Does and their hormones

[Shainabee]

I just got a beautiful female french lop and she is 3 months old but I was wondering if french lops generally have temperamental problems when they start getting hormone rages?

I held her mother and father - her mother was as nice and gentle as can be and all the babies were just as gentle as their parents.

How dramatic can a spay change their attitude?
I don't want her to turn into a little terror as I have heard of before in other buns.

Plus, spays scare me in smaller animals since they are an invasive surgery.

 

[Spring]

My 12lb french lop Bruno has always been the bunny equivalent to a tantrum throwing 2 year old.. so can't make any generalizations on the breed! He's about 2 and half and neutered. He's mellowed out quite a bit with age as well.

But, I do know that females can turn into absolute terrors as they reach maturity. Some are totally fine, but some just turn into growling, territorial, nippy teenagers! Spaying will help a lot to calm down these hormonal issues, but some rabbits can be feisty, so you just have to adapt to their own individual personalities .

Spays are actually very safe. The main risk is the anesthetics, but if you find a rabbit savvy vet who is experience and frequently does rabbit spays, you shouldn't have a problem at all. It's not that rabbits are more delicate than a cat or dog, it's just that they have special needs that some vets overlook.. but if you find a rabbit experienced vet, spays are a breeze!

 

[okiron]

Yes, spay is a must.

 

[Saudade]

I've had Lucy my Dutch for almost a year now, she is unspayed however I will be getting the operation done soon enough.
Her temperment changed massively when she hit puberty but quickly settled back down soon enough.

Although what others have said is true (other than spaying is a must) there are some things that need to be taken in to consideration.
So I've done a little Pros and Cons list for you!

Pros:
- It increases the rabbits life expectancy almost double-fold reducing the risk of ovarian cancers and tumors by effectively lowering hormone production.
- It stabilizes their temperment greatly, however this will happen naturally as she grows older.
- It's easier to litter train as she stops becoming territorial
- She becomes easier to bond to other males and females
Cons:
- IT'S EXPENSIVE! The main costs comes from the anasthetics (sic?) that they use. Though there are groups out there that help with this cost. Check the Bunny 101 on medical costs.
- Your rabbit will never be able to breed and therefore you will not be able to get children from them.
- There is a possibility that a complication could occur.

For me the decision was easy, however they are quite evenly spread. I want my Lucy to live a long and healthy life with me and when she dies I will adopt a bunny in need. (Or buy a baby bun). You don't have to spay your rabbit, infact if you want to have some baby bunnies then let them have them then get them spayed once the babies are out on their own.

So give it some thought that you do, as spring said the chances of complications are low.

 

[hartleybun]

im with Spring's post on this. Roxy has been spayed by my very rabbit savvy vet. she was always a timid bunny and her personality didnt change after the spaying. i chose to spay her prevent uterine cancer - after a lot of research and talking it thru with the vet.

what did change her personality was the death of her husbun, hartley in january. i got a new partner for her and since then she's turned into the merry widow, a confident little bun who approaches us and doesnt hide in her hutch all day:rollseyes

 

[Shainabee]

I am hoping Miley will take the personality of her parents! haha I did plan on getting her spayed when her time comes, I just didn't know if it would change her personality dramatically or not.

 

[tonyshuman]

It's hard to tell what a bunny's personality will be. At the shelter, I see a lot of bunnies. Some are nice, some are mean. They are all fixed, except for the ones that are too young (which is rare). I think being unspayed for a long time does increase cage aggressiveness, even if the bunny is eventually spayed (like my bf's Nethie Frida who was spayed at approx 3yrs of age). However, how the bunny is handled from the time they are young onwards is also a good indicator of future temperament. We get a lot of bunnies at the shelter that have been ignored in a backyard hutch, set free, terrorized by young children who didn't understand how to take care of them, etc, so they often have bad attitudes. Strangely, the bunnies that were born at the shelter (or in foster care) are usually nicer than the ones we get as adults (set free, seized for cruelty/neglect, or surrendered for "no time" or "moving"). I think being treated with love, respect, and bunny-savvy hands is one of the biggest factors in producing a loving adult bunny. The ones born at the shelter are also spayed as soon as possible, ie 6 mo or so, and many of the others aren't spayed until age 1-2, so that may be part of it.

With my own bunnies (and the bf's), the meanest one is Frida, who can be very territorial and nippy, especially when held. She is not trustful of people. She came into the shelter as a stray at around age 3, so she not only had bad experiences with people (they set her free), but she had to live on her own in the wild, and was spayed at a later age. Our sweetest bunny is Benjamin, who was rescued at around 5mo old, and neutered shortly thereafter. He has been a sweetie since day one, and we think it's at least partly because he's been handled from such a young age. Tony can be a brat, and he was surrendered and neutered around age 1, and Muffin (mostly a sweetie) was a backyard breeder's bunny surrendered and spayed around 8mo.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a lot of things go into a bunny's personality, and hormones are just one of them. In my experience, the sooner the bunny is spayed/neutered, the better their temperament will be. However, being treated well by people, especially early in life, will help.

