Neutering

[Pandaboy]

My male 5-6 month old, half dwarf bunny has been very territorial, He has marked just about everything in my room with his chin, which smells like taco's. (Is it normal for his scent glands to smell like taco's? haha) So now that my room smells like tacos, he sometimes gets really angry, he has mood swings and one moment he will be licking my hand and the next he's on his hind legs trying to box me! He has never mounted anything...that I know of.....and he is pretty well litter trained but sometimes he just decides that he doesn't want to use the litter box. He doesn't really snuggle but he gives kisses, He nips and grunts and doesn't like to be held.
He has been to a vet before and the vet told us that we should only get him fixed if he is with a female. But everything else on the internet tells me its healthier. And a person who has owned rabbits before said she went to get her male fixed and it died during the operation!

Questions-
Should I just ignore this behavior or should I get him fixed?
What are the chances that he will go in for the operation and not come back?
Is it healthier for them? Will his behavior improve? How fast should it improve? And is it worth getting done?..And how much does it usually cost?






Thanks for your answers!:biggrin2:

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Chinning is normal for all bunnies. You should not smell that I don't think. You could be smelling his anal scent glands or his ones near the vent. Those could need cleaning. I noticed that anal scent glands and the ones they have near their vent can smell like rotten onion and garlic.... does that sound like tacos? lol

You might also be smelling urine if he's marking that way.

Neutering should help. Do you have other animals or ones that visit?

My Bo marks everything now that we have another rabbit in the house besides him and Clover. Plus, Tony is a buck - not neutered.


ALSO: He's reaching maturity. He should have his testicals dropping andif you see them you can have him neutered.

BE SURE: to have a rabbit savvy vet. Some vets think they can neuter a rabbit just like they would a cat, etc. Rabbits are super sensitive to many forms of medicine.

 

[Evey]

Pandaboy wrote:

Questions-
Should I just ignore this behavior or should I get him fixed?
What are the chances that he will go in for the operation and not come back?
Is it healthier for them? Will his behavior improve? How fast should it improve? And is it worth getting done?..And how much does it usually cost?

I think that getting him neutered is a great idea!

If you go to a good, rabbit savvy vet your chances of a successful operation are great! For males, it's not a huge deal as it is for females.

It's healthier for them, even if you don't plan on getting a female in the future. Males can still develop cancer, and a neuter will terminate that possibility.

It should improve-I'd say about in 7 weeks-just because the males can still produce sperm until them. They are also still producing hormones that make them act the way your little guy is...you have to wait until they level off or go away completly.

Definitely worth getting done...you never know, you may want to get him a gf later on in life Also, around me, the cost of a neuter is $70, but I know it's different everywhere! Check around to different rabbit savvy vets in your area!

Good luck,

Kathy

 

[gentle giants]

I agree that you really ought to neuter him. The odds of losing him during a routine neuter with a good rabbit vet are very slim. I have had five bucks and three or four does done, and no problems at all with any of them.

Since he is still pretty young, his behavior might get worse, and it's jsut about guaranteed he will spray if he's not neutered soon. Plus I know I just prefer not to have one of my boys grunting and circling when I want to play with him! LOL There are listings of good rabit vets here on the forum for each state, check that out to see if any are near you.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_forum.php?id=9