Too Perfect?

[Bonnie Lee]

Oh Hi There, :twitch:

I was wondering if anybody has a non-neutured bunny that's older than 6 months?

Ever since I started researching into bunnies, everybody seems to always mention that male bunnies will start to spray once they mature or even get territorial and what not... But my Harvey doesn't seem to act any different.

He's over 6 months now and he doesn't pee out of his litter and he only poops outside of his litter if it flicks up as he's jumping out of it... Even when he runs outside I put a portable cage filled with newpaper and hay out with him or else he'll hold it in. He's never humped me or anything but he does buzz and he licks anyone almost instantly once they've picked him up...

And even though there's another male bunny around he doesn't try to mark his territory over any of it besides from chinning the entrances to things...

Does this seem strange? I feel like it's going to build up and he's just going to explode with boy hormones lol

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[Korr_and_Sophie]

I have 2 intact adult bucks. One will be 2 in March and the other is around 1.5. Neither one sprays and as far as I know they have not been sprayers (I only got them at the end of June). One was good with the litter habits from the first day (the older one) and the other has just recently been good with peeing and mostly good about poops. Only one of them is really hormonal and wants to hump things.

Each rabbit is different and that goes for how hormones affect them. Some bucks will spray, hump, pee and poop everywhere and just be little nitwits while others have perfect litter habits, don't hump and are like little gentlemen that you would hardly know they are intact.

Since you guy is still young, things could still change. It seems that they do settle down a bit, but it can take a few months. Some bucks could take a year or two to settle down. Bucks that are 4 months to around 12 months are still like teenagers and will at that way. As they get older they can start to act more like adults and have a bit more control over the urges.

If you are planing on getting him neutered, it can be better to get it done before he has a chance to display any of these behaviours. While they can be reduced or eliminated with neutering, it could take a bit longer if he has already started doing them.

 

[MagPie]

Oh my Harvey was not like your Harvey. Mine was an adult when I got him and he was ok for about a few weeks. Then his behavior just got worse haha. Worse with the cats tho. I feel if they weren't there he might have been a better behaved bunny.

Your Harvey is such a cute little soot puff. X3

 

[Bonnie Lee]

Ohh I see I see, Thanks guys

And I think Harvey will be pretty pleased to hear he gets to keep his little manly business intact ha ha

I hope to one day find the perfect colour and build girlfriend to be with him. But I think I'll have to get my other Mr. Winston neutured soon just incase he begins to cause a rutkus around the place.

Awww maybe your Harvey just wants the cats to like him so he acts as a show off to impress them he he.

 

[Anaira]

Oh, I had a boy like that! He made it to two years old with no hormonal problems at all. In fact, he was better with the litter tray than Reuben, who's neutered!

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

The breeder {that Ripley and Charlie came from} told me that some rabbits do, some don't. She said alot of times its passed down from the parents. She said some bucks are sprayers, and nail you every time your walk by but she only had like 2 bucks like that. Before I got Ripley (6 1/2 mo), I made sure to ask if his dad was a sprayer and she said no. Sure enough, Ripley hasn't ever sprayed me once. He's gotten the walls a couple times in his cage alittle but never me. Mainly its just that he loves humping stuff, and he also has developed some horendous litter box habits~meaning you wouldn't know he ever had any.

 

[LakeCondo]

Different rabbits have different levels of hormones.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Some of ours were sprayers and some weren't. Neutering did get rid of a lot of "bad" hormone driven behavior. No arm was safe and they really liked my son a lot.

 

[MagPie]

Oh yeah Bonnie he reallllly loved the cats haha. My he was a pest. I love him but it's true. I just happened to get sprayed only a few times because one of the cats would be sitting by me. The cats weren't impressed.

Now he gets along so much better with them.

 

[Bonnie Lee]

Oh Anaira, I hope my little divine sunshine makes it to two years without any hormones taking over his soul ha ha

Thanks for telling me that Mia as I think that's really great information to hear because I am planning to breed Harvey one day and if attitude can be handed down then he'd be perfect for it I have heard though if the dam is badwordy it usually gets passed on to the babies so maybe If I search hard enough I'll find the perfect couple
P.s your display picture makes me wanna squeal everytime I see it >.<"

 

[Bonnie Lee]

Haha Larry that made me giggle so much haha, I couldn't imagine how I'd react if I couldn't let my arms down freely around my bunnies haha.

Ohh That's so good to hear they get along well now
Our cats are too impressed to see the bunnies hopping around inside... Marley is a big cat that likes to own the place so he thinks he's allowed to slap all the other animals when he gets jealous of them... but luckily he doesn't use his claws so there's no harm done and the bunnies seem to take no notice at all that he's trying to threaten them ha ha

 

[Anaira]

See, my boy had no hormonal problems at all; no humping, no spraying, no biting; he was a very sweet snuggly boy, who was very well behaved with other animals; and only fought with Reuben when he had mites making him grumpy. So maybe Harvey will be like that, too.

 

[MagPie]

Yeah I was really surprised how well the cats and the rabbit get along. You'd never think that one is prey and the other is the hunter. My older cat mostly ignores the rabbit and grooms him once in a while. My younger, fatter cat likes to play with the bunny. And if Fatty gets out of line Harvey beats him up haha. Harvey is definitely the boss.

 

[Bonnie Lee]

Oh, Anaira... My fingers are crossed that my little angel stays and angel like yours did ray:

Although he's been quite naughty recently... The other morning my boyfriend woke up to Harvey up on our bedside table trying to get his head further into a bag of lollies...

Haha, Emily that sounds adorable! I'd love to see videos of Harvey bossing the poor ol' puddy cat around. hehe
Is your Harvey older than the cats or younger?

 

[MarisaAndToby]

My little man didn't start acting up until 14 or 15 months so I held off on neutering until then.

 

[Bonnie Lee]

Did your bun change really fast or just gradually get hormonal and what not?

 

[MarisaAndToby]

It seemed really quick to me, he always circled my feet but it got really bad to the point where he was nipping them and trying to mount them while I was walking. He sprayed some when he was younger (by some I mean probably two or three times), but the mounting and nipping was the last straw.

 

[Bonnie Lee]

Owh... I hope my Harvey doesn't turn into that... I think I'd be devastated if he ever tried to mount me in any way...

When they spray... is it a lot or just dribbles that smell strong?

 

[Steph16]

I got my guy at about 6 months, or so. I didn't neuter him until he was about 1yr 9 months. I did it for personal reason, I wasn't going to ever use him for breeding, so I though I better not chance him getting cancer (or whatever).

But he never sprayed, that I saw. The only thing he really did was chase and snort around the cat and if the cat wasn't paying attention, then hump him too. The cat would get really annoyed around the bunny too because of this, so I guess I got him neutered too for his safety.

Now the cat just plays with him, while he is inside his cage (don't think the cat will ever forget the moment he was humped, therefore, I don't think he will ever really trust the bunny again). But the cat always plays with his claws in and plus the bunny can run away if he doesn't like it (but he always loves it).

He has also been very good with the litter box. Except until recently, he has decided to dig in it a little before he uses it. He then gets poop everywhere.

 

[tamsin]

Sometimes it just seems to hit with the arrival of hormones around the 4/5month mark, in others it seems to have a trigger later eg the scent of a new rabbit - particularly a female, the arrival of spring, new accommodation (territory), that sort of thing.

Spraying is really impressive, you won't miss it - it's a jet of urine that can go 3' up a wall and they often spin as they go to get quite a wide coverage.