DeepSeaGoddess
Well-Known Member
HI All,
I'm hoping to get some ideas/thoughts/suggestions on how to correct this behavior that I'm pretty sure my female rabbit is doing. But first, I feel it is necessary to give the history on how I got her and her mate. I apologize if this gets long and appreciate any thoughts you guys have.
Ginger, the female, I've had since November of last year. I rescued her from the outdoors. When I got her, she was not spayed. I kept her in myspare bedroom upstairs. I have 4 cats so, since I had the cats and she is terrified of them, and the fact that my entire house is not rabbit proof, there's no way to let her run the house. Anyway, she was fairly easy to litterbox train but from time to time, she would poop/pee right outside it. I'd just clean it up and move on.
Ialways felt that she would be happier with another bunny friend. So, about a month after having her, I decided to get her a friend. I had been talking to and had become friends with a person who rescues rabbits in my area. She was a godsend to me as I knew nothing about rabbits when I took Ginger in. Ok, so, enter Kanga. Well I thought I'd at least try putting them together at first just to see what happened. Bad idea! I brought him home, put him in her room and immediately they started the normal dominance behaviors, etc. They didn't fight so, that was at least hope that they would bond. Kanga was neutered when I got him by the way. So, we decided to split the room so that Kanga had half and Ginger had half. They couldn't see each other or get to each other but each knew, of course that the other one was there.
After much research (a lot of help found on this forum btw
) we started doing bonding sessions in the bathroom, a neutral area. I knew, I should have gotten Ginger spayed beforehand but, decided to try anyway. They did pretty good in the bathroom....Kanga displayed signs of being dominant. He would mount her, I would eventually push him off and then it would get to him grooming her, etc. We progressed to putting him on her side in a pet carrier where she could get used to him being there. Eventually, she went into buildinga nest with pulling her fur out, etc. I knew she wasn't pregnant as Kanga was neutered and she had been indoors long enough that it was just not possible. False pregnancy! So,I took time out from bonding andgot her spayed December 22. We waited 6 weeks after spaying her before beginning the bonding sessions again.
This time they went MUCH better as her hormones were no longer a factor. Evenutally after a couple of weeks, we would put him on her side and put her on his side of the room each night. They eventually got to the point where on Valentine's Day, :biggrin2:they started living together. They spent their first night together on Valentine's Day! :biggrin2:
They get along fairly well now after 3 months. He likes to chase her some but it just seems to more annoy her than anything else. I think it is actually good for her as it keeps her active.....otherwise, she'd be getting fatter by living the sedentary lifestyle! They love each other though. They often sleep together, cuddle together, groom each other of course and well, seem very happy together.
They live primarily on her side of the room. Although I left his litterbox where it always was on his side and hers where hers always was. They go back and forth between the two litterboxesbut spend most of their time on her side of the room even though the entireroom is open to them now.
Ok, here is the problem. After a few weeks of living together, sometime during the night after the lights were off, one of them would poop and pee outside of Kanga's litterbox......EVERY night. :tears2: I go in every morning only to scoop up the poop back into his litterbox and clean the carpet of the pee. I put newspaper around it so, that at least makes the cleanup somewhat better. The poop really doesn't bother me too much but cleaning the pee is bothersome.
I am 99.9 % sure it is Ginger. Because, I have seen this happen sometimes in the early morning and went in there and caught her. A couple of times he has been in the litterbox when she is doing it.
It is definitely consistent though in that it is EVERY night some time during the night...and sometimes, more than once. Only once or twice have I found poop/pee outside of her litterbox...it is primarily outside of his and EVERY night.
The only other thing to mention is I do scoop their litterboxes every night before I go to bed and replace with some fresh litter (I use yesterday's news) and hay.
This has been going on now for almost 3 months. I'm at a loss as to what to do to correct the behavior. :? I even tried getting a third litterbox and putting it next to his. No luck.....she is still pooping/peeing outside it at night.
ANY thoughts, ideas, suggestions you guys have is greatly appreciated!
