Advice on this POOP TURF WAR !!!!!

This is one of those questions, not sure there IS an answer.....my two, not yet bonded take turns getting let out and share the same space when they run free. Sometimes they are both out at the same time, but separated by a buffered double gate they can't bite eachrother but can see eachrother and sometimes run back and forth at the gate, then lose interest. I have two litter boxes, one on each side of the gate. They poop are pee a 3 feet all around in addition to in the box. I wouldn't care - since it is all centered around the box mostly on the mats, but they step in the pee and leave tracks and spread their smell even further! I have diligently scooped the poops and thrown them in the box, also wiped the pee and put it in the box. As I said, not sure there is any answer that can help this issue.... obviously a turf war....but should I maybe KEEP some of the pee and poops from both outside the box so they don't feel so inclined to need to keep marking it? Or has anyone ELEVATED the litter box, so they need to jump up to it and may be less likely to mark the floor? Or should I try and ENCLOSED litter box? I leave them out for an hour or two at a time, so I need to provide a box for them - and since I am rotating their space (not fair only one gets the "whole house" and not the other. They are SOOOO GOOD about not doing this anywhere else - only around the box.

Try moving the boxes further apart (like opposite sides of the pens). Expect a poop "turf" war all along the fence border (rabbits poop up to 500 poops a day, so they've got plenty to mark with) - DON'T CLEAN IT UP. Let their "marks" stay in poop, since that's not hurting anything, and perhaps between that and moving litter boxes further apart they won't feel the need to pee outside the box too. Also, be careful with that set-up that they don't fight between the bars. It looks like you might have a double layer of x-pen gating there, but I can't tell (if you do, good thinking!)

Thank you. I was wondering if leaving them might be a strategy. It actually dawned on me too - that now that they are basically litter trained (as far as at least seeking a box to go in or near) I don't even need a communal one INSIDE that pen b/c both their cages are inside that area . So going along with your thought to move them farther apart....I am working on having them go back into their cage to do their business as long as they are inside that enclosure and I moved the litter box farther from the fence border. Yes I have two fences....about 6" apart for a buffer between them. This whole two bunny thing has turned my home upside down - but its worth it.

I have four (and only two are bonded), so I know upside down, lol. The poops along the fence line are to tell the other rabbit, "HEY! This line is where MY stuff starts! Don't cross it!" so when you pick them up, they panic and immediately put their little poop 'fence' back up. If you want to stay sane, leaving it is the only strategy, lol. Like I said earlier, you're up against 1,000 poops a day between the two rabbits.

If you plan to free-range them at any point once they're bonded, it's helpful to establish their cage(s) as the place to go to potty anyway (though if they have more than a single room, an additional box per room is recommended).

Oh Boy - you MUST love your buns .... What we do for them, right? I knew it would be like this for a while. Good point about leaving the poops. I think I may have been making it worse .

We all love the bunns to a crazy degree around here, lol - welcome to the warren!

If moving boxes or having them go into their own enclosure to use their litter box doesn't work, I found having the litter boxes directly across from each other helped keep the marking most contained to the litter box. Another thing that can help is adding more litter boxes to the area that the marking is occurring. You could also try putting down puppy pee pads in the area where they are marking, provided they don't try and chew or rip them up. With rabbits, what works in one situation may not work for another. So you usually have to try different things until you hit on the one thing that works.

Moving them apart (b/c they were together but one on EACH side of the barrier) AND leaving the poops has seemed to helped the peeing. I wish I could use puppy pads but my Holland will chew ANYTHING (is it something with Hollands teeth?) I found grooved boot mats to put around the box which helps protect the floor & also keeps the pee in a channel if they DO pee. Of course my Murphy chews that too - but I can rub Ivory soap on it & he mostly leaves it alone now.