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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A To Neuter or Not to Neuter, That is the Question…

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    • CuddleBunnyMomma
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        Hi everyone, I know this type of question has been asked a few times but my 1 year and 3 month old male mini rex, Butterscotch (Butters, for short) is a little different so I thought I should ask for myself.  Butters is the first (and only) bunny I’ve ever owned.  We got Butters when he was just a baby (2 months old) and for the first 4 months we had him we thought he was a girl…that is, until we saw some parts of him that girls don’t have.  He is well taken care of (perhaps somewhat spoiled, to be honest) but he is still pretty well behaved and wonderful overall.

        The only behavior problems he has are: 1) biting the bars of his cage, 2) not consistently using his litter box (though, to be fair, he uses it a vast amount of the time), 3) trying to “mate” with my arm (though to be fair again, he rarely, if ever, does this with others and he seems to be managing his frustration a little better lately), and 4) chewing on and getting into things he shouldn’t (but bunnies will be bunnies, right?).

        But, on the plus side, he: 1) is super duper loving (he cuddles, relishes in the time he gets pet, greets people when they walk in, and gives kisses nonstop for minutes), 2) has never bitten anyone (aside from teeny tiny benign “love nips” on occasion), 3) stopped peeing on things relatively recently, 4) does a couple tricks (like standing up on his hind legs, spinning, standing and spinning, and now we’re working on standing and walking a couple steps) and 5) appears happy and healthy on a daily basis.

        As for my concerns, I am a full-time student and will be leaving the country to study abroad for 4 months (starting mid-August) so if I want to get Butters neutered I would only have enough time to take care of him (for his recovery and all) during the next few months of this summer.  I am conflicted because a couple people keep asking when I’m going to get him neutered, the assumption is that it would make him stop biting the cage bars and whatnot, but (on top of me being pretty broke and the procedure costing an arm and a leg) one of my friends neutered her bunny and said it was the worst decision she ever made because his personality completely changed and, most of all, I would feel badly if I had someone take away parts of him without having a very good reason to put my cuddle bunny through what must be a fairly traumatic experience.

        Basically, I guess the point I’m trying to make is that I want to do what’s best for everyone involved (myself, people I live with, bunny, guests) but, most importantly, I want to do what’s best for Butters.  He is such a sweet bunny and I’d hate for him to lose that just because I (and those who also care for him) weren’t willing to put in the time/effort to work on behavior management with him more or because we wanted some perfect pet or something ludicrous and self-centered like that.  So what are your opinions?  What should I do?  Are there “alternative” solutions I should look into?  Really, any guidance or advice is much appreciated!!!  And thank you in advance! 


      • jerseygirl
        Moderator
        22338 posts Send Private Message

          Honestly, if you find he’s fine to live with as is, and he’s a single bunny, there’s no great need to get him neutered IMO.
          There’s not the health risk like there is for leaving female rabbits intact.
          Is he going to be where he currently lives while you’re away? Is it an issue for those who are going to be caring for him?

          I’m not entirely sure the cage biting is an intact-rabbit trait that could be remedied by neutering.

          Out of curiosity, what age was your friends rabbit when she had him desexed?


        • LongEaredLions
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            The only reason I would neuter him now is to end the frustration he is probably having from not being allowed to mate. Do remember that if you were ever to get another bunny, or if he develops behavioural problems down the road, it will be safer to neuter him now he is young.


          • Deleted User
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              When I first got Henry I didn’t know ‘anything’ about neutering/spaying a bunny. Unlike our dog’s I just never gave it a second thought. Henry did circle us to begin with and I have to be honest, I loved it and his attention. When he molested my 15 year old dog, I didn’t love that so much (thought it was kinda gross! and I’m sure ‘she’ was disgusted!!!) ha ha ha hah! But still life went on until….. he started ‘spraying’ US ALL (dog’s included). He was booked in and we had that little (HUGE) problem rectified in no time! Sorry, the point of what I’m saying is – if Henry hadn’t have ‘sprayed’ us, we may never have given it a second thought to this day. We were coping (even when waking up in the morning with my bed covers covered in bunny poop! I know, YUCK!), but it was the ‘spraying’ that I couldn’t deal with – it was ‘everywhere’! So if you ‘never’ want to chance being in my/Henry’s pre-neuter position, I would consider it now. But if your prepared to take the chance and it’s not a bother – I wouldn’t ‘bother’. But keep in mind if this behaviour happens while your away, how would his carer feels about this?
              Eepster is a BBer who never had her boy neutered along with a couple of other’s (but I’m sure Eepster never had any issues?) so if you choose not to, you won’t ever be the only BBer who didn’t.
              One thing I will say – don’t be fooled that a neuter will cure your boy of ALL his naughty habbits – my Henry lost his naughty toilet habits, but he is still as cheeky/naughty as ever! DAM! Lol…. Cheers CuddleBunnyMomma.


