Our boy keeps peeing and pooping next to the litterbox after we scoop it.

[Noodles]

So our boy rabbit who lives with our girl rabbit keeps peeing and pooping next to the litterbox or in his pellet bowl after we scoop it. It is becoming a hassle that we have to clean it up every time. We know he does this on purpose as other times he goes in there without a problem and usually only happens after it is scooped.

We have to keep him caged at night in our bathroom because he would smear poop on the floor when we just had him locked in the bathroom at night. His litterbox, food, water and hay are all in the bathroom with our girl rabbit as well.

We are at our wits end with it as it seems he is protesting being locked up at night and we are getting tired of having to clean it up all the time.

Anyone have any ideas on how to stop this behavior?

 

[Blue eyes]

Could you give some background info?
What are their ages?
Are they fixed?
How long have you had them?
Could you post a photo of their setup?
How is the litter box setup and its size (though photo might show that)?

 

[Noodles]

Could you give some background info?
What are their ages?
Are they fixed?
How long have you had them?
Could you post a photo of their setup?
How is the litter box setup and its size (though photo might show that)?

Sorry for the late reply, here is their set up. Our girl has no issue at all with anything and our boy has only made this a problem recently. He has been fine with it for a couple years but didn't start until we needed to start locking them up at night.

 

[Blue eyes]

What are their ages?
Are they fixed?
How long have you had them?

I don't see hay in the litterbox itself. It's a good idea to have a large amount of hay on top of the pellet litter.

If your rabbits are more than 6 months of age, then the food pellets in the bowl looks like an enormous amount of pellets. Rabbits over 6 months, if overfed pellets, can end up with mushy poos. The mention of "smearing poo" sounds like they may have too rich of a diet (ie. too many pellets). Poos should be round like cocoa puffs and not be able to "smear."

Not sure if I'm understanding correctly, but it sounded like your rabbit tends to go potty outside the litterbox right after it is cleaned?? Is this the case?

 

[Blue eyes]

What are their ages?
Are they fixed?
How long have you had them?

I don't see hay in the litterbox itself. It's a good idea to have a large amount of hay on top of the pellet litter.

If your rabbits are more than 6 months of age, then the food pellets in the bowl looks like an enormous amount of pellets. Rabbits over 6 months, if overfed pellets, can end up with mushy poos. The mention of "smearing poo" sounds like they may have too rich of a diet (ie. too many pellets). Poos should be round like cocoa puffs and not be able to "smear."

Not sure if I'm understanding correctly, but it sounded like your rabbit tends to go potty outside the litterbox right after it is cleaned?? Is this the case?

 

[Noodles]

What are their ages?
Are they fixed?
How long have you had them?

I don't see hay in the litterbox itself. It's a good idea to have a large amount of hay on top of the pellet litter.

If your rabbits are more than 6 months of age, then the food pellets in the bowl looks like an enormous amount of pellets. Rabbits over 6 months, if overfed pellets, can end up with mushy poos. The mention of "smearing poo" sounds like they may have too rich of a diet (ie. too many pellets). Poos should be round like cocoa puffs and not be able to "smear."

Not sure if I'm understanding correctly, but it sounded like your rabbit tends to go potty outside the litterbox right after it is cleaned?? Is this the case?

Yes they go right after it is scooped. That picture is freshly scooped and hadn't yet put hay in yet. The pellets are portioned to their weights.

Girl is 4 years old, boy is 3 years old.

Both fixed

Had them for 3.5 years now

We have cpaps that need to be brought out at night, so we have to lock them out of the bedroom and into the bathroom otherwise they chew the tubbing. When we first started locking them up in the bathroom is when he started smearing his poop on the ground intentionally. His poops in the litterbox are normal.
So we had to get a cage for him at night so he wouldn't smear poop all over the floor. Now every time the box is scooped or sometimes when he is let out in the morning he will pay and poop on the floor next to the food.

This all only started after he needed to be locked up.

 

[overhear]

I've been dealing with a similar issue with my bunny, pooping and peeing randomly in her cage even though she uses the litter box a great deal of the time. The poop I can live with but the pee is getting really tedious.

After lots of trial and error what I'm finding helpful in her case, apart from moving the litter to where she pees, is keeping the floor of her cage fastidiously clean so she doesn't confuse the hay on the floor for litter.

I'm not an expert on rabbit nutrition but ... following my vet's instructions my bunny gets four tablespoons of pellets per day. You may want to double check the quantity you're feeding.

 

[Blue eyes]

Yes. An average size rabbit (4-7 lbs) should only be getting about 1/4 cup of pellets per day. (4 tbsp = 1/4 cup)

Even a rabbit that is intentionally leaving poos scattered about should not be able to "smear" them. This leads me to believe that diet is playing a role.

Is he still urinating in the litterbox?

 

[Noodles]

Yes. An average size rabbit (4-7 lbs) should only be getting about 1/4 cup of pellets per day. (4 tbsp = 1/4 cup)

Even a rabbit that is intentionally leaving poos scattered about should not be able to "smear" them. This leads me to believe that diet is playing a role.

Is he still urinating in the litterbox?

He doesn't smear anymore, He only did when we first started locking him up as a protest behavior. Once we moved him from being locked in the bathroom to locked in a hutch in the bathroom the smearing stopped. Yes he pees in the litter box most of the time when he is not doing this peeing on the floor behavior. This all began when he had to start being locked up. Whenever we go away for the night or vacation and have someone check in he never does it because he is not locked up.

 

[Blue eyes]

He doesn't smear anymore, He only did when we first started locking him up as a protest behavior. Once we moved him from being locked in the bathroom to locked in a hutch in the bathroom the smearing stopped. Yes he pees in the litter box most of the time when he is not doing this peeing on the floor behavior. This all began when he had to start being locked up. Whenever we go away for the night or vacation and have someone check in he never does it because he is not locked up.

So is there still a question here?

 

[Noodles]

So is there still a question here?

Yea, I am trying to figure out ways to stop this behavior of peeing around his food bowl. Any tips or techniques on behavior issues.

 

[Blue eyes]

In the photo, the food bowl appears to be somewhat in the way of the entrance to the litter box. Perhaps try moving the bowl away from there. Maybe he'll be more willing to hop inside the litter box then.

(I'd still check the cup measure of the amount of pellets. The amount in the photo looks like several days worth.)

 

[overhear]

This is the set-up that's finally working for us. She free-ranges in the living room so her cage is always open. She never peed outside the cage but was using the entire cage as a litter box for a while.