Need Help Getting Through "Teenage" Months!

[shelby92227]

My bunny is about 4 months old and I love him to death! He has really come around in the past month to letting me pet him and seeking out my attention sometimes. But I feel like I have traded my litter-trained independent bunny in for this now affectionate bunny that likes to poo and wee anywhere he wants!

He used to wee 100% in his litter box and about 50/50 poo in his box, but now he wees in the box about half the time and poos outside of his box about 75% of the time. Thankfully he limits his poor bathroom habits to his cage, an XXX-large dog crate, and not to my kitchen which he has free range of for about 3 hours a day.

Now I have a stinky mess in his cage that is making cleaning his cage a lot more work for me! I've heard this can happen when bunnies start to mature and reach "teenage" stage.

Will fixing help? I have to wait until he is 6 months old per my vet, but I believe he is physically ready judging by what I found under his tail...

Help!

 

[Blue eyes]

Neutered rabbits tend to be much more consistent in their potty habits. It would definitely be worth doing, IMO.

Are there other rabbit savvy vets around? Perhaps another one will be willing to neuter earlier. 4-5 months of age should be plenty old to neuter a boy -- especially if his plums are quite visible.

 

[shelby92227]

I live in quite a rural area so my vet options for anything are quite limited to start with. There is only one that offers spay/neuter for rabbits.

 

[Azerane]

That's a pain that you have to wait, generally boys can be neutered once their bits drop. I would definitely say that it's the hormones causing the change in litter habits, and a neuter should certainly fix the issue.

 

[carmichaels99]

I fixed my boy at 4mths...that took care of the the litter box issues. He still poops a little outside the box, but that's normal. He pees in his box 100% of the time.

 

[whiskylollipop]

The age thing is usually just the vet wanting to make sure the bunny is as big as possible, to make the surgery easier and less fiddly on the vet. It's a safeguard for really tiny-breed bunnies. If your bun isn't very small, you can probably persuade the vet to operate on him sooner.

 

[Aki]

Yes, neutering should help. I had the exact same problem with Tybalt and his "Mr Pig habits" disappeared the day after he was neutered.
Most vet recommend to wait until the rabbit is 6 months old to neuter, but it's more about the weigh of the rabbit than about his age - they won't operate a rabbit who is half his adult size for fear he won't live through the anesthesia. Tybalt grew up really fast and he was practically at his adult size at four months. I got him done at 4 months and a half, he was 1kg300. He is now fully grown and weighs 1kg750. I heard some vet say that until the bunny is fully grown, they don't operate on rabbits who are less than 1kg...