Rabbits are very adorable and clean animals and can become great domestic pets. But sometimes, they can create a massive mess by shedding, spreading hays, spraying urine, digging its litter, and pooping everywhere, which requires regular cleaning and grooming. So, why is my rabbit so messy? How can we stop this type of behavior? Let’s find it out in this article.
A rabbit can be messy if they are not neutered and litter trained. They can produce excess territorial droppings, spray their urine, and create a mess by chewing on everything or spreading hay. Instead, consider litter training your rabbit after neutering them to stop their territorial behavior.
This article will discuss briefly how rabbits are messy, why they poop in its cage, and how we can litter train them. So, let’s get into it.
Contents
My rabbit is messy.
Although rabbits are clean and hygienic, they can also be messy, especially if they are unspayed or unneutered.
A rabbit’s mess will increase if it is not litter-trained and needs to be fixed.
These two factors are also related to how much mess a rabbit will make.
Also, rabbits shed a lot of furs. In addition, usually, a rabbit sheds 3 to 4 times a year, but some may shed daily.
The fur your rabbit has shed can accumulate inside your house and make it appear messy if you don’t regularly clean it.
Also, a rabbit can chew on anything, including furniture, cables, clothes, etc.
Rabbits’ teeth grow 1mm daily ( 1 cm in a month), which requires regular trim, and they do it by chewing on everything.
In addition, they shed several times a year, can spill and move their hay all over their house floor, and need regular care for their litter.
This disorderly behavior can occur if you have not neutered or spayed your rabbit.
While getting a rabbit fixed will significantly reduce the frequency of times your rabbit feels the need to spray, it won’t eliminate the possibility that it will.
After being fixed, your rabbit won’t be as stressed and territorial, which will reduce its motivation to spray and mark its territory.
Also read: My Rabbit Has a Yellow Stain.
How are rabbits messy?
Rabbits are very clean and hygienic animals. They do not create mess where they eat and sleep.
However, if you are considering adopting a rabbit, you may need to know the cons of rabbits that could make a mess if they are not litter-trained and spayed or neutered.
Shed
A rabbit can shed a lot. Throughout the year, rabbits undergo several molts, some of which are heavy while others are light and which can occasionally seem to go on forever.
The rabbit’s fur can stick to anything, including your clothes, bed, rugs, and even your mouth.
Therefore, it is essential to regularly groom or brush your rabbit’s fur to minimize the mess that comes with their shedding.
Chew
A rabbit has a habit of exploring and chewing on everything.
Rabbit teeth grow 1 cm a month ( 1mm a day) primarily because of the grazing and chewing required by their diet to maintain a healthy digestive system.
A rabbit can gnaw on your baseboards, walls, shoes, clothing, laptop, or phone charges.
Therefore, chewing can frequently become devastating, so you must give your rabbit toys to chew and a secure, bunny-proof living environment.
Hay
When you bring a rabbit home, all you need to do is give it hay because that is its staple food.
However, you will also need to vacuum and sweep your home frequently—perhaps several times a day or several times a week—because hay can get everywhere if you are not a regular cleaner.
Because you will step on the hay and your rabbit will track it, you will notice it everywhere in your house.
You’ll need to find a way to keep the hay contained because hay will make up most of a rabbit’s diet.
It is much less of an issue if your rabbit lives outdoors and hay spills on the ground aren’t an absolute mess inside.
You can consider a variety of hay racks, containers, and feeders for your rabbit.
In addition, you can reduce the probability that your rabbit will spread hay throughout the house by keeping the hay contained to a single area that it eats from rather than making a bed of hay for it to run through.
Also read: Do Rabbits Need Hay For Bedding?
Territory mark
Usually, rabbits spray their urine to create their territories, but this behavior could be messy and requires cleaning if they urinate in the corners of your house.
Even if a rabbit is neutered and otherwise perfectly litter-trained, some spots seem incredibly alluring to mark, and some rabbits will continue to do so.
The most frequent places are sofas and beds. Humans spend a lot of time relaxing in these places, so to a rabbit, they are filled with dirty smells.
Rabbits are social and territorial creatures, especially if not spayed or neutered.
To let other rabbits nearby know their boundaries, rabbits spray their urine all over their territory.
