Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR What to expect from unaltered male

Viewing 11 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • BumiBunny
      Participant
      12 posts Send Private Message

        Hello all,

        About two weeks ago we tried to get our Bumi bunny neutered, however he had a bad reaction from the anesthesia and his heart stopped while on the table. Our vet was able to revive him and he recovered miraculously and is completely unphased by the whole thing. Bumi had a clear bill of health prior, and this vet is a rabbit savvy vet, so I believe there was no problems on their end. He had explained to us that there could be an underlying issue, perhaps with his heart or lungs, but without tests they can’t say for sure. He also said that even if we did get him tested, it might not show or explain why he reacted badly. Due to costs, outcomes, and how happy and healthy Bumi acts, we will not be doing any of those tests any time soon.

        Now Bumi has been pretty well behaved for being only one years old (he turns 1 at the end of the month). He has had only one real accident outside his cage (a few outside the litter box but still inside the cage) and we think this was more bunittude than bad litter habits. He didn’t want to go back inside his pen and thus let his bladder go to show us how unhappy he was. He mounts a toy plush bunny but really only “goes at it” for a few moments perhaps a few days a week. He doesn’t usually try to mount us, though has expressed some interest in foots positioned a certain way. lol 

        He will most likely remain intact for the rest of his life based on what the vet told us, and I honestly don’t want to risk the chance of loosing him again. The only reason we had decided to neuter him (because he has been so well mannered) was to help with bonding, help with the musk smell (which comes and goes, and usually isn’t too bad), and to perhaps get him a real bunny friend down the line. He will now have to be an only bun which makes me a little sad. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar situation occur, and if any can offer any advice on what to expect with keeping an unaltered male rabbit. I understand there are so many variables and how each bunny is different; I’m just interested in other stories and to sort of brace ourselves for what might come. As a side note, we just had an offer on a house accepted so within the next few months we will be moving–thought that might help with guessing his future behavior. 

        Thanks!


      • Bam
        Moderator
        16835 posts Send Private Message

          I’m so glad the vet managed to resuscitate him!
          There’s at least one member here who has an unaltered male that never has shown any troublesome behavior. So he will stay un neutered because there’s no health benefit in neutering a male, it’s all about behavior. This member’s name is Eepster, you could perhaps PM her and ask about her experiences with her bun Porky?
          The chances of your bun never developing any troublesome behavior is much bigger if he gets to be an only pet in your household. A bun’s hormones can be set off by the presence of another pet, even if it’s not a bunny.


        • jillygibbly
          Participant
          5 posts Send Private Message

            Every bunny is different, my bunny is an intact male as well. My bunny is about five years old and is the sweetest thing ever. Since your bunny is a year old already and has not shown aggression toward you then I would say you’re going to be alright! Just keep an eye out for aggression and bad potty habits! Also, you may want to keep him separated from other bunnies, males especially because he will either attack or mount the other male in hopes to get some “action.” Obviously keep away from females so you don’t have babies on the way!


          • Azerane
            Moderator
            4688 posts Send Private Message

              I had an intact male rabbit for about 4 years, he lived outside and I believe he sprayed his cage from time to time, but otherwise he was completely well behaved. Very friendly, cuddly, no circling, nipping, humping or any of that. He was very sweet. That being said, I have also heard horror stories about some intact males too


            • Eepster
              Participant
              1236 posts Send Private Message

                As Bam mentioned, I have an intact male. He was supposed to be neutered at the shelter before being adopted out, but he was too weak from malnutrition when he arrived for it, and they wanted to adopt him out as soon as he was basically healthy. So he came to us intact.

                We could have gotten him neutered, and were supposed to, a few weeks after we got him. He was perfectly behaved though, and we have never had plans for another, so our vet agreed that though the risk was small it was an unnecessary one.

                He does hump his stuffed animals, but they are his to enjoy how he wants. He also grooms them. The occasional musky smell he gets passes and doesn’t tend to be strong enough to be unpleasant. Litter train was simple, I just put the litter box in the spot where he was using.

                We did have a short period of territorial marking, but it passed quickly and was caused by a huge disruption where the entire family had to leave our home. I don’t blame him for feeling a bit territorial when suddenly having to live in a much smaller space shared with a teenager.

