Yellow pee stains on rabbits.

[Dragonfly]

Hello,

I have had my bunnies for about 3 months now. I’m new to having bunnies. They are female and not spayed yet but they have an appointment coming up.

I have been litter training them since I got them and they use it almost 100% of the time, I also change their litter boxes every 2 days. They have a seperate play area during the day but when I went to move the biggest more dominant bunny I noticed she was sitting in her pee and had an accident on the floor. Her paws and the bottom of her tail was wet and I was wondering if there is anything I should do to help the pee stains or if this is just a normal bunny thing.

 

Thank you for your help 😊😊

 

 

[Wick & Fable]

If this is a one-time occurrence, it’s not worrisome– however, if it continues to occur (you see her bottom/tail consistently wet with pee), this can be a sign of a UTI, bladder issue, or even dental issues (some rabbits dramatically increase water intake to deal with teeth pain, leading to peeing a lot more = peeing on themselves unfortunately).

You can just leave the pee stains, as she will groom it/it will grow out. At most, you can take a damp towel and try to get it, but most rabbits like to be in charge of their grooming!

Also, it is advised to keep your rabbits separate at all times (unsure based on your description if they are separated permanently or not). Young rabbits tend to get along really well with each other because they have not begun experiencing the impacts of hormones yet. When one does, a ‘baby bond’ (also known as the false bond) tends to go south very fast, resulting in cuddly rabbits in the morning to fighting rabbits at night. You can read about this here: https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html  … They should remain separated until they are both spayed, 1mo post-recovery, and then you can begin the bonding process to establish a true bond: https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/

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.

[Dragonfly]

Thank you for letting me know, I will for sure keep an eye on it. And they I got them from the same litter when they were babies. the smallest one thumper hasn’t been very dominant but the bigger one snowball is starting to be, I’ve only seen mounting 3 times now but I noticed it stopped since I put them in their playpen during the day. Then today with the pee. Should I still seperate them?

[Wick & Fable]

Rabbits do not acknowledge family units so while being from the same litter can be helpful, it does not actually guarantee getting along through puberty. Rabbit parents and siblings do mate and fight each other when not fixed.

The safest recommendation I can make is separation, as a stranger on the internet. At the minimum, separation when you cannot supervise 100%. Also, mis-sexing rabbits is common, so it is possible that you might have an accidental litter or are at risk for it if one is actually male. Since they are probably 5-6mo old now (based on your description?) most males balls would have dropped by then, but they also can suck them in. If a vet has very confidently confirmed they are both indeed female, then you may be OK. If there is any chance or gray area expressed by a rabbit-experienced exotic vet though, separate completely as it only takes a 3 second successful mount to impregnate a female.

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.

[Dragonfly]

Thank you for your help, I have had them double checked when I got them from the previous owners and they were both indeed female. They haven’t faught yet but I also don’t know when to know it is fighting. Snowball only circles when she is bored and when I let her in her playpen it stops. They normally sleep during the night when I do too.

[DanaNM]

I think since you’re seeing some hormonal behaviors (mounting and circling), it would be good to separate them, but still keep them as neighbors. If they fight, it may be harder to re-bond them after their spays (not to mention one might get injured), but if you separate before they fight they will still have good feelings towards each other and hopefully will go back together after they are healed from their spays without issues.

. . . 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.  

[Dragonfly]

is it bad that I feel bad for separating them since they sleep together, play and cuddle alot

[Hazel]

It’s normal to feel guilty for separating them. You’d feel a lot worse if they ended up having a fight and got hurt though. It’s for the best.

[Dragonfly]

Thank you for your help, I appreciate it. What if they are both females?

[Wick & Fable]

It is still the same recommendation — separation is not just recommended to prevent pregnancy. Rabbits will likely fight with each other, female to female included (even if sisters).

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.

[Dragonfly]

That is really good to know thank you,

Do you have any thoughts on how to set up a cage for that. I have 1 big dog crate for my bunnies, lots a space during the night and they get their playpen most of the day.

[Wick & Fable]

Based on the materials you have, perhaps one could stay in the dog crate and the other in the playpen? Since the dog crate is likely small, you’ll want to make sure that rabbit especially gets a good amount of free roam time. It may be worthwhile to get a second xpen now, as the bonding process works best when you have two xpens to work with (https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/). They will also be helpful if you ever travel and need your rabbits to come with you — two xpens linked together provide a good amount of space for short trips.

To ensure full separation, they will stay in those and then you take turns swapping free-roam time. If you find that there is any aggressive behavior happening through bars (ex. the free-roam rabbit is try to nip/lunge at the other rabbit through the playpen/dog crate), you will need to take the additional measure of blocking off those walls so no harm can come to either rabbit.

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.

[DanaNM]

I agree that a second x-pen is probably the easiest solution! I’ve also used NIC cube grids to make temporary cages and fencing for bunnies in various phases of the bonding process.

And yes it’s normal to feel guilty, but it’s best to separate while they still like each other so when you re-unite them (post-hormones), they will hopefully be like “ooh I missed you so much!”

. . . 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.  

[Dragonfly]

Thank you for all your help,

 

I will try to use a seperater for inside the huge dog cage for when they sleep and they can still see each other so it makes me feel alittle better and I will switch off putting them in the playpen for exercise or split that in half too.

I’m new with bunnies so this has all been very helpful. They have an appointment to check their age and stuff in a month so hopefully this will prevent fighting from starting.

[DanaNM]

For a smaller space where they will be unsupervised but sharing a wall, I recommend using a mesh small enough that they can’t nip noses through. You can use 1/4″ hardware cloth, or these small mesh grids:

Nose guards?!!

. . . 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.  

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