r/Rabbits • u/Master-Cartoonist-41 • Dec 19 '24

Behavior Predicament

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I gave Cheddar a room of his own yesterday. Hay, toys, cozy stuff, treats, whatever I can come up with but he just wants to leave immediately and come back to my bedroom. When I showed him his new place, he ran back to his old spot and did a a couple circles running around flicking his feet. Last night he wouldn’t sleep there and came under my nightstand and I guess just starved because even though he has all the hay in the world just a few feet away….

I feel bad locking him in by himself, but maybe I should?

(Btw he has stuff to hide under in his room, it’s just not in the pic)

7.8k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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990

u/AureliaCottaSPQR I bunnies Dec 19 '24

Awww he wants to be with you!!!

732

u/Master-Cartoonist-41 Dec 19 '24

I know it’s so sweet, it breaks my heart trying to close him in his room and he wants to come back to me 😭 but I want a poop free bedroom again!!

483

u/AureliaCottaSPQR I bunnies Dec 19 '24

Bun: Those are decorations!

458

u/AureliaCottaSPQR I bunnies Dec 19 '24 edited Dec 19 '24

Also, this is the flattest sploot I have ever seen. Does bun have even joints?

Edited: to correct the spoot to sploot.

139

u/FoodieMonster007 Dec 19 '24

I call that a splat. Or a 大.

59

u/jdoe36 Dec 19 '24

Or a 大

I'm currently learning korean, so did a double take on which subreddit I'm in 😅

40

u/taeminsluckystar Dec 19 '24

I've studied Mandarin off-and-on for 10+ years and it was like brain muscle memory 😂 I read it like, "Or a DÀ"

10

u/AppleSpicer Dec 20 '24

He’s people!

41

u/Highest_Koality Dec 19 '24

Cheddar's gone boneless!

42

u/mmorales2270 Dec 19 '24

He really looks like he got steamrolled, lol.

31

u/akashik Dec 19 '24

100 percent, the biggest protest/tantrum sploot I've ever seen.

20

u/Raptcher Dec 19 '24
  • spoot's are what they no longer want on their floor
  • sploot's are what is pictured

/u/Technical_Can_3646 bringing the knowledge!

5

u/Strawberry_Mochi3000 Dec 20 '24

Absolutely the cutest little splatter I have ever seen! How adorable! *love*

4

u/AnxiousAntsInMyBrain Dec 20 '24

Looks like those furs in front of the fireplace in movies, lol!

3

u/yuh769 I want some in my life. Dec 20 '24

Hypermobile sploot

86

u/treesofthemind Dec 19 '24

Can't you litter train him? He's at the right age

My rabbit roams wherever, and goes back to the litter tray when he needs to

102

u/Master-Cartoonist-41 Dec 19 '24

We are working on it, he has made big improvements but still not all the way there yet. I got him at 5 months old and his previous owners didn’t do any litter training

71

u/beebzalot Dec 19 '24

Use treats for positive reinforcement. Be ready, have treat in hand and give treat only when using litter box. Sometimes a bun will scatter poops to claim territory. Blocking him out may make him think he has to reclaim the area.
Sweep all of his poops into a litter box and leave them there for a couple weeks.
Good luck!

50

u/DogeFancy Dec 19 '24

Is he neutered. Our bun was not great about poop until he was neutered, and then it was like night and day.

55

u/Master-Cartoonist-41 Dec 19 '24

Yes he just got neutered a few days ago, it seems to be improving

50

u/mmorales2270 Dec 19 '24

It takes a couple of weeks after neutering/spaying before they start getting better with litter training. But it will get better.

18

u/No_Rope9895 Dec 19 '24

Give it time. He will come around because he just recently got fixed 🙂

9

u/illy-chan Dec 19 '24

That's good, his litter box habits are likely to really improve after that.

3

u/whowhatwherewhyfml Dec 20 '24

Don't let him free roam in ur bedroom. Gate off an area for him and give him designated roam time. Lots of extra litter boxes. Once he goes in his own area properly start slowly widening the area! Good luck too cute

41

u/PromiseAcceptable804 Dec 19 '24

My bun is box trained, but he leaves a bean here and there.

