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Neutering?

CharReed

New Kit
I have come across a few websites which say a rabbit MUST be neutered...

I didn't think this was necessary, however was wondering what you guys think?

I had male rabbits a few years ago but never did, however I want to make sure Im doing everything right :)
 
As far as I know, its only really females that are a must because of the extremely high cancer risk. With males, if they're spraying wee and being territorial, then it probably will calm him down, but if you arent having any behaviour problems then I don't see why you really must have him done :? ive certainly never read that anywhere :wave:

Hopefully someone with more experience with bucks will have a little more advice :) x
 
It is possible for males to get testicular cancer though it isn't as common as uterine cancer for girls which is a roughly 80% likelihood.

The thing with neutering is that rabbits need a friend, they are by nature an animal that exists in groups. But in a domestic situation two unneutered rabbits can and usually do fight. They don't have the huge fields they can retreat to from one another when they need to.

And as has been mentioned there is the spraying and general grumpiness that often kicks in when hormones arrive!
 
Personally, I think it's a must. It improves behaviour and helps with litter training, plus I can imagine if you're keeping an intact buck with a doe, the humping is going to drive her crazy and he's going to get possessive/territorial. I can't imagine it's pleasant to have those hormones surging all the time.
 
I agree that although there is no 'must' with males, females however I would say are a must due to the fact that 80% of unspayed females will get cancer by the age of 5 :(

Males can get along fine with other entire males but it is very rare, I have known one pair of entire males that spent their entire lives loved up (I work at a rescue and we were all shocked at how much they loved each other although of course they were neutered with us before going off to their new home)

Most entire male pairing will at the very least scuffle and most entire male bonds will break down when they hit puberty and their hormones kick off. Obviously this will not happen in every case but there is a high chance it will, also once past puberty fights can break out at any time with very hormonal and territorial entire male buns, fights can be very very very nasty, rabbits can rip each others throats out :(

I'd also imagine that an entire male bun will get very frustrated and will frequently hump each other, I know I've had a few males that humped anything that moved and a few things that didn't before I got them done :oops: :lol: humping is another behaviour that can lead to fights.

Most importantly to me s that rabbits need company, I have assumed that you have 2 entire males. But if not and you were to bond another bun to yours I'm not sure of a single rescue that would help you bond a entire male, the risks to the other rabbit is just too high :(

Edited to add that in my experience of 4 males of my own and seeing a lot of buns in rescue every single one has seemed calmer and more content after neuter, every single one. Many also stop smelling as they stop scent marking and/or spraying.
 
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I would say it's a must to be honest.

My cousin just got her bunny Dexter neutered today, he had a cyst on his testicle that you couldn't feel till my vet opened him up.
He has so hormonal and would hump everything all the time.

If they aren't neutered then they are controlled by their hormones which is always a shame, as you don't see their true personality shine through.
 
my rabbit has a lump on one of his testicles,i took him to the vet and i was told to take him in the next day to have him neutered and the lump removed (he was 5/6) while under anaesthetic and after being neautered,the vet opened up the lump and there was a hole all the way through it-it was a hernia.......The vet couldnt remove it as misty had been under anaesthetic too long already and might not have made it :cry: so he will always have that,but i am guessing if he was neautered at a young age it could have been avoided.so i say every pet should be neutered/spayed
 
I agree that haveing a male neutered at the earliest opportunity means they are less territorial and less likely to try to hump their wifey bun. In fact, I've never seen my male buns try to hump at all..it's the females who got frisky with each other in my house ( and they are neutered too!) :roll::?
 
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