Territorial Poops or Accidents?

[maylinagurl3]

Hi all! My bun is 2 months old. She’s been really great at using the litter box for peeing (she hasn’t peed outside the litter box since the third day she first came home). She also leaves the majority of her poops in the litter box. However, nearly every day, she leaves a good number of poops (5-10) outside of her litter box.

She leaves nearly all of these out-of-litter-box poops within her exercise pen, with only 2-3 ever outside of her pen (but still on the rug that I use as her flooring).

I’m having trouble trying to determine whether she’s officially litter trained and these are territorial poops that I can’t do much about or if these are still considered accidents. Or are these demands for attention? Is she trying to tell me something? Thanks in advance!

 

[Catlyn]

As she's a very young rabbit and fairly new to your house, they would be considered territorial droppings.
By around 4-8 months she would become a teen rabbit, of which many other signs would show-among few of them are excessive markings, circling, honking, increased territorialness etc. Then it would be a good time to book for a spay opegration. That's a thing for the future though.

 

[maylinagurl3]

Thanks, Catlyn! In general, how many territorial poops per day is considered normal? My bun still pees only in her litter box and most of her poops are in the litter box, but I feel like the number of outside poops has increased for some reason. Yesterday alone, there were at like 20-30 outside her box in bunches of 5-7.

 

[Blue eyes]

I’m having trouble trying to determine whether she’s officially litter trained and these are territorial poops that I can’t do much about or if these are still considered accidents. Or are these demands for attention? Is she trying to tell me something? Thanks in advance!

She won't be officially litter trained until after her spay. It's not uncommon for a young rabbit to seem pretty well litter trained and then (suddenly or gradually) seem to forget that training. That can happen with the onset of hormones. Those hormones can kick in at varying ages -- depends on the rabbit.

Older rabbits and fixed rabbits train most easily. In the meantime, just be happy with how well she is doing with keeping her urine where it should go. Don't stress over the poos.

 

[maylinagurl3]

She won't be officially litter trained until after her spay. It's not uncommon for a young rabbit to seem pretty well litter trained and then (suddenly or gradually) seem to forget that training. That can happen with the onset of hormones. Those hormones can kick in at varying ages -- depends on the rabbit.

Older rabbits and fixed rabbits train most easily. In the meantime, just be happy with how well she is doing with keeping her urine where it should go. Don't stress over the poos.

This was helpful! Thank you!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Needs to be neutered. According to a college study--Yes, College--rabbits poop 350 to 500 times a day. We always considered that peeing in litter box is trained. Have only had 2 out of 50 rescues that used their litter box for both needs. The rest do some in their box and some wherever they are at the time--why I bought a 35 gallon shop vac at Sears--cleans up hay and any other left overs. House Rabbit Society is in Richmond and they were very helpful when we first started out rescuing.

 

[NYAngela]

My first bun used his litter box for pee/poop 100% of the time until his hormones kicked in, then he started marking the couch with both. He did it no where else and he had free roam of the house for 15 hours, frequently we’d see him hop back to use his litter box so it was most certainly purposeful marking and not an accident. He then started leaving some poops overnight in the same one corner of his pen. Unfortunately he passed away unexpectedly after an unsuccessful neutering so I do not know the impact that would have had.
We have a new rabbit, he is 11w old and hasn’t had a single accident. However, I am expecting his hormones changing his litter habits as well.

 

[Momma Luvbun]

My little lionhead was brought to me at approximately 6-8 months old after a pair of wonderful bunny lovers went and wrangled him up to safety after finding his owner and hearing the story of why he was out on the street. Not any way for a bun to begin life and I am beyond thankful that they decided to "open the door after, and let him run out"

Once he got to my place he was"quarentined" till he could be fixed (about two weeks) so my freerun female didn't end up pregnant before their fixes.
Once he was free to roam after their surgeries, I noticed he didn't have great deposit habits and had 3 different boxes for him to choose from.
In time he did stop peeing on my area rug, but still left poop everywhere.

In his 3 years of being with me he has learned his litter box habits fairly well, well enough for me to only have 1 box now
However, after losing his first wife at 2ish, and being alone a yr before I gave him a new one, he has always left a pile of up to 20 under my coffee table at night where he chooses to sleep for the we hours of the evening. Even with his wife beside him, he still feels the need to territory pile poop there .
I have also noticed he leaves the same amount around their litter box throughout the day.

I don't think he'll ever stop and I don't mind sweeping 2 times a day or vacuuming every other because I love them soooo

 

[JBun]

If these piles of poop are around the food or water dishes, that can be another reason why she does it there. They generally poop while they eat, and sometimes while drinking.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Have only had 2 out of 50 rescues that used their litter box for both needs. The rest do some in their box and some wherever they are at the time--why I bought a 35 gallon shop vac at Sears--cleans up hay and any other left overs.

Only 2 out of 50!?! I didn't realize how lucky I got with Theo, he never lets anything leave his litter box. About once a month I have to put an extra in the litter box, but that is it. Maybe I don't want another rabbit...

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Our very first rabbit was that way--the second would always pee in his box but the poop happened wherever he was at the time, standing or laying.

 

[JBun]

Only 2 out of 50!?! I didn't realize how lucky I got with Theo, he never lets anything leave his litter box. About once a month I have to put an extra in the litter box, but that is it. Maybe I don't want another rabbit...

Yep, the luck of the draw. Be very glad! My group of 7 rabbits now are a hot mess. The mom and her grown babies have pretty much always pooped where ever they want, and now pee too since the old momma bun can't make it into the litter box anymore. I guess since she can't, the rest of them don't think they have to either. And the one rabbit I have that was a very tidy girl, now she is in the group they have rubbed off on her and she now poops everywhere too. Though she at least still pees in the litter box. I don't know if it's just having them as a big group or what, but they are sure messy.

 

[NYAngela]

Only 2 out of 50!?! I didn't realize how lucky I got with Theo, he never lets anything leave his litter box. About once a month I have to put an extra in the litter box, but that is it. Maybe I don't want another rabbit...

Both my bunnies came to me 100% litter trained at 8-9 weeks. I guess I got lucky too!!!