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How long for litter habits to settle after bonding?

Kjell

New Kit
I am aware that litter habits can go haywire after bonding, but I was told it would settle within a couple of weeks. It's now been over two weeks and there is still no sign of improvement. Poop is maybe a little better but the pee is just as bad, if not worse. The boy we had previously is as perfect as he was before bonding. The two girls have more accidents in a day than he has had in the entire time living with us. Are girls worse? How long can this go on for? I've tried every trick in the book, I feel like, with no result. I've made sure it's not the litter box setup that is the problem and been in contact with their foster home who had the same setup as we do. So now I'm just wondering if there is hope in sight cause I'm definitely not up for living like this permanently. They drink lots, so they pee lots.

Also, I'm told to clean the floor with vinegar, which I do. But sometimes I wonder if this is counterproductive. If their aim is to mark their scent on the floor, then I keep cleaning that scent right off again. I don't dare to stop because I don't want the whole floor to become a toilet, but have anyone tried not cleaning up that thoroughly? They are free roam bunnies and we don't have an enclosure for them, which makes the situation worse. We do not have room for such a setup either.
 
This probably isn't what you want to hear but when I had a trio I was sweeping poop from dusk to dawn (they peed in trays though). It was non stop. The pair I had initially had exemplary litter habit prior to my introducing a third bun. Thats just one experience though & I hope your bunnies get better with it soon. It makes sense that when they have a stable hierarchy their need to do this should reduce. Trios can take a good while to properly settle

I think the vinegar to clear up pee advice is so they don't continue to go in the one spot cos it now smells like a toilet.
It could be worth adding extra litter trays or moving them in to areas they are peeing a lot - if its not just anywhere & everywhere

I've found girls tidier in their litter habits than boys but again, just my experience
 
Thank you for your reply! Did they never get better? If it was only poop it would be one thing, but I'm really getting tired of wiping up pee, and often stepping in it too because the girls' pee is mostly like water. Sadly it's anywhere so no use moving the boxes. It is definitely possible that hierarchy is not completely settled yet, so that might give some hope it will improve eventually. Our main reason for getting more bunnies was to give our boy some company. We wanted just one but ended up with two for various reasons. Our boy could be quite a handful because he is so social, and he is definitely more relaxed and less needy now, but it's like we just swapped one problem for another!
 
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