Bunny behavior post-neuter

[Alice]

Hi Binky Bunny friends! New to these forums so I hope this isn’t a repetitive question…

I have a 5 month old lionhead bunny (today is his 5 mo birthday actually!) and I just had him neutered on Monday. We brought him home Tuesday night and I struggled to give him his meds. Despite that, he has been eating and pooping and acting totally normal and his swelling has gone down significantly. So I don’t think he’s in pain. If I had been successful in giving him his meds, yesterday would have been the last day to do so anyway.
So the point of my post is that I have noticed a change in his behavior that I’m not sure I should be concerned about?

He’s eating wayyyy more hay than I’ve ever seen him eat and much less of the pellets. Additionally, we’ve been keeping him locked in his cage to limit activity per the vet’s instructions, which he usually hates being locked in there. He hasn’t chewed the bars/door of the cage at all, and he’s been laying down/flopping in there a lot. Is there a difference between comfort and lethargy? As I said he’s eating and pooping normally and seems to be acting normally, but his lack of resistance to the cage has thrown me off.

Any thoughts??
Thanks so much! I’m excited (and suuuuper anxious haha) to be starting this journey as a bunny mom!

[tobyluv]

It sometimes happens that a rabbit’s appetite changes after a spay or neuter, although it may just be temporary. Some people have posted here that their rabbit wants very little to do with pellets after surgery, even if they loved pellets before. Pellets do provide some vitamins and minerals, but it’s good that he’s eating a lot of hay. Is he also eating veggies? Those provide vitamins and minerals too.

Most males bounce back pretty quickly and may only need a few days of restricted movement. Since it’s almost been a week since his surgery, it seems like it would be find to let him out of his cage now. How long did the vet say to keep him caged? I’ve never restricted my bunnies more than a few days. Of course, if there were complications, a rabbit might have to be restricted longer. But your bunny sounds like he’s doing well. Maybe the surgery and the drop in hormones has started to make him more mellow, although it usually takes longer, I think. If it’s warmer in the house than usual, that could be a factor too.

[Alice]

Hi Toby, thanks for your response!
I’d started introducing him to veggies slowly a couple weeks ago so he’s not eating them regularly yet. I’m glad he’s munching on the hay a lot, just wasn’t expecting it!

The vet said to restrict his space for 5-7 days, and today is day 4, not counting the night we brought him home. I don’t think there are any complications – his scrotum swelling has gone down significantly and like I said everything else is normal. I did wonder if it was the surgery making him more mellow…. I think I’m going to let him out of the cage tomorrow for a bit so I can clean it.

Thanks again!

[Alice]

So another quick update: I just let him out of his cage with a little x-pen space and he is so happy!!!!! He must have just been so bored in his cage he had nothing better to do than lounge.

[tobyluv]

It sounds like he is feeling good and has recovered very well!

[Alice]

Thanks!!

[Author]

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