My 1 1/2 year old un-neutered male rabbit displays no aggressive/sexual tendencies?

[Ciera D]

I am currently the proud owner of a 1 1/2 year old male Dwarf Hotot named Ramses. I am a long time bunny owner; my first rabbit Sunny was my first pet and lived to be 12 years old, and I had many rabbits during his tenure and afterwards, with Ramses being my latest friend. I’ve had both in tact and spayed/neutered rabbits over my life, and they all acted as expected. My in tact male constantly mated with my leg and sprayed everyone like nobody’s business, and did not get along with his own male offspring. My in tact female was also highly territorial and dug actual patches into our rugs. By contrast, my spayed female was very easy-going, and my neutered male displayed no aggressive or sexual behaviors, so I have literally seen it all.

But Ramses, my latest in tact male, displays absolutely NO aggressive or territorial behavior. His litter box habits are impeccable, he doesn’t really destroy anything besides digging my carpet, and he doesn’t spray me or try to hump everything in existence. The only “behavior” he exhibits is that he circles my legs when he’s excited and wants to play, and he really enjoys his head pets at night and gets moody when I don’t oblige. 

He’s generally a pretty healthy and active rabbit, and he’s never acted sick or uncomfortable a day in his life except for a very small bout with GI early on in his life, but I’m a little worried? I’ve never seen this behavior in an in tact male in my experience, and I’m sort of worried that he doesn’t display at least the sexual tendencies? His male parts seem normal / healthy because I check them religiously as a result of this very peculiar issue, but there’s still a niggling worry in the back of my mind.

The reason I haven’t neutered him so far is that he’s a single bun, and I don’t plan to add a second one to our home anytime soon, and because he hasn’t had any behavioral issues I haven’t seen the need. I’m also a bit worried about him going under for the procedure since he’s such a small rabbit and his vet said that he may be at a slightly higher risk for complications during the procedure, and said it was totally at my discretion if I decided to neuter him or not.

Just wondering if anyone else has had an in tact male who was pretty laid back and did not need to be neutered because he had no behavioral issues, because I’ve honestly not encountered it in my very many years of being a bunny owner. Any insight is appreciated!

[Wick & Fable]

Wick’s neuter was delayed until his testes descended, which ended up being very late (8 months), and he didn’t get neutered until a month later. Up until the snip, he was a general nonhormonal rabbit in terms of behavior. So it’s not unheard of, but definitely uncommon.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[kurottabun]

Hmm I’m starting to wonder if it could be a small breed thing because Kurotta is also still unaltered (8+ months old Nethie), and he doesn’t display any bad/hormonal behaviours. He doesn’t really pee or poop outside his litter box/cage (apart from the occasional 1 or 2 accidental poops), doesn’t spray or hump, is not destructive and only circles when he is very excited during treats time. He enjoys pats and isn’t aggressive unless we try to pick him up. He will only nip if he wants you to move, but that’s more like a communication method rather than hormonal behaviour.

I have the exact same concerns as you, which is why I am delaying my bunny’s neuter for now until I think it through properly. So yes I guess our boy buns could all be outliers here.

[Bam]

When I first got Bam he wasn’t neutered, but he was fully grown (2 kg = 4,4 lb) and not neutered. He didn’t show any hormonal behavior until after a year, almost exactly. Then he very suddenly and surprisingly fell in love with my dog and started courting her. It went on for a couple of month but didn’t subside (it actually got worse), so I had him neutered. After two weeks the infatuation was gone (much to my dog’s relief) and Bam returned to his “old” self.

Single male rabbits, especially if they’re an only pet in a household, don’t necessarily get very hormonal. We have had a few examples of intact males living to a ripe old age and never displaying any territorial peeing, circling, grunting, pursuing, humping etc.

The main health risk with a single intact male is testicular cancer. Testicular cancer used to be rare in rabbits, but in later years, it has started to become less rare (although it’s still not common). That’s because it’s a disease of the elderly in rabbits, and rabbits nowadays live longer lives due to better care and health care.

[Deleted User]

Bombur was displaying hormonal behaviors at 7 weeks (and he’s a Holland Lop, so another dwarf breed). Asriel, on the other hand, never showed any hormonal behavior. We knew his hormones had kicked in though when Bombur didn’t want to let up on mounting him and they got into a squabble. We got them fixed the same day. I think Asriel is acts more hormonal now that he’s fixed though.

[Azerane]

It really depends on the bun, some are much less hormonal. It could be because he hasn’t been around other buns since he was young so he doesn’t feel the need to mark etc.

[Ciera D]

Thanks for all the replies! It’s interesting to think it might be a characteristic of the small breed, which seems legit honestly as I’ve never had this issue with any of my normal size buns.

He has a check up with his vet next month so I’m going to bring this up with her again and see what her thoughts on neutering him at this point is, but thanks for the replies! I feel better about his unusual, if not uncommon behavior!

[Heaven]

Very interesting to read all these replies! Adding my two cents, Sam is a lionlop (but I suspect a lion-mini-lop, if those exist? since everyone tells me he is pretty tiny!) so maybe the small breed theory holds true – he’s not neutered and barely shows any hormonal behaviour either. Great litter habits, no spraying. The only thing he does is occasional circling & honking around my legs haha, but if I get down and cuddle him he always settles down immediately. So yes, to answer your question I’d say he fits the profile of an intact male, laid back & no real behavioural issues

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