Pet Information > ASK Experts > Exotic Pets > Rabbits > Litterbox Training Problems

Litterbox Training Problems

22 11:08:07

Question
Hi, I was wondering if you can help me with a teeny tiny problem? Well, I have this average sized rabbit nad his name is Kurly. When we first got Kurly he was a house rabbit for about 1-2 monthes and he grew bigger and more mature. (At first the pet shop owner said he was defintely a girl so we bought "her". I thought having a female would be better since we didn't want any spraying. Well, we finally found out he was a boy not a girl when he started spraying everywhere! and I saw his sack.) So I got him a companion. And their smell was overpowering!!! So we built them a shed outside to live in. Then I litterbox trained them which was kinda hard since I couldn't tell which rabbit was using the litterbox. Well, both rabbits were doing great except Kurly's companion, Peanut (dwarf), began to grow! And we found out Peanut was a female! So we separated them for about a week. I did some research and found out about NIC's condos and thought that that was a perfect idea. I built Kurly a three story condo and Peanut a two story condo. They both loved the condo and everything was going fine, until Kurly began having litterbox problems. This started about 4-5 days ago. Every morning I'd go outside and find poop only on the 1st level ( where the litterbox is). Well I found about 10-20 pellets a day. When I began hanging a hay rack over the litterbox, it kinda helped. I found about 5 pellets now but the pellets were spreaded out amoung the condo. In different levels. What's happening? Is Kurly reaching his sexual maturity??? Right now, neutering him is not an object. We would like to breed him later on in life. What can I do to help? Is he just marking his area????  

Answer
Hi Vanessa,
It does sound like he's maturing now...for the litterbox training,this doesn't mean you won't find pellets here and there..it's mostly for them urinating. He also scents the female close by and will definately spray his territory to communicate with her.  If he's peeing in the litter where you want him to go,,thats a good start.
Everything else sounds good,just get used to him marking his territory as males do!
Good luck and enjoy! Elizabeth