Thanks for paying attention to my VERY long story!
I'm hoping to get some ideas/thoughts/suggestions on how to correct this behavior that I'm pretty sure my female rabbit is doing. But first, I feel it is necessary to give the history on how I got her and her mate. I apologize if this gets long and appreciate any thoughts you guys have.
Ginger, the female, I've had since November of last year. I rescued her from the outdoors. When I got her, she was not spayed. I kept her in myspare bedroom upstairs. I have 4 cats so, since I had the cats and she is terrified of them, and the fact that my entire house is not rabbit proof, there's no way to let her run the house. Anyway, she was fairly easy to litterbox train but from time to time, she would poop/pee right outside it. I'd just clean it up and move on.
Ialways felt that she would be happier with another bunny friend. So, about a month after having her, I decided to get her a friend. I had been talking to and had become friends with a person who rescues rabbits in my area. She was a godsend to me as I knew nothing about rabbits when I took Ginger in. Ok, so, enter Kanga. Well I thought I'd at least try putting them together at first just to see what happened. Bad idea! I brought him home, put him in her room and immediately they started the normal dominance behaviors, etc. They didn't fight so, that was at least hope that they would bond. Kanga was neutered when I got him by the way. So, we decided to split the room so that Kanga had half and Ginger had half. They couldn't see each other or get to each other but each knew, of course that the other one was there.
After much research (a lot of help found on this forum btw
) we started doing bonding sessions in the bathroom, a neutral area. I knew, I should have gotten Ginger spayed beforehand but, decided to try anyway. They did pretty good in the bathroom....Kanga displayed signs of being dominant. He would mount her, I would eventually push him off and then it would get to him grooming her, etc. We progressed to putting him on her side in a pet carrier where she could get used to him being there. Eventually, she went into buildinga nest with pulling her fur out, etc. I knew she wasn't pregnant as Kanga was neutered and she had been indoors long enough that it was just not possible. False pregnancy! So,I took time out from bonding andgot her spayed December 22. We waited 6 weeks after spaying her before beginning the bonding sessions again.This time they went MUCH better as her hormones were no longer a factor. Evenutally after a couple of weeks, we would put him on her side and put her on his side of the room each night. They eventually got to the point where on Valentine's Day, :biggrin2:they started living together. They spent their first night together on Valentine's Day! :biggrin2:
They get along fairly well now after 3 months. He likes to chase her some but it just seems to more annoy her than anything else. I think it is actually good for her as it keeps her active.....otherwise, she'd be getting fatter by living the sedentary lifestyle! They love each other though. They often sleep together, cuddle together, groom each other of course and well, seem very happy together.
They live primarily on her side of the room. Although I left his litterbox where it always was on his side and hers where hers always was. They go back and forth between the two litterboxesbut spend most of their time on her side of the room even though the entireroom is open to them now.
Ok, here is the problem. After a few weeks of living together, sometime during the night after the lights were off, one of them would poop and pee outside of Kanga's litterbox......EVERY night. :tears2: I go in every morning only to scoop up the poop back into his litterbox and clean the carpet of the pee. I put newspaper around it so, that at least makes the cleanup somewhat better. The poop really doesn't bother me too much but cleaning the pee is bothersome.
I am 99.9 % sure it is Ginger. Because, I have seen this happen sometimes in the early morning and went in there and caught her. A couple of times he has been in the litterbox when she is doing it.
It is definitely consistent though in that it is EVERY night some time during the night...and sometimes, more than once. Only once or twice have I found poop/pee outside of her litterbox...it is primarily outside of his and EVERY night.
The only other thing to mention is I do scoop their litterboxes every night before I go to bed and replace with some fresh litter (I use yesterday's news) and hay.
This has been going on now for almost 3 months. I'm at a loss as to what to do to correct the behavior. :? I even tried getting a third litterbox and putting it next to his. No luck.....she is still pooping/peeing outside it at night.
ANY thoughts, ideas, suggestions you guys have is greatly appreciated!
Thanks for paying attention to my VERY long story!
