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bonded pair litter training... one gets it, the other not so much

Audra

New Kit
I have a question on litter training 2 rabbits. I did search other threads, but didn't see an answer to specifically what I was looking for. Our rabbit Thor passed away earlier this year and we now have a bonded pair of siblings that turned 4 months old yesterday. Brinley, the female, was mostly litter trained before she was spayed and has been perfect since. Binx, our male, is neutered but is still having problems. When they're inside their condo, he uses the litter box exclusively with no accidents. We opened up a very small area in front of their condo to start the introductions into being free-range house bunnies. Binx however, would not hop back in to use the litter box, he would wee right outside of the condo. I placed a litterbox in this small area and he does use it sometimes, but still wees in different spots in that small area. For example, right next to the litter box, etc. My question is this; Can I allow Brinley a little more freedom in a slightly larger area while keeping him in the smaller space until he "gets it", or would that affect their bond? Or should I keep them both confined to that small area even though she's good to go?
Thank you in advance for your help. We've only had a single house rabbit, so I don't have experience with how to work this out with a bonded pair.
 
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Hello and welcome to the forum :wave:

I would leave them both in the smaller space until he becomes more reliable with his litter training. I think it could affect their bond if you split them up. It's probably not that long ago that he was neutered and so it's possible that by giving it a little while longer he'll get the message. Hope so :)
 
They had their surgeries the same day on October 22nd, so about 3 weeks ago. I felt bad that she wasn't being given a larger space even though she was litter trained, but I was very concerned about how letting her have more running room would affect their bond. That was my instinct, but I just wasn't sure. Thank you so much for the response, I'll follow your advice!
 
Thank you Kattymieoww. Maybe I'm just expecting too much too fast out of him since she's done so well. I'll just keep them both in the small space and give him more time. He was also the smallest kit in the litter, so maybe he's just going to be a little slower at maturing and learning things.
 
I just wanted to check back in with you all as our male bunny still just isn't getting it when it comes to the litter box. Our female has been litter box trained for quite some time now, since early November at least. Binx (the male) seems to just pee wherever he happens to be playing at that moment. He doesn't have accidents at all in their condo, just outside of it during play time. Their play space is small (about the same size as the floor of their condo) and I did put an additional litter box in that area even though the litter box inside is only a few hops away. He does use it, just not all the time. I don't know if I should keep them both in their condo so that he can train more? He does great inside, and that's why it's so confusing for me. My hubby built them a 5 story condo, but we only have the bottom and 1st floor open as of now until they're fully litter trained. I would like to give Brinley more space, working towards them being free-roam bunnies like our last was. But I would feel bad giving her more space while confining him, etc. She has begun aggressively humping him and I read that this can be both a dominance issue and/or boredom. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!
 
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