so many behavior issues… too young to neuter

[Adam]

I have two male rabbits, snuggles and ajay. They are both about 2.5 months old. 

 

Well Ajay recently was caught humping snuggles, and snuggles didn’t seem to be enjoying it.  They now are in separate cages when we sleep.

 

Snuggles eats everything, and Ajay seems influenced by his behavior, but more in a ‘yeah see I’m doing what you are doing’ way, he mostly fakes his bad behaviors… so far.  Things that snuggles likes to eat include wall paint, baseboards, carpet, and anything else besides rocks and metal.

 

One or both of them (mostly snuggles again) have also started peeing everywhere, leaving little puddles.  For some reason, snuggles will urinate as soon as he hops on my couch.  Never on the carpet so far thank god, but once on the base of a lamp.  Also pees on top of lava rocks I got to try to get them to scratch or dig at.  Pees on top of cardboard boxes ruining them, pees on the floor of their room…  I used to think that was a bad thing, but now I realize that’s so much better than the other things he’s now peeing on.

 

And their poop amount has doubled in the last two weeks.  I will clean up about 40 pellets at lunch, and then at 6PM there’s 40 more.  I let them have free access to all you can eat hay, and I thought I was being stingy with timothy hay pellets, and I feed them some greens every night, but it’s ridiculous.  There’s poop everywhere.

 

They have their own room in the basement.  But they are destroying it despite lots of other things they could be doing.  I let them upstairs on the carpet most nights of the week because they really enjoy the traction it gives them. 

 

I’m starting to lose my mind. Each week they keep adding a new behavior that takes more time to adjust their environment to counter. 

[LBJ10]

Sounds like they are feeling the hormones. For the couch, it’s best just to not let them up there. They will keep peeing on it because it’s soft and it smells too much like human. If their room has a more “suitable” floor for them to mark, then I would suggest confining them until they can be neutered. Some bunnies just can’t handle all that freedom, especially when their hormones are telling them to mark everything in sight. If they need traction, you could use a fleece blanket or something similar.

As always, clean up any “accidents” with water and vinegar to remove the smell. Provide them with extra litter boxes, etc.

[JackRabbit]

If they are small breed bunnies, those hormones are probably going crazy. Have you had them positively sexed by a rabbit savvy vet so you are sure both are male? If there is any chance one is female, you’ll need to separate them until they are spayed/neutered — aside from potential oops pregnancy, more bunnies means even more poop!

Assuming both are definitely male, start watching for testicles and spraying (spaying often means testicle appearance is imminent!). Once their testicles drop, they can be neutered and bonding can start around 4 weeks after neuter. Unneutered bunnies can start fighting when hormones kick in so it might be good to go ahead and separate them to keep everyone safe, especially since you’re seeing humping. Again, if they’re both small breed males (small breeds mature faster) and with the humping and marking, you may only have a month or so before they’re ready to be neutered so hang in there and keep the pellets coming and always lots of hay. While poop *everywhere* is no fun, as a bunny parent, you will come to appreciate lots of poop!

[LBJ10]

Ah yes, boys. Be sure they are both boys like JR said!

[Adam]

Yes, well, my gf took them to the vet… and snuggles is actually a girl. So now life is complicated, having to separate them, but it’s better than the alternative. And the only vet that I have a recommendation for likes them to be 6 months old before neutering.

No solutions for other issues, except lining walls with cardboard boxes and just watching like a hawk. Very unfortunate so far. Especially since I don’t want to spay snuggles unless absolutely necessary.

Thank you guys for suggesting to get them checked.

[Hazel]

Why don’t you want to spay her? She really has to be fixed, otherwise her chance of cancer will go up to 85% by the time she’s 3. Also, they could never be bonded unless both are fixed.

Lets hope she’s not pregnant yet. Did the vet check for a possible pregnancy? If she is, the vet should do an emergency spay to terminate the pregnancy. Oops litters should be avoided at all costs anyway, but given her young age, giving birth could actually put her life at risk.

[LBJ10]

You should spay her no matter what. There is the risk of reproductive cancer, like Hazel said. Plus you would be dealing with false pregnancies and seeing her in distress over that would be unpleasant for both of you.

If you want to bond them, they will both need to be spayed/neutered.

[Author]

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