Maturity and Personality Changes

[ShreddersMom]

I have a questions about rabbit's personality changes and their sexual maturity.

I know people will recommend that you get a rabbit that is an adult from a shelter because it's less risk since they have a more developed and set personality. I'm just confused with when they actually become adults. I know that rabbits can change their behaviour (become sassy after previously being friendly and cuddly) when their hormones kick in.
Can you spay and neuter them before these hormones even kick in. When is too early to spay and neuter?
I'm just potentially thinking of adopting another rabbit for my 2 year old lop and I definitely am looking at shelters but what is defined as an adult rabbit and if they are already spayed and neutered can you assume their personality will be relatively stable?

 

[whiskylollipop]

Regardless of the age that they are spayed/neutered, most rabbits are calmer and sweeter afterwards and have a fairly stable personality. If the rabbit is over a year old and spayed/neutered at least 2 months ago (so hormones have time to dissipate), you can safely assume that that's the temperament they'll have for the rest of their lives.

 

[Azerane]

Most rabbits that are going to be spayed/neutered when young will be from 12-20 weeks. When you take in to account the minimum 4 weeks for hormones to settle, that brings those rabbits to 16-24 weeks or 4-6 months. Around 6 months, if they've been desexed for a month, you'll probably have what is going to be their set personality. The smaller a rabbit is, the younger they mature too, so that's another thing to keep in mind. The other thing to keep in mind is that some places don't actual get their rabbits fixed until right before they're leaving for their adoptive home. This means you've still got to wait several weeks before you'll know how they'll respond after that.

Basically, 6-12 months is going to be more like the adult personality provided they've been fixed for at least a month, but 12 months and above definitely will be. You have to keep in mind that under 12 months, they are still young and have a more active personality and are often still learning how to interact with people. That being said, some adult rescue rabbits won't know either simply due to past circumstances.