Only having accidents when unattended?

[njbunny]

So spot has been great with his litter box. He never has accidents in his cage and if he is being supervised when free roaming he will go back into his cage/pen to use the box no problem. The only issue is if he has to go and we are not around he will pee on the carpet in the room where his cage is. He never does this if we are there but if we are not all bets are off. All but one of his accidents have been in one general location so I will put another box there but wondering if this is normal for a litter trained bun? I can't figure out why he would go to his box when we are there but not when are aren't????

I wanted him to be able to free roam more but now I am concerned I wont be able to as he may have accidents if I am not around him all the time.

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

So spot has been great with his litter box. He never has accidents in his cage and if he is being supervised when free roaming he will go back into his cage/pen to use the box no problem. The only issue is if he has to go and we are not around he will pee on the carpet in the room where his cage is. He never does this if we are there but if we are not all bets are off. All but one of his accidents have been in one general location so I will put another box there but wondering if this is normal for a litter trained bun? I can't figure out why he would go to his box when we are there but not when are aren't????

I wanted him to be able to free roam more but now I am concerned I wont be able to as he may have accidents if I am not around him all the time.

--yes,they can be testy at times,--while gone-one might try a fenced off area of the room where he resides-soas to corner the beast :humour:inkbouce::bunnysuit::litterfew::hearts--sincerely james waller

 

[Imbrium]

Sometimes it's not so much "accidents" as "deliberate naughtiness" >.>

Is he neutered? If not, that often improves litter box habits. If he is neutered, then you're dealing with naughty behavior. Blocking access to rooms or areas where he likes to pee might help, as might putting another litter box near (or on) the spot where he's been going. If all else fails, you can connect two x-pens (or stretch one out and connect the ends to the walls with screw eyes and zip ties to get more space for your money) to make an exercise area for him. You can even get a tarp to go under the pens (Walmart sells an 8' x 10' tarp for around $6).

 

[njbunny]

He is neutered. He has a very large pen during the day and during the night is in a XL crate. The only place he pees is in the room where he goes at night in his crate. I think he thinks of that room as his so when he is free roaming if he can't find us he usually ends up back in that room. That is where he spent most of his time in the very beginning before he was allowed into his pen (was slowly expanding his space). I will just add a litter box to that area (outside of his cage even though it is pretty close to his cage) and just keep an eye on him when he is out. That is the only room he will pee out of the box. If I bring him downstairs into the family room and put a box in the corner he will go right to the box to pee.

I just thought it was weird that he has no issue using the box when we are in there but not when he is alone. Maybe he is just being naughty! He has no problem using the box in his pen which is a pretty large space and he is often alone.

 

[Imbrium]

They really can be naughty! When I tried to free-range my bunnies after moving in with my boyfriend, they mostly used their litter box but went out of the way to pee on anything belonging to the cats when we weren't looking >.>

 

[njbunny]

GRRRRRR I added a box to the room he is always peeing in (where his night time cage is). He used it one day while we were in the room and I was all excited that he was using it. Then today I used our carpet cleaner to really clean the spots he has peed with a urine odor eliminator. I let it dry, and let him out while I was painting the hallway outside the room. I was near him but not in the room. I was frequently going in and checking on him and I walk in and low and behold he peed on the carpet! AGHHHHH!!!! this time he did it in a totally different spot basically very near to his litter box but on the outside of the cage. It is actually close to where his first ever accident was but since then I have rearranged the furniture and carpet cleaned the rug 2 times. So the room which is a pretty small bedroom has 2 litter boxes (one in his cage and one outside his cage across the room) and he still is going on the carpet if he is in the room alone.....

 

[Azerane]

I would restrict his space for a while. Put him in a smaller area and gradually increase the size as his litter box habits improve.

 

[Imbrium]

Naughty!!

 

[njbunny]

Yes, I think you are right and I am going to back off on his space. It seems he is having a bad spell at the moment because he peed in his exercise pen today which is unlike him. He has been using his litter box perfectly in there for over 2 weeks so not sure why all the sudden he decided to pee in there as well. One thing I was thinking of is his litter box was due for a cleaning in his pen. Maybe his box was too dirty for him. I swear I feel like a bunny shrink trying to find meaning in his accidents! For now he is getting no unsupervised free roam time. I also am letting him out more but for shorter periods so he has more time back in his cage to pee if he needs to. We will see how it goes! Thanks everyone!