Concerns about spraying

[rhianna]

I have a male bunny who is believed to be 13 months old - his previous owner said he was 6 months when she got him in April. I've posted about his hormonal behaviors before but now I have a new concern. He started spraying about a week after I got him and now does it all the time. I try to discourage the behavior by yelling "no" and putting him in his litter box, but it doesn't really change anything. I read that after bunnies are about a year old, spraying becomes a habit and won't stop even when they're neutered. How true is this? I plan on getting him neutered in the next few weeks because I can't stand the spraying. I can barely let him out of the cage or hold him anymore because he just pees everywhere. If neutering won't stop this behavior then I'll be very upset... Thanks for any help :wiggle

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Neutering should still help with the spraying. He is still young. It may take a bit of time for him to stop, that can just depend on the rabbit.

 

[JBun]

Generally speaking, neutering stops spraying behavior in most male rabbits. There are always exceptions to the rule though. I've had 5 bucks neutered, and all of their hormonal behaviors stopped afterwards.

 

[rhianna]

Thank you both for the replies. I'm much happier now knowing that neutering will probably help. I'm confident that the spraying is just hormones, as it started at the same time as other hormonal things such as courting, humping, and chinning.

 

[Kipcha]

Just wanted to pitch in, neutering has always been successful in stopping our boys from spraying. Jabberwocky used to be AWFUL, he could spray a good 6 feet in any direction with crazy accuracy. Neutering fixed the problem nearly right away.

Jabberwocky was almost 2 when we had him done.