Change affecting rabbit

Question
Good Evening,

I think you've helped me in the past with my rabbit, thank you!  We have a new predicament that I'd like your opinion on.  Our male, non-neutered, 6.5 year old Netherland Dwarf rabbit lives inside our house in one of our spare bedrooms.  He has a large cage, but doesn't routinely spend any time locked in there, usually just runs around his room, closed when we're not home, and around the whole house when we're home (but normally stays upstairs).  We've had him since he was 5 weeks old.  Until recently, he was litter box trained, always peeing in his cage, and 95% pooping in his cage.

He does have dental problems (which you helped diagnose) and has to go in to have his teeth trimmed every 10-11 weeks.  He always does fine with this.  He is routinely on pain medicine, an antibiotic, and a GI stimulator afterwards.

Recently, we sold a large workout set that was in his room.   Since then, he has taken to peeing and pooping primarily outside of his cage, and has started chewing the baseboards again.  As you can imagine, this is problematic.  I think he's just acting out because of the change and stress from it.  He's currently going through his yearly shed, but this doesn't normally affect him.

To add insult to injury, I'm pregnant, and in the next 8 months, we'll be moving him to the other spare room to make room for baby.  Although, he likes this room better anyway.

Do you have any advice for making all of this easier on him, or advice on how to combat this bad behavior?  We've started putting him back in his cage at night, which helps some, but he continues to pee on the carpet, but usually just in one spot.  If I put a pad down, he will pee on it, but I'd rather not encourage the bad behavior.

Thanks so much for reading, and any advice you can give!
Gloria

Answer
Dear Gloria,

I think you hit the nail on the head when you guessed that he's reacting to the change in his territory.  It's not exactly "acting out" as in a tantrum.  He's not neutered, and his behavior is completely normal.  He is marking the changed area in his room so that everyone knows that it's still *his*, even though it has physically changed.  The only thing that might help with this behavior is neutering.

There *might* be a medical reason for this, and that should probably be ruled out by a good rabbit vet:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/urinary.html

but since this started happening right when you moved the gym out, my guess is the territorial marking.

To make the transition to the new room easier for him, start putting his favorite things in the new room, and instead of close him in the room where you'll be moving the baby, close him in the new room every other time so he'll start to think of that as his main turf.

As far as breaking the "bad" behavior...good luck.  I've never had any success with that.  Rabbits are not like dogs, and they have no innate desire to please the "alpha" in the household (which he probably considers to be himself, anyway).  So to save your carpet, I'd recommend putting down 100% cotton protective mats, changing them out to wash as necessary.  If the pee goes through, then a layer of pelleted pine sawdust litter under the mat can save the carpet.

Hope this helps.

Dana