What to do about the Poo?

[mapaloda]

I got two house rabbits a few months ago (2 holland lops) and they are just the sweetest things!  I ultimately want for them to have free run of our main living area, but every time I let them out, they leave cocoa puffs behind with almost every hop!  We have to sweep and vaccuum the living room every time!  Is this normal?  They used to be better about their litter box in their cage, but now they poop and pee all over it….every corner and the middle.  Ironincally, they won’t pee around the house though.  What can I do to train them better and is it reasonable to think I’ll ever be able to train them to not poop with every hop?  Any tips on controlling urine odor?  Stinky!!!!!  I’d really appreicate any help you can give.  I love my buns, but this poopy maintenance is getting really frustrating!  Thanks so much!

 

[LittlePuffyTail]

Are your bunnies fixed? Non-fixed bunnies tend to be more territorial and leave “little surprises” to announce where they’ve been.

My lop was doing the same thing (he’s getting fixed next month) and what I found helps is I put the litter box in a big cardboard box with the top cut off and a big entrance hole, fill it with newspaper and every time he poops I put it in the box. Now he doesn’t go in the litter box but at least it’s all in the cardboard box and I don’t find them all over the house (although there is still the odd one I find). Good luck with your buns, it can be frustrating but it’s worth it in the end

love Holland Lops and had the joy of owning one once! They are so sweet!

[Beka27]

yes… i’d say your first line of defense is neutering or spaying them.  they should be able to "get it" sooner or later.  you’ve also not had them that long.  did you recently increase their running space?  maybe a second litterbox out in the area would help.  look on the bright side too…  at least bunny poo is dry!  imagine if you were having that issue with a dog!  yikes!

i’m thinking we could have an entire forum just devoted to bunny poo… seems like every other thread recently is about poo… lol.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

My girls leave their raisins all over…Once they are spayed they are likely to get much better!! They also don’t pee anywhere, just little poops…

One thing I found that makes it easier -DUST BUSTER so you dont’ have to haul out the vaccum. Plus I zap them up more frequently and it helps their litter habits improve. Use hay as your main litter and they spend more time in the litter box=less poops on the floor.

(You know you are a bunny slave when you have a vaccum with all attchments, a shop vaccum and a dustbuster )

Welcome to BinkyBunny!!!

[osprey]

Welcome to BinkyBunny, mapaloda.

I have 3 bunnies, all fixed, who have been with us for over a year.  They still leave their marking poops all over when we let them out to play.  I am amazed by people who can let their rabbits free roam; if I did that I’d be up to my ankles in poops!  I think some bunnies can do it while others don’t want to, but maybe others have had better experiences than I have.  I know there are several people on BB who have free roam bunnies.

 

[xnovalentine]

i’m working on training Lullabelle to be able to free-roam the house without suprise poo’s everywhere. She is not spayed yet (19th !!!), but for right now I’ve looked around at where she particurualy likes to go. She loves to poo and pee everywhere on the rug infront of the toilet, so I put a litterbox as close to the spot as I could and it has helped the problem — its still not perfect but there are no more mountains of poo, usually just a few dropplets. Then she also likes to poo and pee ALL OVER THE FRIGGEN COUCH! So I put a litter box on the couch and I remove it when she’s put away. This has also helped, but like i said, not perfect. I want to make sure to keep a steady structure now when shes not spayed so she will still know what to expect after being spayed and no surprises for her.

Bunny proofing has been an issue — we’ve had to use NIC cages and zip ties to block off areas where there are cords that she can get too. I recoomend duct taping cords under tables and surfaces to help minimize temptation. Remember: you will never be perfectly bunny proofed and you will always need to reevaluate your proofing.

Until she is spayed, I don’t expect perfection. I constantly monitor her and sometimes she even just finds a nice spot to nap in. But other times i’m running after her trying to get her away from some already half-eaten cords. I would suggest slowing introducing them into new areas and establish a structure that will be upheld after they are fixed. It will do wonders! Good Luck!!!

[mapaloda]

Thanks for all the tips! I’ve been getting alot of good info reading the other threads, too. I’m glad to have found this website! I’m the only one I know with house bunnies, so good advise was hard to come by. I think I’ll try the hay in the litter box and maybe switching back to the larger pan. I had switched to the small corner one about two months ago thinking it took up too much of their cage…but I’m beginning to think they liked that one better. I really would love to let them be free roam bunnies; I get such a kick out of seeing them hop around everywhere and I’m hoping they’ll get more comfortable with my kids the more they’re out, too. Anywho, thanks so much! Keep the tips comming…I could use them all!

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hi and welcome mapaloda! You’ve gotten a lot of great tips and insight from our fellow members and hope you feel welcome enough to hang out with us!  Another thing you can try for urine odor in the litterbox is switching or mixing your litter with Aspen Supreme.  Osprey got a bunch of us hooked on it and my word it is a blessing! Like it was suggested, try another litterbox outside the cage (my two will just hop back in their cage to go), or limit their space at first until they develop better habits then gradually give them more space. Sometimes bunny egos can get a bit big with too much freedom at one time and they become bunny pez dispensers.

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