            • LBJ10
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                Some intact boy rabbits do not display extreme hormonal behaviors and their owners are able to deal with it relatively easily. In that situation, then there isn’t any reason health-wise to have the rabbit neutered. Just as long as there is no intention of ever getting him a friend because its pretty much impossible to bond hormone-filled rabbits. Like Andi said, there are BBers who have chosen not to neuter their rabbits. If the hormonal behaviors are “out of control”, then it is better to relieve the rabbit’s frustration by taking those pesky hormones away. I don’t believe neutering changes a rabbit’s personality at all. But if you consider some of the “loving” behaviors to be part of their personality, then neutering will eliminate them if they were really hormone-driven. Hopefully that makes sense. I guess it is up to you what you feel is best. Considering that he isn’t spraying everything in sight at over a year old, I’m doubting that he will suddenly start doing it out of the blue while you are away.


              • Linette
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                  If he is this old and his behaviors are tolerable, they probably won’t get any worse.

                  It IS possible that the humping (and sometimes nipping goes with it) will get worse around other women or pregnant women (they can smell the hormones) as well as spraying urine. But that’s unpredictable.

                  I do consider the situation of them wanting to mate and never being able to, I might be “projecting” but is seems merciful to rid them of that frustration.

                  Cage biting is common in buns who know that freedom lies beyond the cage, or at least attention in the form of food and cuddles. Neutering probably won’t address it.

                  Cage biting can lead to teeth issues as they can put their teeth out of alignment and then they stop wearing themselves down and require clipping. No guarantee, but sometimes wiring branches to the inside of the cage at “chew” optimal level will distract them to chew the stick, it’s worth a shot.


                • calipa_st
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                    My boys are neutered and bite the cages, mainly Lucky and Dozer…. Rodan and Calvin are content when it’s not their turn to play.

                    I got Rodan neutered 4 days after getting him and had to wait two weeks for Dozer to get done…total nightmare. Both smelled (the pee, the scent marked poops but I have multiple males so maybe they could smell each other?)

                    I wish mine didn’t smell pre-neuter, but it was a necessity to get them fixed because of the issues they had with each other. And the spraying…Dozer sprayed my walls and the other rabbits, and Rodan peed all over Lucky pretty much any chance he got lol

                    I’d do it. It’s not invasive for males, and you might want another rabbit one day and it’s best to get it done when they’re younger.


                  • Eepster
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                      Porky is not neutered. We really never had a pressing reason to, so we didn’t want to take the risk. I’ve written out the reasons to neuter and why they don’t apply to Porky in the past, I’ll c/p from one.

                      We didn’t neuter Porky. Here are the reasons to neuter…

                      1) Prevent pregnancy. Porky has no access to girl bunnies, so not our concern.
                      2) Making bonding possible. I don’t want to get another bunny so Porky is going to remain a bachelor.
                      3) Improve litter habits and stop marking. Porky’s litter habits happen to be great.
                      4) Prevent aggressive behavior. Porky is the most laid back bunny ever.
                      5) Smell. The occassional musky maleness I smell on Porky doesn’t seem unpleasant to me, and even if I didn’t like it, it’s only occasional and I wouldn’t put him through surgery over it.
                      6) Prevent him from humping his stuffed animals. They are his he can do what he wants with them, and it might not work anyway since I’ve had fixed male cats who had exlict affairs with blankets.


                    • Deleted User
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                        If I ever have a sleepover at your house Eepster, I will bring my own ‘blanket’! Ha ha ha ha…… Is it ‘safe’ to borrow a pillow? LOL!

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                    Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A To Neuter or Not to Neuter, That is the Question…