Spraying?

[Kyrkogrimr]

Hi,

 Sorry if this is in the wrong place, I’m new to the forum and it’s my first post.  I’m a total bunny newbie, so I’m not sure what to expect as far as spraying goes, but the breeder I’m getting Puck from says that rabbits spray, period. On the other hand, all the research I’ve done leads me to believe that there’s a good chance he won’t spray/will stop spraying when he’s neutered; is this correct? Also, is this affected by the presence or absense of other bunnies? Obviously, being a breeder she has several bunnies, all intact, so it seems logical to me that at least some of them might be sprayers, but I’ve read that lone bunnies are less likely to spray… is that true?

 

 Also, tangential but related; the breeder said she wouldn’t advise getting him neutered before he’s 6mo in case his testes haven’t both dropped yet, but as far as I know, you can have them neutered from between 3 and 6 months – or am I mistaken?

 

For what it’s worth, he’s currently 13 weeks, and he’s a mini lop.

 

Sorry if I’m being an idiot and it’s all really obvious stuff…

[Sarita]

Welcome and you are not at all being an idiot!

As for spraying some rabbits will and some won’t. Neutering will decrease the likelihood of spraying though.

Rabbits testicles normally descend between 3 1/2 to 4 months. I would definitely advocate that you get him neutered.

[BunnyLoverMaddie]

Hello and welcome to the forum!
This is a totally perfect question to ask and its great that you did!
Spraying is a rabbit’s way of marking their territory, just as a dog would do. They usually will start doing this once they reach sexual maturity (when their testes descend, as Sarita said) as they are trying to tell you, or another rabbit, “Hey, I’m the big buck of this place!” It’s only really an issue if they are kept indoors as it becomes very messy and the only way to stop it is to have your rabbit neutered. I highly reccommend getting him neutered as soon as he/you are are ready as it stops aggression too. (lunging, nipping, growling etc.)
If you aren’t too sure about WHEN to have your rabbit spayed then you can either do some research to help or talk to a rabbit savvy vet. Not all vets will handle small animals so you need to try and find one who does! If you already have one, you can talk to the vet about the right age for him to be neutered and they will surely help you out.

[Kyrkogrimr]

Thanks Sarita and BunnyLoverMaddie. I’m definitely going to get him neutered, it’s just a question of when. Is there anything I can do to discourage it if he persists after being neutered? I’m hoping it won’t be a problem, but I’m not counting on it – I’d rather be prepared for him being a major sprayer and find out that he’s fine than expect it won’t be a problem and find myself mopping up rivers of bunny pee

[Kyrkogrimr]

Excuse me resurrecting the thread, but I just wanted to check something. Admittedly, Puck has only been here for a week now, but when he’s in his cage I have no problems with peeing anywhere but his litter tray (poop is a whole other story, seriously, it’s everywhere O_o) except for one time, and that was when I took his litter tray out to clean it, so not his fault – and to his credit, he still pee’d in the right place, there just wasn’t a litter tray there!

When he’s out of his cage though, he pee’s everywhere, some days it’s just once and then he hops around happily, but some days it’s practically non-stop – I’m pretty sure when he pops back into his cage for some water it’s so that he can keep up the flow! lol Is this just territorial mature bunny behaviour that will at least ease up when he’s neutered? Or am I going to have to follow him around with a bucket and a sponge for the rest of my life?

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