Boys pee everywhere that is not hard floor

[Alplily]

I have trained a number of rabbits to use litter boxes, but my new boys are being difficult. I have two male Holland Lops, bonded brothers, neutered since December 2018. I pulled them out from under a house where the people were letting the rabbits breed, so they had been outside since birth. I had them neutered the next week.

They do use the litter box, and I have their hay set up so they eat while in the litter box, but if there is anything else soft, such as wall-to-wall carpet, towel, area rugs, bunny bed or grass mats in the crate, or even loose hay in the crate, etc., they also pee on those. I have temporarily moved them into the garage to give me a chance to thoroughly clean my carpets, etc. and will start over in their crate. I like to let them out of their crate as much as possible when I am at home... but they are never far from their crate (no more than 10 feet), as I am trying to restrict their roaming until they are more pee trustworthy. I love the stubborn little brats. Sigh.

Suggestions appreciated.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

I have that same issue with my rabbit, who is also a male. I just make sure that there are no other soft surfaces besides the litter box. Are they free range rabbits? If so you may want to put them in a play pen while litter training them.

 

[Alplily]

Thanks... I have wall-to-wall carpeting, unfortunately. I keep them fenced off around their crate, but it is carpeted. It seems too much effort to hop 5-8 feet back to litter box.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

If you needed to you could get a cheap tarp and lay that down, just make sure they don't chew it!

 

[Alplily]

Yes... I am looking for a more reasonable long-term solution. They live in my living room.

 

[Butterscotch]

Can you offer them multiple litter boxes outside of their cage? That worked for my pee happy bun. I put a second litter box in the corner that she most often chose to pee in and now she does her dirty business in both boxes, whichever one she's closest to. I've only found one puddle in about a week now and it was old and dried up.

 

[Butterscotch]

Also, maybe remove everything from their crate until they are more reliably trained? My rabbits had nothing in their cages at first, just the bare plastic bottom and a very inviting looking litter box. Now that they use their boxes they have grass mats.