Neutering Rabbit that has is in sexual maturity

[JK]

I have a Holland lop named Pumpkin and I want to neuter him because he has been in sexual maturity for a few months now. I know I should of done it earlier but my vet didn’t mention it to me when I took him in about the age of 6 month  and at 4 months when I brought him in. She is rabbit savvy vet and has proven her knowledge to me about rabbits. She proably didnt mention because it wasn’t just a check up it, it was about his allergies. My rabbit is kinda horny, so if I get him fixed will his ranging hormones stay with him or will most of his behaviors stop after getting him neutered? He is 10 months old. 

[Wick & Fable]

The procedure of fixing a male rabbit does directly impact hormone release (is my understanding), so yes, behaviors that are hormonally driven will generally reduce and in many cases, completely stop. About a week following his testicles dropping, Wick suddenly began spraying me. My goodness what an ordeal. After the neuter (2 days following), it completely stopped. It originally happened every day before the neuter and pretty frequently when I was around.

For a snapshot of Wick, he showed no hormonal behaviors until after his testicles descended at 8 months old. He was then neutered 2 weeks afterwards. The spraying stopped two days after the neuter and has not returned. Wick has never shown other hormonal behaviors. He is litter box inadherent, but I think that’s more of a discipline-learning matter, and not hormonal.

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.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Our Nethie Breintje was 2 when he moved to my place, he used to live at my BF’s dorm and was still unfixed without any issues. When Breintje moved to my house he became a deranged maniac: spraying, circling, and humping everything in sight from his toys to my knitting projects 

It was really gross and our bun wasn’t happy, he was very frustrated all the time and threw tantrums when I cleaned the items. “Hey, I was busy with that!” “Yes sweetie, that’s the problem…” We got him fixed and his behaviour improved within 1-2 weeks. The humping was over nearly instantly (because of the surgery site I suppose), his litter box habits improved a lot, and the spraying stopped. He also became a lot calmer, and has gotten very snuggly over time.   

On the day of the surgery we brought him in in the morning, with some of his favourite food for when he woke up. We could pick him up in the afternoon, and he recovered in 3 days. The vet told us to prevent him from jumping, let him rest on a blanket and to remove hay from his litter box. Hay or straw is coarse and it can irritate the surgery site. 

There’s an ancient myth that rabbits should be fasted before a surgery, but that’s dangerous for the rabbit. Humans, cats and dogs can vomit during surgery, but rabbits can’t vomit. Rabbits will need their energy during surgery, so it’s best to keep feeding him until you leave for the vet. Some tasty herbs or pellets may help to get his digeston started after he wakes up. I hope that Pumpkin will have a quick and safe neuter!  

[JK]

Thank you both for replying ? I really want to neuter my rabbit sooner than later, but my mom keeps wanting me to show him and that’s why I bought a purebred, but Pumpkin would do great until you need to do showmanship in which he is too wild (loves to explore) to get a good score. The rabbit can’t be fixed when showing, SADLY ? I have another rabbit named Shiloh and he isn’t neutered but he hasn’t shown me any signs of aggression or territorial  behaviors and has great litter box habbits. I’m not sure what I’m going! I do have another question and that is if I got him neutered later like when he’s 1 year and 6 months would it  be too late and he still has his problems with humping and aggression? My mom really wants me to show him first and see how he does then she doesnt care what I do.

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