Please help my male neutered rabbit is driving me crazy.....he has been bonded with my female now for 4months, they are best of friends....unfortunately for the last few weeks his litter habits are awful. I don't lock them in their cage but he had started to poo all over the rug in front of his cage. The female rabbit is clean & tidy and never strays from using the litter tray. I have tried numerous things, at the moment I have a litter tray in the cage and one outside, I have tried just having the one inside the cage and vice versa. I have had to put towels out infront on the cage as there is such a mess when I come down each morning it is pretty awful. He also on occasion is weeing on the towels back generally most of his weeing is in the litter tray. I'm now worrying if he is unwell ?? I can live with picks no up poops but it is disgusting. Also if we are out on an evening he will leave a few poops on our carpet in the adjoining room and poops on our seats, is he been naughty. I don't know what to try next, my husband is really angry and if it doesn't stop i feel I will just have to cage him. If anyone has any ideas I would be most grateful.
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Pooping all over
- Thread starter Sooty&ted
- Start date
Not really sure what to advise but if it's out of character you could get him checked at the vet to make sure everything is alright and it's not a medical issue.
He's not being naughty, he is just marking his territory. It can happen if he feels insecure, problems with the rabbits' bond, you moved some furniture around, had people to visit, have another pet, have been cleaning too thoroughly, have disrupted his scent marking... the list goes on.. basically any reason why he may feel the need to reestablish his territory.
First of all, don't worry about the poo. Rabbit poo is perfectly safe, it's just fibre basically as it is digested twice, it's not like cat or dog poo. And being dry means it shouldn't mark carpet. If it's not dry then there is a bigger problem with health or diet going on.
I would restrict them to their cage (assuming their cage is big enough), with a litter tray, for around 48 hours. Whilst doing this, clean the areas they are pooing/weeing in with white vinegar to neutralise their scent (rabbits will remark where they can smell they have marked before, even if you can't smell it). After 48 hours, let them out, but not all day, you'll need to build up the time they are out gradually , so that they learn to go back to their cage to toilet. Also, be careful not to over-clean litter trays - they need to be able to smell that this is where they need to wee, if you remove the smell completely they can lose their litter training.
And bear in mind that, for many rabbits, marking their territory is such a strong instinct that they will never be perfect at litter training. Unfortunately for us, stray poops are a fact of life for most house-rabbit owners! :lol: You may want to invest in some lino flooring (wipe clean) to put under a roomy pen, or have a room just for them, so that they can exercise and poop to their heart's content without upsetting you and your partner. You could also think about keeping them outside, but this would need to be done next Spring, as they won't have time to grow a winter coat before the cold snap now.
First of all, don't worry about the poo. Rabbit poo is perfectly safe, it's just fibre basically as it is digested twice, it's not like cat or dog poo. And being dry means it shouldn't mark carpet. If it's not dry then there is a bigger problem with health or diet going on.
I would restrict them to their cage (assuming their cage is big enough), with a litter tray, for around 48 hours. Whilst doing this, clean the areas they are pooing/weeing in with white vinegar to neutralise their scent (rabbits will remark where they can smell they have marked before, even if you can't smell it). After 48 hours, let them out, but not all day, you'll need to build up the time they are out gradually , so that they learn to go back to their cage to toilet. Also, be careful not to over-clean litter trays - they need to be able to smell that this is where they need to wee, if you remove the smell completely they can lose their litter training.
And bear in mind that, for many rabbits, marking their territory is such a strong instinct that they will never be perfect at litter training. Unfortunately for us, stray poops are a fact of life for most house-rabbit owners! :lol: You may want to invest in some lino flooring (wipe clean) to put under a roomy pen, or have a room just for them, so that they can exercise and poop to their heart's content without upsetting you and your partner. You could also think about keeping them outside, but this would need to be done next Spring, as they won't have time to grow a winter coat before the cold snap now.
