Hitting Puberty

[Malia]

I think my darling little bunbun is starting to go through puberty. He’s just about 3 months old now. It started with him tugging on my pants legs to get out of his way. He no longer wants to tolerate being carried for more than 30 seconds. Today he happily circled my legs for the first time. But the main thing is that his cage is starting to smell. Jett smells good but the litter box does not. So I must change it more often. And I’m going to switch to Feline Pine I think. Right now I’m using Yesterday’s Litter. The hay on top used to work but now nothing is really working.

I’m kinda nervous to have a teenage bunny! I’ve read a lot of horror stories. I’m probably not going to neuter him until August as he’s a French Lop so the vet told me to wait until 5-6 months. Wish me luck!

[Tuppence]

Oh dear, the terrible teens! My bun is a teenager too (5 months) and whist he still smells like clean laundry and a spring meadow, the same cannot be said for his pee. Thankfully he doesn’t spray (touch wood it stays that way until I get him snipped!) Will your little man allow you to handle him long enough to ascertain whether his bunny bollocks have dropped? If they have, he is old enough to be neutered. It’s not advisable to use pine-based litter as it can be very harmful to bunnies. Underneath the hay in my bun’s box I use 100% natural plant-based bedding that is supposed to be odour controlled, but I find that it’s more effective when mixed with bi-carb soda and sprayed with an all-natural non-toxic odour neutraliser. Good luck!

[Malia]

Thanks. Yeah he lets me hold him long enough to gaze at his underside and such… for now! I have not checked for the droppage. But my vet said that large breeds need that dose of hormones for bone density or something so that’s why she said to wait. I heard Feline Pine is okay because it’s pelleted and not straight up pine little. However I never thought about mixing litter with odor neutralizers. That’s definitely something to look into. I hope my bunny is like yours and doesn’t spray too!

[Tuppence]

Ah right! I have never seen pelleted pine litter, just the shavings, which I know are a big NOPE. I’ve also heard that the testosterone in the intact boys that are of a larger breed is good for their bone density, but my vet said that once the drop has happened it is safe to snip (it just tends to be later with the big guys.) But if you can wait (i.e. if he’s not too out of control with the circling/mounting/spraying/general randy bunny behaviour) then it’ll probably help with him growing up to be a big, strong bun! Using bi-carb is great, it’s so cheap and it works a treat! The odour neutralising spray that I have isn’t expensive and you don’t need to use much, so it lasts for ages.

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