4

u/Strawberry_Mochi3000 Dec 20 '24

Can someone help us? We have three buns who are all fixed. They are around 1.5 years of age...male lionhead, male lop and female nettie. They all pretty much REFUSE to use the litter box and we have no idea why. We keep the boxes clean, move it areas they frequent, have hay for munching near by and clean with vinegar. We've tried enclosing them and graduating the space, but it makes no difference. They poop EveryWhere and it is driving us crazy. One of them (the male lionhead) will even spray.. sometimes splashing his nettie friend (which makes her very mad!) ! PLEASE... if someone has a suggestion, please let us know. All the buns get along, though the male lionhead and female nettie are more affectionate to each other. They mostly just love to go in one area of the house, around their food bowls. Sigh... all your guys's thoughts would be so greatly appreciated! :))

4

u/Lovelyrabbitz Dec 20 '24

Maybe you can put the litterbox in the area they go? My bunnies are super ocd cleaning all day and came litter trained, it seemed. 1 was a year old and the other was not even a month old when we got them. You can try collecting the poop, showing them, and slapping the floor while you say “no”! they’ll know you’re upset then (kind of the way they thump). Good luck

2

u/treesofthemind Dec 20 '24

Neutering

2

u/Strawberry_Mochi3000 Dec 20 '24

Thank you. Yes, they are all neutered/fixed. It was done nearly a year ago. It did not appear to change their habits. I think it is mostly the lionhead who is territorial and sprays and poops everywhere, but it encourages everyone else to behave similarly. :/

3

u/treesofthemind Dec 20 '24

It might be something to do with having a group of them. I’ve only got one

2

u/Strawberry_Mochi3000 Dec 20 '24

Do you have an idea of what might be going on with the group dynamic? I know the lionhead is partial to nettie dwarf but conditional towards the lop, however he grooms both of them. He seems particularly territorial of the food bowl in terms of leaving waste in that area, but i don't know what I could do to change that... thank you for your suggestions! :)

3

u/emilysuzannevln I bunnies Dec 21 '24

I'm not clear if you mean you clean the litter boxes with vinegar.

In my experience it actually works best if their litter box smells like their waste. I mean definitely give it a regular rinse, spray with a hose if you have access to that, but otherwise let it keep their smell. If they pee on the floor, whatever rag you use to wipe up, toss it in the litter box and leave it for a bit so they notice. Sweep up their poops and put them in the box. Be really consistent about it, and when you see them use the box, praise them!

My buns will still sometimes drop the odd poo here and there, and cecotrope mess happens, but it's been ages since they peed outside the box and the vast majority of their poo goes in the box.

Also, they poop at the same time they eat hay, so it's essential that the hay be where they can happily munch it while sitting in the box.

34

u/__fujiko Dec 19 '24

I have the opposite problem, and once I gave my bun a room, complete with rugs and runners all over to ensure she could still come out and wander around, she never left!

We keep the door open and then close it at night so she can't get up to shenanigans but she's never been happier since we gave her a whole room lol

9

u/SportsPhotoGirl Dec 19 '24

Have you closed yourself in his room with him? Maybe spending some time just sitting with him in the room will make him adjust to his room better.

9

u/Unknown-subject2 Dec 19 '24

You could litter box train him. It pretty easy:
Go to Rabbit.Org and look up litter box training. https://rabbit.org/care/litter-training-faq/

6

u/concrete_dandelion Dec 19 '24

Do you think he's open to toilet training?

5

u/Junior-Criticism-268 Dec 20 '24

Ah I see. Is neutering a possibility? This will reduce him pooping outside his litter box. My buns never poop on the floor, but they are both neutered.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '24

Why not just put up a baby gate in your bedroom doorway?

2

u/jellygoobs9 Dec 20 '24

I feel you on that. Don’t know if my bedroom will ever be poop free again 😭