How to Stop Rabbit Pooping Everywhere

Hello friends, hope you all doing very well. In today’s article we will know why your bunny pooping or peeing everywhere and how to stop your rabbit pooping and peeing everywhere.

Okay, so your bunny is pooping and peeing everywhere, and you’ve given them the tools—maybe you’ve gotten them spayed or neutered—but they’re still doing it. What the heck is going on? Now, this is one of the biggest issues I see in bunny ownership these days, because it is so frequently brought to my attention. In fact, it was one of the most frequently asked questions from bunny community all over the world. So, I wanted to make this article to offer some support in this arena and show you five tips and tricks to reduce, if not eliminate, this problem. I know you’re like glued to the chair right now, thinking, “What’s the secret?” Well, we’re going to go through all of that. If want more tips about pet bunny visit my Tips page.

So, I want to write a quick intro as to why your rabbit might be doing this. The underlying cause is basically inherent territorial rabbit behavior. Rabbits are territorial, and they like to mark. They basically like to say, “This is mine, this is mine, do not enter.” Even if you don’t have any other rabbits in your home, they are constantly preparing for potential invasion; that is just in their nature. So, once your rabbit reaches sexual maturity at approximately 4 to 5 months of age for males and females, they will start marking, and you’re going to notice it—it’s going to be quite abrupt. You can also read “how to keep rabbit entertained“

Not spayed or neutered:

Now, if your bunny is an adult, they’ve passed sexual maturity, and they are still doing this but they are not spayed or neutered, it has a lot to do with getting fixed. So, I always have to emphasize getting your bunny fixed in order to improve the litter box habit. So, that’s going to be my tip number one. Now, I know before I scare you guys off because there are still a lot of people who are opposed to this practice—one, because it’s expensive, and two, maybe they think it’s not natural or they want to breed their bunnies down the line—I’m not going to sit here and make the case for anti-breeding or anything like that.

But what I will say, first and foremost, is by fixing your rabbit, you are prolonging their life. So, they’re less likely to acquire reproductive cancer, and it’s going to dramatically reduce territorial behavior. So, this is why I really recommend spaying and neutering your bunny in order to diminish territorial marking. But furthermore, the cherry on top is you are expanding their life. There are low-cost spays and neuters—some of them are income-based and stuff—so check in with your local shelter or rescue and see how you can get assistance to pay for your spay or neuter.

Litter box:

The next tip I have for you is to provide your rabbit with a litter box. Now, I know this sounds like very basic stuff, but listen, guys, there are a lot of you who are not doing this. Okay, you’re keeping your bunny in a cage or a hutch—even a non-fixed bunny will know what to do when they see a litter box. I just did a house rabbit makeover where an unneutered bunny had been peeing and pooping everywhere. You can also read “what you need when you bring home a rabbit“. We gave the bunny a litter box with the right contents inside, and he immediately hopped into that litter box. He just knew that was going to be his new little toilet. I’ve made a article on how to litter box train; please read this. But you need to provide your bunny with a space to do their business; otherwise, they will just do it anywhere, I promise you this. Make sure it’s filled with hay, make sure it’s got the right litter—you know, all the right content, so it feels homey, it feels secure.

Move or set the litter box exact place:

Okay, so the next tip that I have for you guys—now, let’s just say you’ve already done one and two, okay? Your bunny is fixed, they’ve got a litter box, but they are still marking. What the heck is going on? Well, one, where are they marking? That is the real question. Okay, if they are not going in their litter box but they prefer to go somewhere else, let’s just say they prefer a different corner in the house—that’s what they’ve chosen. You’re going to have to accept it, and you’re going to have to move the litter box to that spot. Okay, I know it sounds like a pain, maybe that’s not your preferred spot, and maybe it can just be temporary until you decide, “Okay, they get it, maybe we can incrementally migrate elsewhere.” But the goal here, the underlying goal, is let’s get them going in that litter box first. So, you’re going to have to adapt to what they’ve chosen. You can also read “how to poty train your bunny“.

Now, if it happens to be a few different areas in the house, you might have to provide a few different litter boxes. And don’t worry, it’s not that much more expensive—you can get a litter box at the dollar store if you really have to, okay? But just for the time being, if that’s what you have to do, maybe you’ve got a free-roam bunny—they have access to the basement and they have access to the top floor—then have a litter box in the basement and the top floor. It’s not going to be like you have a litter box in every single corner of the house; I mean, you know, we’re going to be reasonable here. But if you are giving them that opportunity to at least learn, “Okay, this is the mechanism,” it’s going to help you in the long run. And then over time, you can eliminate a box here, you can eliminate a box there, and bam, you are golden.

Stop cleaning litter box:

The next tip that I have for you guys is, stop cleaning the litter box every darn day. Okay, we do not need to be doing that, and that is going to instigate your bunny to mark, mark, mark. And actually, I would argue, do not clean everything all the time. Do you know what that makes your rabbit want to do? It makes your rabbit go, this does not smell like me anymore, I must make it smell like me again.” Okay? And so, they will then leave their little poops or whatever they do. I’m not saying be dirty, but you don’t have to clean every single day. And when it comes to the litter box, you don’t have to clean it every single day either. They like for it to smell like them—you’re going to know. You’re going to know when it’s time. About that fourth day is the max, because all the litter is going to be absorbed, the hay is going to be depleted and stuff. So, that’s when it’s time to change it out, and that’s fine, but you don’t have to have it sparkling clean every day.

Litter box is loaded with hay:

The next tip I have for you guys is, just make sure that litter box is loaded with hay. I’m talking mountains and heaps of hay. Because if there’s just not that much hay in there, they’re just not going to be inclined to use it, I’m just going to be honest with you. If they have to, they’ll spend a good hour in there—that’s literally a girl in a bathroom tweezing her eyebrows and grooming herself and doing all of her rituals in the bathroom. The rabbit is doing their rituals in their bathroom the same way. They like to organize it, pick out the good pieces, shuffle it around—you know what I mean? That’s their little safe haven. And we know that a rabbit’s diet is 80% hay, so make sure that you’ve got lots and lots of hay. You can also read “Can rabbits eat tomato“.

Okay, guys, so those are my tips for you to really perfect these litter box habits. And, I just have to make the disclaimer: there are always going to be a few little poops here and there, no matter what, even if your rabbit is spayed or neutered and all the things. And you just have to kind of accept it and sweep up a couple here and there throughout the day—it’s so much better than if your rabbits were not spayed or neutered. And the differences are stark—just go to a house with an unneutered bunny and you’ll see the difference. And some rabbits will never, ever mark. There are always going to be just different bunnies doing different things, and you might get lucky, you might not. You can also read “what to feed baby rabbit“.

One last thing

The last quick thing I want to say, because I know you’re going to bring it up: let’s just say your rabbit is litter box trained, spayed or neutered, they’re an adult, so they’re not babies anymore, and they are abruptly, kind of out of the blue, peeing or pooping, and they weren’t doing this before—it just seems really odd. I really recommend seeing your rabbit vet, because it could be an underlying medical condition, it could be a kidney thing, I mean, it could be so many things. So, I really just urge you to get that checked out, especially if it just seems totally out of the ordinary. And check that the urine and the poop look normal—because that’s also important. Are the stools soft and dry? Are they big, small? What color is the urine? etc. If you can take samples to your vet, that’s even better.

But yeah, guys, so that’s—I just wanted to throw that in there. Thanks for checking this out, I hope you liked it. Comment down below any questions you might have.