Hormones in full swing

[BinkyBunny]

I don't know if I can make it. Bing's hormones are in full swing now. His normally tidy play time was replaced with dropping pellets around like cookie crumbs for Hansel and Gretel. He spent the second half chinning my house so much I fear his chin will bald! He is still very sweet and much himself in every other way. I adore him. I just do not know if I will be showing him or keeping him intact if he continues this way. Any recommendations for calming his hormonal behavior? I was told without does, that he may calm down some in a few weeks. Do you agree? If not, I better schedule his neuter NOW!

 

[Kipcha]

To be honest, I doubt he will calm down on his own. I've seen people with intact bucks that are solitary rabbits that never really calm down and they've had them for years. If he's that hormonal, I would not be surprised if he starts spraying, so be on the lookout for that too...

I would say neutering is your best bet.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Hormones really don't calm down on their own and if they do it can take a few years. Neutering is what would really stop the hormonal behaviour.

How hormonal he gets can vary. I don't really find pooping all over and chinning that hormonal, especially when compared to spraying, humping and even aggression. Of course is does come down to what you are willing to deal with, some people don't want to deal with any of it while others can deal with more.

Since you might want to show him, you do need to make a decision. With a pet, it is more easy to decide as you aren't needing to keep them intact to show. If there is a show near you soon, then you might consider leaving him until then and see how he does and what comments you get. If could be easier if he doesn't get good comments or you decide you don't like showing.

It is really up to you, but the hormones won't go away on their own and can get worse if he is still young.

 

[agnesthelion]

As others have said, hormones won't calm down on their own. Personally, I could not have a pet house bunny intact male. The hormones would drive me crazy too! And if he starts to spray, ewwwww.
I guess you will just have to decide. If you do decide to fix him it's something to consider to do sooner rather than later as some bad behaviors can be ingrained as habit.

 

[BinkyBunny]

There is a show Feb 17...but I don't know...I'm really struggling with this. I think the breeder will be let down because he is turning out nicer than the brother they kept

 

[JBun]

I don't think he's old enough to get neutered yet, so you'll have several weeks to see if he'll settle down first. It might just be having Charlie around and Bing hitting puberty, that has set off this new territorial marking. It is possible it will settle back down in a few weeks. You could try hurrying him to his litter box if you see him dropping pellets. With some rabbits that will work to let them know it's your territory and not his.

 

[MagPie]

Oh boy I feel you on hormonal male rabbits. Harvey was BAD! haha I got to deal with spraying and humping my cats .... And it only got worse with time. Neutering worked wonders

 

[Pippen79]

Hormones didn't settle down in my guy at all. He seriously has the hots for me and unless I have an apple slice in hand to distract him, he turns around and takes aim at me. In fact I brought him home from his neuter a few hours ago--even as puny as he's feeling he still managed to douse my hand when I was checking him a few minutes ago.

I wish I'd done the neutering earlier but my arrangment with the 4-H'er I got him from was that he could be borrowed back for breeding if desired. As soon as that window was over I should have gone for it.

 

[woahlookitsme]

A few things might help. Smells go a long way with intact bucks. Of course we don't have much of a problem because our rabbits stay outside. Buck urine can smell pretty strong. The poop left around is him leaving his scent to mark a territory. If he is playing in an area that your other rabbits are exposed to then that could be a big reason why. My intact male French lop before he was neutered (he was 8mos old when I got him) would leave poo pellets everywhere at my parents house. When I took him to my brand new apartment he never left one.

Of course we do have my baby that is an intact Britannia petite buck. He has a huge two story wire cage with a plastic pan at the bottom. My Brit is about 2 lbs and I clean his pan every 1-2 wks.

And rocky in his cage

He never got into spraying until I had a female housed right next to him.

He does chin a lot. I don't let rocky out to run unless he runs in a small closed space like a bathroom he is crazy fast and it took me almost 1.5 hrs to catch him a couple of times.

I really hope you show but I understand if its too much. Not many people can be crazy like us bunny show people lol

 

[BinkyBunny]

I tell you, I fully understand why most bigger show people house their rabbits outside of their home. I used to wonder why...now I KNOW

 

[Chrisdoc]

Hormones are a terrible thing, I think with one of mine the spraying was the worst as he could aim at hit things at will and I ended up with urine on the walls, the windows and on me as well. As soon as he was neutered it stopped. I definitely wouldn´t like to go through that again lol.