To regain their confidence in their living space, rabbits who are uneasy or anxious may spray more frequently than usual, which could be caused by sudden changes in the home or adding a new rabbit.
Therefore, to avoid this type of territorial behavior, it is essential to spay or neuter your rabbit.
Once the rabbit is spayed or neutered, this undesirable behavior frequently disappears completely.
However, you can speak to your veterinarian about the neutering procedure and learn more about the safety precautions of neutering your rabbit if you have any concerns about the surgery or anesthesia for your pet.
Also read: Are Rabbits Aggressive?
Poop a lot
A rabbit can excessively poop everywhere. Finding the tiny poop all over your house when you have a pet rabbit makes this all too obvious.
The majority of rabbits are relatively easy to litter train.
Some rabbits, however, are a little more obstinate and will continue to poop outside of their litter box.
Therefore, getting your rabbit spayed or neutered is the best way to stop them from pooping all over the place.
As a result, the rabbit will be less likely to scatter their droppings due to territorial instincts.
Additionally, ensure they always have access to a warm and convenient litter box.
Digging out its litter
Since rabbits enjoy digging, they may think that a tray filled with soil-like litter is ideal for them to have fun.
The litter will not spread if the litter pan is covered, hooded, or placed inside a cardboard box with an entrance hole cut out of the side.
In addition, you can also give your rabbit a different place to dig so he can switch between those activities.
Also read: Why Is My Rabbit Lying In Its Litter Box?
Not always use the litter box.
If your rabbit is unspayed or unneutered, it may be purposefully leaving droppings outside the litter tray to mark its territory, which usually gets better after neutering.
Similarly, it’s possible that your neutered rabbit still scatters waste because they’ve grown accustomed to it and need some retraining.
Therefore, place a litter tray at your rabbit’s favorite spot where they urinate and poop.
Why does my rabbit poop in its cage?
To identify their cage as their own, every rabbit will leave poop all over it, which can be fixed by neutering and litter training.
It is essential to make your rabbit recognize that their cage is their own house to prevent them from marking it as their territory area.
Convince them instead of pushing them into or out of their cage.
In addition, avoid doing anything to their cage or them while your rabbit is inside that they don’t like.
However, a rabbit can also dribble if they had a bladder infection.
Take your rabbit to the vet, who may get them on antibiotics.
If your rabbit dribbles are more than usual, antibiotics don’t stop this behavior; in that case, it could indicate that your rabbit is insecure because of a new pet, sudden change in the environment, children, guests, etc.
These factors can encourage a rabbit to make its territory by producing droppings in its cage.
How to stop rabbits from pooping everywhere?
Spaying and neutering a rabbit is the best way to keep them from pooping or urinating everywhere.
As a result, the rabbit will be less likely to scatter their droppings due to territorial instincts.
You must always provide them access to a warm and convenient litter box.
The most crucial step in litter box training is spaying or neutering a rabbit.
When rabbits are four and six months old, their hormones start to work, and they typically begin marking their territory.
Your rabbit will be significantly more likely to use his litter box after spaying or neutering and become happier and healthier.
So, here are some other ways to prevent your rabbit from pooping or urinating everywhere:
Keep your rabbit surrounding clean:
The enclosure should be your first inspection point if your rabbit has a history of going potty outside their enclosure or litter box.
Rabbits may object and seek out a bathroom elsewhere if their house bottom isn’t sufficiently clean.
Therefore, establish a regular habit of scooping out the poop-filled portions of their litter box to keep the rest of your rabbit’s enclosure clean.
Keep the other pets away:
A rabbit can start producing territorial droppings if it feels insecure or shares its spot ( like a play area ) with other pets.
If you are adopting another rabbit, your current rabbit may become territorial and spread its dropping if they are not bonded.
Due to the area’s strong odor, rabbits will always leave their poop behind.
The frequency of this behavior is less common in other types of domesticated animals, such as dogs or cats.
However, it’s still acceptable that your rabbit is discharging their waste because they believe other animals are threatening their territory and want to reclaim it for themselves.
Health:
If your rabbit is a suitable litter trained or neutered and suddenly begins pooping outside its litter, then it could be a sign of some health issues.
