new girl- new problems?

[PwnzorsNTittylwinks]

we rescued a new bunny, luna, to bond with our bunny, frank.
things are going okay so far. right now they get seperate times out and are caged next to eachother but havent had any dates yet.
my problem is though that everytime we let luna out she goes potty in the same spot on our carpet. she has a huge litterbox because we knew she was a bunny who liked to lounge in her litter box so we got her a good sized one. and the spot she goes on the carpet (same spot everytime) is only a foot away from where her litter box is in her cage (thats door is open while she is out to give her access to her box).

is there a way to show her that its not okay to go there? frank had an accident tonight in the same spot and he has never had an accident outside of his cage before so im worried that she is teaching him bad habits. i can handle almost everything that they could do wrong but i dont want to have bunny pee puddles on our rented apartment carpet


also, luna was a rescue from a hoarding situation where im assuming she had some bad experiences with humans. shes extremely slow to warm up so when its her time out we leave the cage door open and she sits in the corner of her cage for about an hour before she inches her way out. then she goes about a foot away from her door. goes back in the cage. then about 2 feet away, goes back to her cage. goes about 3 feet way, goes back. and keeps going before she stays out for a bit. she is constantly binkying the whole times shes out but if we come over to her to pet her or try to interact with her at all she retreats to her cage in the same corner.
i know that like any animal from a bad background she needs to be taught that we are safe but how should i go about bonding with her without overwhelming her? and how can littertrain her better without freaking her out even more? :/


i would like for her to be a bit more comfortable with at least one of us before we start the bunny dating.

 

[ldoerr]

If she insists on using that spot to go to the bathroom, I would put an additional box there. It may seem silly to you to put a litter box 1 foot from another box, but it makes perfect since to the bunny. Wherever she likes to relieve herself, you need to put a box, even if you end up with 20 boxes in the room. Eventually you may be able to ween her off some of the boxes, but for now give her as many as she wants.

As for the building trust, you could bribe her with treats. It normally works out. Also just spend time with her. Sit on the floor and read out loud and ignore her. If she comes up do not go to pet her right away. It takes time.

 

[agnesthelion]

Well, for one you need to clean that spot so she doesn't smell to go there again. My favorite product is Natures Miracle. It really is a miracle how well it takes out the odor!

Secondly, you just got her a couple days ago right? And because of her conditions before I would treat her like a baby who doesn't know a litterbox yet. Limit her free run time and in all honesty, litter training rabbits sometimes isn't so much of the training but basically putting a box where they want to go. I would get extra boxes. Put one on that spot she goes and maybe other spots too. After she gets it, and after they are bonded and the marking of the territory is done (which that could be what's going on too by the way) then you can take away the extra boxes.

When I first got my female as a baby, she picked this one part of her cage to go. Try as I might, I could not get her to NOT go there. She won I ended up just putting her box there. She has near perfect litter habits today.

When I was bonding my two I think I had 4 boxes at one time just randomly placed throughout their free run area so they had as many options to go. Now, I'm back down to the two small boxes and the boxes are in their cage which I just leave the door open and they go in on their own to use them.

 

[PwnzorsNTittylwinks]

we actually have and use natures miracle on our carpet for her spot, and before we clean it we put a napkin with the pee into her litterbox so that she can smell to know thats where she needs to go. inside of her cage she only goes in her box. its just when shes out running around she uses the other spot. i did just put a smaller litter box in that spot for her. but i was just wondering i guess if there was a way to train her to not have to have that spot. we dont have a 'bunny room' we have them free-run in our apartment which is totally bunny proofed.
she is new so i did figure that we would have some marking areas and stuff. i guess i just had high expectations (my fault) since frank was a pro by the end of the second day with us.

also, i have tried the treats and believe it or not she isnt much of a treat girl! (odd seeing as frank will practically assault you for a bag of dried apples and banana chips.) but she just has no interest in treats. earlier she did take a carrot pretty easily so we may have a succesful treat there. she seems very private with her eating habits. she will only eat if we arent around. .if she is eating and she sees me looking at her or hears me or my boyfriend walk to the cage she stops and stares til we go away.

i have been laying on the floor with her the last two nights while she is out so she can get used to me. but im getting sick and the rabbit hair is making my cough worse

 

[Blue eyes]

It sounds to me like you are expecting too much too soon. This is understandable based on your past experience with your other bun. I think he was more the exception.

I wouldn't expect a new bun in a new situation to be comfortable in just a few days -- especially when she has not only the new home and cage and people to get used to, but also another bun. It must be overwhelming for her.

Give her more time. Her going out not too far is perfectly normal. Aside from what others have suggested, I think it would be an idea to confine her to her cage for 24-48 hours. Let her "own" her cage before letting her out again to play. This MAY help with the pottying outside the cage.

Be patient. Be slow. Let her get comfortable coming near you before ever attempting to pet her. You will see when it's time to try petting.

Oh, and those treats she may not seem interested in -- don't give up on them. Sometimes it takes multiple presentations of the same treat before they decide to give it a try.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Time, patience, and persistence. Not all will do everything as you wish they would. Maybe put down a throw rug with a plastic tarp under it.