                I had another intact male in the past, Nibbles. He was a retired show bunny, given to me after he came in last several times. Obviously, his previous owners had planned to breed him, except he was deemed not up to snuff. I actually never even thought about neutering him, because this was a time period when nobody ever neutered bunnies. Also, exotic vets were so few and far between that going to a vet was considered a bad idea. I’m pretty sure my current vet would have still been in college at that point.

                Nibbles, never sprayed or humped, though I can’t say if he was litter trainable, or if he smelled. This was at the time we still believed that indoor air caused bunnies to get pneumonia, so he was an outdoor rabbit.

                I believe one of Budgetbunny’s rabbits couldn’t be neutered because he has a heart condition.  She has 4 or 5 bunnies. You might want to check out her youtube channel.


              • Bam
                Moderator
                16835 posts Send Private Message

                  Thank you for replying Eepster! I hope you didn’t mind that I mentioned you, I just thought Porky is such a great example of a successful non-neuter.

                  Bumibunny, it is a little sad perhaps that Bumi can’t have a bunny friend, but sometimes things just are how they are. I have 2 neutered males who hate each others’ guts, so they have to be lone buns. I tried to bond them but the fighting they got into finally caused one of them a pretty bad eye-injury (it healed though, luckily), so I had to cancel the whole thing. I give them lots and lots of attention though, so I don’t think they are unhappy.


                • BumiBunny
                  Participant
                  12 posts Send Private Message

                    Thank you all for responding!

                    I am so happy to hear that it might be unlikely that Bumi will go through a territorial phase since he is the sweetest thing ever and has never done anything mean since we have had him. He has never bitten me out of malice (only nips when he thinks I still have treats) and I have never seen him spray. With us moving in a few months, I wouldn’t be surprised if he does do some territorial spraying, or at the very least poop marking. And I’m fine with him humping on his stuffed animals (and we find it amusing anyways). I hope the move doesn’t upset him too much, but based on how he has been up til now, I think he will adjust quickly. When we brought him home the first night he immediately binkied around the room!

                    And I’m only a little upset about not being able to get him a friend. We were only considering that as an option when we thought he would be neutered and only after we had moved to the new house and was settled. Not too big a deal for me, and he has never shown any indications that he is lonely.

                    How do people find bonding with their intact bunnies? Is it harder to bond with your bunny if he’s intact? We are going on 8 months with us and the process has been slow but I’m happy with the progress we have made. He will ask for pets but only if he is under something or in his cage. Lately, he has been more relaxed with us petting him in the open, but that’s a touch and go scenario, quite literally–sometimes he will let us and sometimes he runs away, sometimes it’s a quick pet then run away. I have accepted that he is just one of those buns that need to keep all fours on the ground. (Though I am trying to work with him to accept us touching his feet so we don’t have to keep bringing him to the vet for toe nail clippings… but we are also totally fine with the vets doing it. Keeps them the bad guy and us the lesser of evils! lol).


                  • Eepster
                    Participant
                    1236 posts Send Private Message

                      I think how well they bond with humans is more about personality than intactness.


                    • Annmaree
                      Participant
                      105 posts Send Private Message

                        Hello BumiBunny,
                        I have a Flemish Giant he is nearly 1 year old, he is not desexed. He is also our only bunny.
                        Billy is a very sweet calm boy who doesn’t mind being carried around by my 6 year old daughter and the only bad habit he has is being under my feet all the time. I have nearly trod on, kicked him and tripped over him numerous times. He’s like a puppy that needs to follow you everywhere.
                        I have a topic on here called “watching baby billy grow” if you want to have a look at him.


                      • BumiBunny
                        Participant
                        12 posts Send Private Message

                          Posted By Eepster on 2/23/2016 4:12 PM

                          I think how well they bond with humans is more about personality than intactness.

                          I’m very glad to hear this.


                        • drwil
                          Participant
                          191 posts Send Private Message

                            I agree with other posters. It depends on the rabbit. Many males can be very sweet and have no problems. This seems to happen more often than getting an aggressive male.

                            The litterbox will have to be changed more often due to pheromones but otherwise intact boy bunnies can make great pets. It is the females who are more feisty as rabbit societies are matriarchal with females controlling territory.


                          • SmokeyBunnyRobinson
                            Participant
                            356 posts Send Private Message

                              Butterscotch was never aggressive or territorial. He was very mellow, sweet, and laid back.

                          Viewing 11 reply threads
                          • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                          Forum BEHAVIOR What to expect from unaltered male