Rabbits & Other Small Animals

Hello! I'm new here and am SO glad to finally find a rabbit message board. We have one rabbit, Barley N. Hopps, who is a beautiful shiny black rabbit, about 7 or 8 months old. The vet thinks he's part dwarf as he's not terribly big. He has lovely long ears that stand up most of the time - obviously not a lop bunny. We had him neutered as soon as he was big enough.

My daughter literally picked him up from the university grounds after he followed her around every lunch time for several days. He was just a wee baby at that time but has behaved as though he was always meant to be a house rabbit. I have a very good book on house rabbits and we started off with about 4 litter boxes set out for Barley. He's not allowed the run of the house as it's just too dangerous and he doesn't like our hardwood floors anyway. We have penned off the downstairs tv room and have built him a "condo" using those wire panels from storage cubes.

The thing is that he still thinks he needs to mark territory or something. He does share the space with a chinchilla but the two are not allowed out at the same time. They have made it very clear they do not like each other, and the vet advised against it saying the chin would get the dirty end of the stick if Barley got violent with him. I'm guessing Barley smells that Alfie has been out in the area and thinks he needs to re-establish his territory. As well, he has a litter box in his cage but would also pee on the floor of the cage on the opposite side, so I finally smartened up and put another litter box there too. So far so good. There is still a litter box in the penned area but he prefers to push or toss it aside and pee on the carpet if we're not fast enough to pounce on him and stop him!

Sorry this is so long. Any information, suggestions or advice on litter training is most welcome!

- Liz

Hi and Welcome to the board!

It sounds like you are already doing a pretty good job on the litter box training. Rabbits do leave a dropping or two to mark territory when they are the only one in the household.

As you are letting two unbonded pets use the same area for free time, you are going to have more territorial potty issues. And unfortunately, there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Just get him to use the boxes as best as you can when he's free.

Eddie and Lollipop!  

Hi! Thanks for the welcome and your response. I thought that might be the case so I guess we'll just have to continue being vigilant and hope he keeps the piddle in the box. I'm not bothered by the pellet droppings - Alfie the chin makes a bigger mess - the little hand-vac does a great job there. I don't suppose there's a magic age when this potty-training sinks in? 8))

- Liz

Hi Liz and welcome!  It sounds like you are a great bunny mommy!!!!  I would put litter boxes wherever you can for now.  They have the high backed ones, which are good if your bunny likes to try to pee out the side.    like this.  my personal preference in terms of litter is Yesterday's News cat litter (the one made of recycled paper), it really keeps the smell down.

try and put a little bit of timothy hay in the box to encourage the bun to visit the box.  some people say to pick up whatever droppings and put it in the box so they get the hint.

I have 4 bunnies myself, all of which are not well behaved in terms of litter habits.  i have a few that are not bonded and a territory war has been happening for years.  well, welcome!

Gina

Hi Gina! Thanks for your welcome and advice! Those are dandy-looking litter boxes. I was looking for some just like those when Barley was first brought home but couldn't find any and wound up with some rather shallow pan-style ones meant for cats. I'm relieved I'm not the only one dealing with this! One of the litter boxes I put inside his "condo" is a high-sided corner one so that saves me a little trouble there.

I am using Carefresh Pet Bedding in the litter boxes so the same thing as Yesterday's News, only a different brand name. It's great and very absorbant! 8)) Also have a small whisk broom and dustpan for collecting the droppings and we do put them in the litter box, so I think we're on the right track. Yay!

I didn't realize that you would have territory wars between bunnies living in the same home! I just assumed they would all be pals, but I guess not. I have 4 birds too and they don't all like each other either. Such little personalities, eh?

Well this is comforting. I'm not the only one with dissension in the pet ranks! Thanks again!

- Liz