Does anyone have a pet rabbit? Questions on neutering...

[traces7]

My DD has a 5 1/2 month old Holland Lop. We're thinking of getting him neutered. Has any other rabbit owner done this? What should we expect? Will his personality change? What are the benefits of being neutered? (besides the obivious!)

He doesn't really do anything "bad" yet, so I'm not even sure we want to get him neutered. The last month or so he has become more wild and harder to handle, that's about the only thing "bad" that I notice that could be helped by being neutered. He is a really friendly, happy little guy and I don't want that to change. I have noticed the last couple weeks that he likes to run circles around our legs and someone told me that's part of their mating ritual.

We have found a good vet that spacializes in rabbits and is recommended by the National Rabbit Society on their website.
Any other advice?
Thanks so much!

 

[kacaju]

My DD has a 5 1/2 month old Holland Lop. We're thinking of getting him neutered. Has any other rabbit owner done this? What should we expect? Will his personality change? What are the benefits of being neutered? (besides the obivious!)

He doesn't really do anything "bad" yet, so I'm not even sure we want to get him neutered. The last month or so he has become more wild and harder to handle, that's about the only thing "bad" that I notice that could be helped by being neutered. He is a really friendly, happy little guy and I don't want that to change. I have noticed the last couple weeks that he likes to run circles around our legs and someone told me that's part of their mating ritual.

We have found a good vet that spacializes in rabbits and is recommended by the National Rabbit Society on their website.
Any other advice?
Thanks so much!

We fixed our male bunny. Go ahead...it is not a big deal. And yes, if he is sexually frustrated..it sounds like he is...this will help him to go back to the sweet bunny he is.

 

[luv2sew]

My Dd has a female Holland Lop about the same age as your male...She is planning to have her spayed in a few weeks. Her vet said that bunnies live (at least females do because of cancers of the female parts) longer when they are spayed and that they need to be around 6 months or older to do it or they may not be able to handle the anesthesia.

Ours definitely has show signs of wanting to be sexually active and has been in heat already.

 

[wdw_girl_18]

I got my bunny neutered after he kept peeing all over my wall. I'd have him in his cage and he would spray everywhere! He now uses a litterbox, and is a very sweet rabbit.

 

[Aristomommy]

We adopted a fully grown male that was neutered at the animal shelter. He handled the procedure well, just was a little tender for a week. We were careful not to touch the area while picking him up. Our guy is mellow and laid back, not sure if he was different before coming to the shelter.

 

[DisneyScraps]

I have had 3 rabbits. The spaying will help with the spraying it also helps them live longer. I am not sure why but my vet told me that.

Lisa

 

[Luv Bunnies]

At 5 1/2 months, your bunny is considered a teenager in bunny years. He's basically a ball of bunny hormones that he doesn't know how to handle. Having him neutered will eliminate that rush of hormones and allow him to settle down and correct bad habits like circling, spraying pee, nipping and digging. He will also be much better with his litter box.

If you think about it, rabbits are basically at the bottom of the food chain. They have an instinctive need to reproduce to keep their species going. Once they hit puberty, that's all they can think about. If there are no females around, they'll look for other ways to keep their population up (it's kind of sad and funny at the same time, but they are much more instinctive than intellectual!).

Neutering your male bunny will make him happier and eliminate the frustration that he constantly feels. It takes about a month for the homones to leave the system entirely, so you might see a few behaviors right after the procedure. My two little rescue boys were being absolute dorks before they were neutered. After a week, they were perfect little gentlemen. They didn't lose their curiosity, playfulness or sweetness. They just lost the bad behaviors.

On the subject of females, 85% will get reproductive cancer by the age of 5 if they're not spayed. It's an absolute medical necessity for girl bunnies to be spayed.

 

[traces7]

Thanks for all the advice. Sounds like I have nothing to worry about. Our bunny doesn't spray (yet) and uses his litter box wonderfully. I wonder if that stuff happens as they get older or are certain breeds less prone to that? He does try and dig alot when we have him out.
Thanks again for the advice!

 

[Fly4free]

Definately get the little sweetie neutered. We adopted a bunny who had been abandoned, he was about a year old and we had him neutered shortly after adopting him. His litter habits were much better after and his urine stopped smelling as strong.

He was a real sweetie before the surgery, but was territorial about his cage and sometimes would nip. This may have been because he was not used to people though. He loves to be petted if we stopped while we held him he would immediatley start to furiously dig on us, this was often followed by a nip. He calmed down right after the surgery and you could tell the hormones dwindled during the first month.

I was surprised how quickly he bounced back, literally post op. He was jumping up on the couch about a week after. We did not handle him much the 1st 3 days after and then started letting him out, roaming in a small area.

Good luck with your bunny. I hope you enjoy him.