By the sounds of it, Dexter might be pottying in random places because of his insecurity around the other two, or should I say because of the dominance of the other two. Deirdra had this problem because Lint would chase her out of their litter cage thing. At that time, I had a second box for a while for D and eventually I was able to get rid of that.

[mrmac]

When he goes to drink/eat/or just sitting, and when he moves theres like 3-8+ little poos! (He has big poos, bigger poos than Davey or Delilah and he is so much smaller than them!) Or he walks/hops and all of a sudden little poos start falling out!

[Deleted User]

You have it bad with yours right now! At least you know the culprits: Dexter for this, Delilah for that.. — I am sure, though, soon you will get them on track! (you know, Clifford is doing this also, wherever he has been = little manure piles… )

[mrmac]

I hope so, I’m starting to run out of ideas. There are plently of boxes, now all are larger ones, what do they want? Picky little buns!

[Deleted User]

I hate that ‘running-out-of-ideas feeling’ but give this new thing you have set up some time; and, remember, there is always the (unpopular and horrible) fix-it of caging them to re-instill slipped up litter habits.

[mrmac]

ugh they would be so upset with me, but we’ll see after if this new setup helps at all!

[Deleted User]

…more upset than you are with them for their ‘peppercorns’ sticking to your feet?
Even just cutting down on their pen size might do it.

[mrmac]

yeah I forget about the feet part hehe no I can take some being upset with! I might try making the pen a little smaller once I give this way a few days…

[Deleted User]

What did your trio’s pen look like today? Any improvements yet?

[mrmac]

Slightly less, not completely clean but that’s ok at least it was an improvement! Hopefully it keeps going down!

[Author]

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