Is that your bunny in the avatar? Cuz it looks more like a lionhead than a French Lop.

 

[DazyDaizee]

The only change in behavior I noticed with my female when she was spayed at 5 months was improved litter box habits. She is still territorial with other rabbits, she is fresh about chewing things, very independent bunny and only wants attention on her terms.
I chose to spay her for the decreased risk of uterine cancer which is so common and potentially deadly in unspayed rabbits. And because I didn't want to worry about a litter since I petsit other buns at times.

 

[Shainabee]

tonyshuman wrote:

It's hard to tell what a bunny's personality will be. At the shelter, I see a lot of bunnies. Some are nice, some are mean. They are all fixed, except for the ones that are too young (which is rare). I think being unspayed for a long time does increase cage aggressiveness, even if the bunny is eventually spayed (like my bf's Nethie Frida who was spayed at approx 3yrs of age). However, how the bunny is handled from the time they are young onwards is also a good indicator of future temperament. We get a lot of bunnies at the shelter that have been ignored in a backyard hutch, set free, terrorized by young children who didn't understand how to take care of them, etc, so they often have bad attitudes. Strangely, the bunnies that were born at the shelter (or in foster care) are usually nicer than the ones we get as adults (set free, seized for cruelty/neglect, or surrendered for "no time" or "moving"). I think being treated with love, respect, and bunny-savvy hands is one of the biggest factors in producing a loving adult bunny. The ones born at the shelter are also spayed as soon as possible, ie 6 mo or so, and many of the others aren't spayed until age 1-2, so that may be part of it.

With my own bunnies (and the bf's), the meanest one is Frida, who can be very territorial and nippy, especially when held. She is not trustful of people. She came into the shelter as a stray at around age 3, so she not only had bad experiences with people (they set her free), but she had to live on her own in the wild, and was spayed at a later age. Our sweetest bunny is Benjamin, who was rescued at around 5mo old, and neutered shortly thereafter. He has been a sweetie since day one, and we think it's at least partly because he's been handled from such a young age. Tony can be a brat, and he was surrendered and neutered around age 1, and Muffin (mostly a sweetie) was a backyard breeder's bunny surrendered and spayed around 8mo.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that a lot of things go into a bunny's personality, and hormones are just one of them. In my experience, the sooner the bunny is spayed/neutered, the better their temperament will be. However, being treated well by people, especially early in life, will help.

Is that your bunny in the avatar? Cuz it looks more like a lionhead than a French Lop.

That's kindof what I was supposing.
The women I got her from rescue her parents from the pound and though it would be good for her children to see babie bunnies born and growing up so they had one litter and then got the parents fixed so it wouldn't become a second time.

You could tell all the bunnies were given the upmost care and love they could get.

By everyones replies, I am going to get her spayed as soon as she is 6months old. If she does get snippy I want to minimize it and help her control it. I don't want a 10 pound bunny charging at me! haha

No, that is not her in my avatar.
That is Eddie - he is my lionhead/mini rex mix who is 7 months old.

Miley is a purebred black and white french lop and bigger than Eddie at 3 months haha.

 

[Spring]

Shainabee wrote:

By everyones replies, I am going to get her spayed as soon as she is 6months old. If she does get snippy I want to minimize it and help her control it. I don't want a 10 pound bunny charging at me! haha

HEHE! Oh god, hopefully she doesn't turn out like Bruno! It's not so much scary as it funny.. since I swear he thinks if he throws a fit he will get anything he wants (Doesn't happen..). I understand his manners are on the low side.. so can't say it's the same for all of them! I've known some incredibly sweet french lops, they are my favourite breed.

 

[angelh]

How old should they be to be elligible for the surgery? What should I expect from the surgery itself? Can someone recommend some good informative articles to read? thanks



Worried about hormone rages,
Piffy's mummie

 

[Ninchen]

Never had a spayed female and never had behavior or health or bonding problems with them because of that.. (Had 8 females and 4 males till now).

Though litter training failed in 7 cases.
For a house rabbit this is reason enough to spay.

 

[tonyshuman]

This is our library article on spaying and neutering: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12040&forum_id=10

Here's a good discussion: http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=32101&forum_id=1

The rule is a rabbit can be spayed when they reach 75-80% of adult size. This can be at 4-6mo for smaller/med breeds, and 5-8mo for larger breeds. (ref: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Uro_gen_diseases/castration/ovario.PDF CAUTION GRAPHIC PHOTOS OF SURGERY)

This is a good link of questions to ask a vet: http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=2114&forum_id=1