Does neutering stunt growth?

[Momto3boys]

My boyfriend and I picked up a new flemmie baby last week.
His breeder told me if I neuter him too early it will stunt his growth.

Is this true?
Not that it matters but I’m just curious.
I’ll post pics from my phone. I don’t have any on the tablet…
Its been a while since I’ve been in the rabbit world.

[LittlePuffyTail]

This is the first I’ve ever heard this. IMO a breeder is probably not the best person to give advice on neutering. If he’s of the age to be neutered, I wouldn’t worry about it.

[Bam]

In male dogs you don’t want to neuter too young because it has a negative impact on muscle mass. A dog that gets neutered before it’s sexually mature will never develop the same muscle mass as an adult unneutered male dog.

I don’t know if it’s like that with rabbits. I don’t think rabbits get neutered before they are sexually mature, they become sexually mature so young.

Congratulations to your new baby bun =)

[Momto3boys]

I’ve been searching the forums all afternoon and I’m reading sooooo many mixed reviews on this…and mixed reviews on what age to neuter him as well.

[LBJ10]

I don’t think there have been a lot of scientific studies on this. As Bam said, this is true for dogs. People probably haven’t taken the time to look into rabbits. I would say that there might be some truth to this for giant breeds like Flemmies because a lot of their weight is put on much later than small breeds. Small breeds are generally done growing at 6 months, so neutering them at 4-6 months probably doesn’t have much of an effect.

[Eepster]

I have an unneutered male. His vet has commented that he is really muscular since he isn’t neutered.

I haven’t kept Porky intact because I was trying to get a more muscular bunny though. I just didn’t think it was worth the risks of anesthesia, since we didn’t have a pressing need to neuter him.

There are good reason to neuter male rabbits, the usual reasons just don’t apply to Porky. He never sprays, only ever went in for territorial marking briefly when he had to share a room with a teenage boy. He isn’t aggressive at all. He’s a single bunny, so we don’t need to worry about pregnancy or fighting. Etc.

There isn’t really a need to rush neutering a male, you can put it off as long as you have no females around. Neutering does not have major health benefits like spaying does for females.

If you want to get him neutered as soon as possible for some reason, such as you would like to bond him to another rabbit. Achieving a high muscle mass doesn’t really gain anything for a nonshow bunny.

[Bam]

Yes, totally agree with Eepster, we neuter our male buns for behavioral reasons, i e poop- and pee-marking, sexual obsession with other pets or humans (human feet f ex), not for health reasons. In girl bunnies it’s very different, girl buns have a very high risk of uterine cancer at age 3-4 if left intact. Intact boys don’t risk their health in that way. Testicular cancer is very rare in bunnies, so it’s really not a factor of importance.

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