Stopped using litter box...

[thepeskydingo]

Hey there,
I am taking care of my girlfriends bunny while she is out of town. I have been watching tater tot now for about 2 weeks and he has always used his little box to pee and poop.

All of the sudden 2 nights ago he started leaving little poop pellets everywhere on the carpet.

He has also been circling my feet and getting very adventurous with his behavior... jumping up on furniture, jumping up on dining room chairs and jumping between them, doing full out sprints from one end of the house to the other.

I read that the circling behavior is due to him in mating mode or something? Is it time for my girlfriend to get him fixed when she is back in town? and is the pooping and peeing all over the place some sort of new dominance/marking his territory behavior?

I'm not sure what to do to get him to stop!! We spray him with his spray bottle when he does it, but that doesn't seem to help at all!

Please help!! and thank you in advance.

 

[thepeskydingo]

Also, he does this thumping thing with his foot on the ground. does that mean anything?

 

[LakeCondo]

It does sound like hormonal behavior, so I'm guessing he's maybe 4-6 months old. Yes, neutering will calm him back down. And since water doesn't seem to deter him, try gently holding his head slightly down for a few seconds. That's how mama controls her babies, so it means that you're the boss.

I don't know of any specific reason he's started thumping.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Sounds like a neutering is in order. Usually a thump is given to tell you, "leave me alone". Bambi will go inside a box when I go in the rabbit room and then thump and so does Hutch.

 

[thepeskydingo]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

I guess we will have to go get him fixed...

About the thumping, it almost seems like he WANTS attention when he does it.

Also, I had him out during lunch running around and no poops so far... maybe his prolonged time in his cage and me getting angry with him helped?

At any rate, I will have to try that holding the head down trick if I can. He is pretty quick so not sure I will always be able to catch him!

Thanks again!

 

[JBun]

The pooping outside his litterbox is probably because of the disruption in his life with your girlfriend being gone. Now that you are taking care of him, he may be feeling the need to mark and establish his territory. You can try ushering him to his litterbox if you manage to catch him right as he starts to have an accident, or you could limit his area, or his time out of his cage to shorter periods of time. He may settle down with the marking as he gets used to the current situation, or once your girlfriend gets back. Neutering usually makes a big difference too.

The circling isn't always hormonal. Sometimes it just means a rabbit really likes you. And being all adventurous means that he is feeling very comfortable with you, enought that he is relaxed enough to play. Thumping can mean he is upset or irritated with something you did, but I've also had rabbits do it when they are out playing. So in that context, it would be to express happiness. It usually just communicates a strong emotion, whether happiness, fear, or irritation.

 

[missyscove]

It does sound like it may be time for him to be neutered. Is he still living in the same place? If you moved his cage from one home to another, for example, he'd probably feel the need to mark his new territory.

 

[Imbrium]

About the thumping, it almost seems like he WANTS attention when he does it.

thumping *can* mean "pay attention to me, human!"

 

[thepeskydingo]

Yep, I think his thumping means different things. Sometimes it is when he is out playing but yesterday after he jumped up on the couch and peed before I could get him off i put him in his cage which resulted in him pacing in front of the door and thumping every 5 seconds or so for a minute... he seemed very irritated in that instance... and yes, we moved his cage from her apartment to my house, but the first week he was there he was very good about his litter box.

Come to think of it... my roomate did put down a sort of mat in his cage several nights ago which was around the same time he started this pooping trend... maybe that triggered something.