New Owner..Bunny Potty Troubles?

[yoshigirl]

I'm new to this forum. I'm Erica and I have a bunny named Yoshi. I'm new to rabbit owning, so I can't even really tell you what breed he is or his exact age. He's in my avatar so guess away! He was an Easter present to a neighbor last year and when her parents divorced, he got the short end of the stick between the six other pets. The dad basically knocked on my door and asked if I knew a place to let a rabbit go in the woods and before I knew it I was taking the cage from the guy and telling him not to worry about it. I think I'm doing fine so far, he gets pellets, veggies, and timothy hay. Plenty of chew toys. He is on newspaper/straw bedding now and will be on Carefresh when our blizzard is over and Petco opens up. I even bunny-proofed the whole apartment and made sure he and my cat got along.

The first week he did fine with potty training. He'd be out of his cage, hop back in to poop/pee in his litterbox, hop back out for playing/exploring. Then one day he was chasing a paper towel tube and I noticed there were little poops on the floor, so I put him back in the cage. Next day, he came out and hopped around for a minute before going to the corner and peeing. He seemed to know he was in trouble and left a trail of poops on the way back to his cage. Now he won't stop. Everytime I let him out, he barely goes five minutes before pooping/peeing on the floor. But he stills hops back in his cage specifically to poop as well. And it's only on the carpet! I can put him in the bathroom and he doesn't poop or pee. The carpet is brand new so it shouldn't smell like anything that would give him a signal it's ok to go there.

How can I go about fixing this problem? Is there like a spray or something that will make the carpet unattractive or make the litterbox attractive to go in? I feel bad keeping him caged all the time, but I hate scouring the carpet with Spot Shot looking for bunny pee too!

 

[aurora369]

Is your little guy neutered? The onset of puberty is often accompanied by loss of litter habits. Puberty normally hits around 6-8 months of age. He will have the urge to mark his territory with poop and pee.

You can clean all urine stains with white vinegar to get rid of the smell.

You can start the entire potty training over again. Restricting his area so that he only goes in the litter box, and keeping all non-potty areas very clean (with vinegar). Gradually increase his run space over time so that he remembers to keep going back to his cage.

A second litter box might also be a good idea. You can place a couple extra litter boxes in his play area where he seems to go more.

--Dawn

 

[kherrmann3]

Spaying/Neutering works wonders for litter-training (in my experience). Extra litter boxes are good, too. My little free-run guy has two litter boxes; one in his cage, one in the bedroom where he runs around. After showing me that he has good litter pan habits, he is now allowed to play in the hallway, too. If he has to go potty, you can hear him race back into the bedroom. It's funny. Overall, multiple litter boxes help!