NEW BUNNY OWNER :( need major help!

Hello! I have recently bought a male holland lop three days ago! I have read many articles before buying one and thought it out very thoroughly. However, it is not easy as it looks!

I created a little area for him in my room to roam around in, but he seems to enjoy pooping everywhere! I bought him two litter boxes with hay: one in his cage and one in the little area. I put all the poop and tissues with urine in the litter boxes, but he still insists on pooping everywhere with every hop he makes. Am I doing something wrong? I don't know if I am putting his litter box in the wrong place but it doesn't seem like hes peeing anywhere else when I cleaned his cage. Or it doesn't seem like he chose a place yet?? I just don't want him to grow into bad habits.

I also have another question! In the little area I made him, I blocked underneath my bed and my roommates bed to prevent him from reaching cords and so he wouldn't poop everywhere before I got to litter train him. However, he seems to want to go out so badly that he pushes on the boxes, bites on it and tries to jump out. He also likes to scratch at the wall as if he theres something behind it or hes trying to escape! Is there a way I can stop him from doing this with a mild punishment because "NO!" does not seem to work....

Thank you very much and I hope that someone can help me through this!

Welcome to the forum. maybe he needs time settle ln but im sure someone with more knowledge Will be able to give you better advice .

How long have you had him & is he vaccinated and netured?
It took me a while to train Grignote (my rabbit) a week, I'd say and then she was really good at using her litter tray, then when she became old enough to be spayed she started pooping everywhere again, with a few little wees. I kept cleaning up after her but it didn't stop her from making more mess.
Now I have got her spayed and the problem has gone, there are still a little poops every now and again, but hardly ever, it seems to be only when shes scared or far to excited.

As far as scratching goes, she still does that, it's normal behavior in my opinion, in the wild they like to dig and scratch. So make sure she had LOADS of stuff, different textiles to play with & chew. I have a cardboard sheet she throws around & chews, toilet rolls, wooden blocks, nibble sticks, a carrot teddy & an old shirt that she likes to make holes in. See which one is her favorite one to nor at, then when you see her scratching something she shouldn't give them a firm no, and offer him his favourite thing to chew on. Hopwfully soon he'll catch on, but it will probably never full stop, not while he is so young and excited anyway!
I hope this has helped a little!x

Hi ya. :wave:

The pooing sounds very much like marking. What he's doing is making the room his home by scenting it to make it smell familiar. A bit like how when we move into a new house we might bring in air fresheners to make it smell more pleasant and to give it our identity. I think for the moment you will just have to let him get in with it until he's old enough to be neutered. Neutering will reduce his hormones and means he's less worried about making it his territory and it should stop. The good news is he is peeing in his litter tray, that's a good sign that he understands what it is for and eventually once he's settled both in the room and with his hormones he should be litter trained.

As for your second question, unfortunately rabbits often want to go where they can't! My Mini is a real ratbag for this, yesterday she decided there must be something the other side of the carrier and was digging ferociously to try to get there. In my experience the best thing is to make sure it's inpenetrable and then to ignore it, eventually they will get fed up and realise that they can't get there. Today Mini's completely ignored the carrier, after about half an hour yesterday she decided that there was no magic door at the back of the carrier and gave up. Rabbits don't really understand punishment, to them that is still attention so the best way is to ignore bad behaviour and positively enforce the good.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for the replies and the welcome! I had him for about 4 days now and he is not neutered. When is a good time to neuter him? Is it worth it? And is there any tips you can give a new bunny owner? I feel pretty alone in all of this since there aren't really any bunny owners in my area. I was actually starting to lose hope because of the massive amounts of poop he leaves everywhere every second but these replies are helping me through it! I would appreciate any advice and recommendations

How old is he and does he have testicles yet? You can have him neutered as soon as they drop although some vets have a minimum age or weight. Getting him neutered will mean he is much less sexually frustrated, more easily litter trained and if youre planning on keeping him indoors it will also stop him spraying urine. Rabbits are also prone to testicular/uterine cancer and neutering obviously eliminates that risk.

alfie4094 said:

Thank you for the replies and the welcome! I had him for about 4 days now and he is not neutered. When is a good time to neuter him? Is it worth it? And is there any tips you can give a new bunny owner? I feel pretty alone in all of this since there aren't really any bunny owners in my area. I was actually starting to lose hope because of the massive amounts of poop he leaves everywhere every second but these replies are helping me through it! I would appreciate any advice and recommendations

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i just dustpan and brush them up place them in the littertray and soak wee in a tissue and put that in the tray.
as he is an unnuetered buck you ont have much luck for until a month or so after his nueter. till then its just a simple job of brushing them up when you see them
Xxxxx