describe how a male bun can smell

[Deleted User]

How would you explain to someone who’s never had a rabbit what a male unneutered rabbit’s territorial droppings and sprays smell like?

[Beka27]

Is someone wondering? Unneutered bunnies can be stinky, altho I had an unneutered male for over 2 years and he didn’t smell, spray, and was perfectly littertrained… So like with all things bunny… I think it can vary to what degree they are stinky. I guess a good descriptive word might be skunky?

[Deleted User]

well, I am helping a pet store owner give people advice on bunnies. Lots of people when first getting one think they won’t have to bother with neutering, if they only have one. I find when I tell people that my rabbit used to smell like sweat and onion together it gets the point across. I was wondering what other words I could use. So ‘skunky’ it is!

[KatnipCrzy]

maybe “musky”? 

[BinkyBunny]

yes, it can very from light musky to skunky. It’s not pleasant and it has a tendency to smell up an area until you can find the culprit.

[jerseygirl]

OK, I know I’m being totally gross but…does anyone remember those scratch’n’sniff stickers you used to be able to get?…………

mmm, maybe not, after all you are trying to get more people into bunny ownership!

[Beka27]

Lol Jerseygirl! Sometimes I feel like I do more to discourage rabbit ownership.

They do this and this and that and that… are you still listening? Okay, good. Don’t forget about this and that. But rabbits are GREAT!

Geez, could you imagine the smell from MULTIPLE unneutered bunnies? Yuck! I personally pride myself on my house NOT smelling like “bunny”… except for the good bunny smells, like hay ;o)

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I’d agree on the skunky/musty! But oniony is on the range there too!

[Ruffles&Daisy]

Yeah, my neighbor has an unneutered male and before we got Ruff, I always wondered why her house always smelled strange. I would say musky, almost like a damp moldy place. I feel bad for her because they’ve had their bunny for 3 years now and I used to think she was a bunny expert and she always gave me advice about having a bunny, but she is sort of an old school bunny owner and I want to scream at her…. get a bigger cage, rabbits don’t eat kibble with seeds and stuff, your bunny shouldn’t eat a full sized carrot for a snack, you don’t need bedding for your cage, and get him FIXED! I think I’ve convinced her to fix him and she has called my vet. Now if I can only get her to stop feeding him crappola all the time, she wonders why he always has poopy butt…. but on a side note, they love their bun, give him lots of running out of the cage time, etc.

Sorry for the rant on my neighbor’s bun… yes, musky, dampy, skunky would describe it.

[KytKattin]

To me even neutered male rabbits smell more than female rabbits. It almost smells a little skunky to me. Diet also plays a huge part in smell though. I had an unneutered male for a long time and since he was on a good diet he smelled no worse than Hubble did when I first got him even though Hubble was long neutered.

[Crayon]

hmmm.. I have an unnuetered male and he does not smell musky or have stinky poos.
weird. He is a good boy too and I have been reluctant to neuter him since he does not have any of the behavior problems people go on about unneutered boy bunnies. And now with the smell.. I swear he seems like he has been neutered already but he totally has testicles so
I know he has not.
But I have been thinking about getting it done so I can have the option for a second bunny later on.

[GHbun]

I’d say they can smell like sour onions.

[KatnipCrzy]

Schroeder had been neutered for about 6 weeks before I adopted him.  During bonding times I can sometimes smell a muskiness from him- but I think he intentionally releases the odor.  But it is not associated with the litterbox or one on one times- only when he and Cotton are in a carrier together or other out of cage situation.

So I think it can definitely be a triggered behavior.  My friend has an unneutered male bunny- when she adopted him he was already 4 years old and has no behavior issues with not being neutered.  She knows there could be an associated cancer risk and that she can not bring another bunny into the house without expecting problems.   But I also think she is lucky- because more than another rabbit could set off the “smell” I would think.  Another pet- cat or dog, moving, etc could be enough to trigger the “need” to scent.

[Deleted User]

Yes, I agree, another pet can act as a trigger. Maybe a lone unneutered bun won’t get a bad reputation for stench.
Thanks for the comments! — I like the sour onion comparison!

[Beka27]

Oooh. That’s a good point too Katnip! My Stephen bun (unneutered) was an only bun, so it’s possible that might have been why he didn’t smell, at least not that I could tell.

[Crayon]

my guy used to live with cats for the first year I had him but but not now after we moved.. so he has had plenty of oportunity to show me what a stinky bunny can do! I guess I should just count myself lucky

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