Every time your rabbit exhibits remarkable changes in behavior or habits like this, it’s a good idea to take them in for a health checkup at the rabbit vet.
Rabbits are good at hiding their pain when they have underlying health issues to avoid their weakness in front of their predators as they are prey animals.
So, it is essential to visit a vet if your rabbit has sudden changes in its litter box habits, as this could be a symptom of a severe issue.
Neutered or spayed:
Neutering or spaying a rabbit can fix the problem of their territorial droppings or spraying urine marks.
It is significant to remember that it might take up to a month after surgery to observe changes in their dropping or urinating habits.
After being fixed, many rabbits’ behavior around the litter box quickly improves.
However, the hormones in the neutered rabbit take a few weeks to settle down.
Let them decide their litter spot:
Put the litter box where your rabbit will use it if it frequently urinates in a place where there isn’t one, even if that means moving a table in the living room or your rabbit’s cage.
In addition, your rabbit will resolve to use designated locations for their toilet and prohibit other spots from using them.
Sometimes, it is essential to compromise and works with your rabbit’s desires rather than going against them.
To help your rabbit understand that the box is for use, pour some of its droppings inside its litter box.
Sometimes rabbits can also urinate outside the litter box.
So to avoid this mess, we recommend using a puppy pee pad from amazon that you can layer or cover around their litter box ground surroundings.
Provide more than one litter box:
Sometimes the rabbit doesn’t want to go far back to their enclosure’s litter box and prefers a closer option to pee and poo.
So, add at least two more litter boxes to your rabbit’s exercise area if they are pooping everywhere while exercising and exploring.
If your rabbit leaves a pile of all of their waste, it means it had to go to the bathroom and didn’t want to return to the litter box.
However, multiple litter boxes won’t do much good if they only have one or two poop scattered around the room, indicating that they are territorial droppings.
How to litter train your rabbit?
Before litter training your rabbit, it is essential to spay or neuter them and provide a large enclosure to add a litter box, toys, food, and a water bowl.
Also, it should have some extra space where they can jump, hop, and exercise.
You should place the litter box at the corner of the rabbit’s enclosure because they like to pee and poo in the corners.
However, if the cage is too small to accommodate a litter box, it might also be too small for your rabbit.
If an enclosure isn’t used, give the rabbit a specific space to call their own. Wherever the rabbit seems to prefer, place a litter box.
So, here are some steps to litter-train your rabbit:
- Neuter or spay: Spaying or neutering your rabbit is imperative for health reasons and reducing territorial behavior.
- Choose the right spot for the litter box: The rabbit should occasionally be allowed to choose their location, such as a corner where they frequently poo and pee.
- Set up the litter box: Layout the litter box with hay and liner litter. Rabbits usually like to eat hay while doing their business as it benefits digestion. In addition, ensure the litter box is big enough according to the rabbit’s size.
- Enclose the area: Because rabbits won’t have any other options, they’ll be forced to use the litter box if you close off the area with a playpen or baby gate.
- Look out for your rabbit’s tail: You can predict it is about to leave for litter when you notice your rabbit starting to lift its tail. Quickly pick your rabbit and place them in the litter box. Continue doing this until your rabbit understands it.
- Clean: If they have an accident, clean it up and deodorize the area so they won’t return to the spot.
- Towel in litter box: You can place their urine towel and their droppings in their litter box to make them remind where they need to pee and poo.
- Positive reinforcement: You can reward your rabbit with a treat for encouragement and doing a great job. It would be best if you taught your rabbit to positively relate using the litter box to doing good.
Like dogs, rabbits are excellent at communicating when they need to go to poop or pee.
The litter training process can either takes a few days or two weeks.
You can take down the baby gate and pen once they’ve figured out where to do their business.
Conclusion:
- A rabbit’s mess will increase if it is not litter-trained and needs to be fixed.
- Rabbits can create a massive mess by shedding, spreading hays, spraying urine, digging their litter, and pooping a lot, which requires regular cleaning and grooming.
- Spaying and neutering a rabbit is the best way to keep them from pooping or urinating everywhere.
- Neutering or spaying a rabbit can fix the problem of their territorial droppings or spraying urine marks.
- The hormones in the neutered rabbit take a few weeks to settle down.