• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Hot Topic: Behaviour Changes Post Neutering

Did your rabbits behaviour change after neutering?

  • Yes, my bunnies behaviour improved.

    Votes: 17 94.4%
  • Yes, my bunnies behaviour got worse.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No, no change.

    Votes: 1 5.6%

  • Total voters
    18

Tamsin

Administrator
Staff member
Hiya,

A vet nurse has been in touch with me about an article she's write on neutering. She's interested in the behaviour changes post-neutering.

Does anyone have any experiences they could share?

Don't forget to say whether your bun was a boy or a girl, how old and how their behaviour changed before and after neutering :)

Tam
 
Nunzeo (boy) was netured at 4 months. Before he was neutered he used to pee in a very nice bed I had made him, using a drawer, some pillows and old socks. Since neutering he only ever pees in a litter tray, I even have to put one outside otherwise he wont go for hours.
He was also very shy and stampy before he was neutered, I know this could have improved with time anyway, but improved loads quicker after his opp.
Cant think of anything else about him at the moment, and Abby was already spayed when I got her.
 
The only thing that changed was that both Benjamin and Oscar stopped cirlcing me and chasing me around the house. They would circle my feet in a figure of eight and then i would run from one end of the room to the other and they would follow - and this would go on until either i got tired or they did... Oscar was agressive before and after his neuter, although he is still loving... Benjamin didnt change either...
 
ive had a mix experience :?

Crystal was speyed at 9 months before she was speyed she used to be very territorial and lash out and take really bad mood swings i used to go out looking like id been self harming from all the scratches she'd given me after she was speyed she became very calm, clean and it helped me bond with her she now loves being held and even licks my hand when i put in her hutch :D

Teddy a black lionhead i used to have i got him neutered at 4 months his homones hadnt really kicked in at this point so i decided to get him done while he was still really nice and calm after neutering he became the rabbit from hell he really didnt like me :( i still have scars on my hands to prove it he used to lash out at my hand when ever i went near him :( my lovely boy turned into a monster after neutering.

but from all the rabbits ive had neutered all have been positive outcomes except for one next time il wait until homones have kicked in before neutering.
 
Hobbes before he was neutered would circle round my feet all the time. I was always tripping over him! He used to bite my boyfriends ankles too :lol: He would also poo all over the house and do the occasional wee on the sofa or on the rug. He was very shy so i wanted to get him a girlfriend. I had him neutered at 6 months old. He stopped the circling and biting. He no longer wee's everywhere but he still does the odd poo around the house.

Phoebe was very friendly as a baby. She was easy to pick up and handle. At about 5 months old the hormones kicked in and she decided she didn't want to be touched anymore and started grunting at me and lunging at my hands when i put food in the hutch. She also made a nest one day. I had her spayed at 6 months and she calmed down alot. She no longer makes nests.

Amber was spayed a few days after i got her so i'm not sure if her behaviour changed.

Dexter was neutered around 5 months. The only thing he did before neutering was spray wee all over my lap one evening. I had him neutered so he could live happily with Amber without pestering her too much. It hasn't changed his personality though.
 
Before Frida was spayed at 6 months she was aggressive, territorial - she would grunt and lunge even if you werent in her personal space. She bit. She sprayed, she wouldnt use her litter tray. Her behaviour was frankly appalling and we couldnt really show her any affection as she just attacked without provokation.

I was so much in despair over her behaviour that I actually begged the vet to spay her at 5 months but she was too small. She was spayed at exactly 6 months. The vet found numerous ovarian cysts - and the answer to her very aggressive behaviour. It was like she had permanent PMT.

Since spaying she's so much calmer - very clean and always uses her litter tray. She will let me pet her, she plays with her toys and she hasnt sprayed since then. She also seems to enjoy life much more - before spaying she was so obsessed with attacking everything that she seemed to have no fun. Spaying was definitely the best thing for both Frida and us.

We had a similar experience with our Zeb - once he reached 12 weeks he was a humping, spraying hormonal nightmare. I couldnt go in his pen without him marking me and the walls and everything within a 6 foot radius. He was obsessed with my feet - he used to try and mount me and nip my toes. He lived in our bedroom and peed on the bed a few times. He escaped from his pen at least 3 times every night to get to me and when i caged him he just stamped all night. Again, he didnt have the chance to enjoy his life as his mind was only on one thing.

We had him neutered at 4 1/2 months (he was too frail at 4 months) and although it took 4 weeks for him to calm down he's a lot better now. He will still spray and poo everywhere if he detects another bunnies scent and he still nips me if i dont wash my hands after handling the others. He's still very territorial but seems a lot happier. I have to say I've never had a bad neutering experience yet.
 
We had a rescue in, a fawn lop named Boo. He was about a year old and his hormones were driving him crazy. It was actually upsetting to watch him as every single thing he did was dictated by his 'primal' urges. He would try and get it on with anything, animate or otherwise such as my hand, my chest, a towel and even table tops! Once he got so excited he even.... erm...followed through...:oops:

We had him neutered a week after he arrived and his behaviour improved no end. Within a month he was calm enough to bond whereas before he would have driven a female to distraction. He now (about 3 months later) has no such urges and leads a much happier life.

The only thing it didnt help with was his perpetual spraying....according to his new owners he still sprays everytime he is moved from run to shed etc.
 
My best example is Emily, She was 2 when we got her and she would spray, circle, bite, and if you stroked her she would lower her head and stick her rear end up.
After spaying she completely changed no sticking rear end up, no spraying and she's now a lovely fairly calmish bun and happily bonded with her brother.

Nicola
 
We had a rescue in, a fawn lop named Boo. He was about a year old and his hormones were driving him crazy. It was actually upsetting to watch him as every single thing he did was dictated by his 'primal' urges. He would try and get it on with anything, animate or otherwise such as my hand, my chest, a towel and even table tops! Once he got so excited he even.... erm...followed through...:oops:

We had him neutered a week after he arrived and his behaviour improved no end. Within a month he was calm enough to bond whereas before he would have driven a female to distraction. He now (about 3 months later) has no such urges and leads a much happier life.

The only thing it didnt help with was his perpetual spraying....according to his new owners he still sprays everytime he is moved from run to shed etc.


Hmmmmm, that kind of confirms what I have thought about a few *cough* rampant two-foot bucks I know. I have always thought they'd be great to be around if only they were neutered!! :lol:

All my Rabbits, both Bucks and Does have benefited from neutering in that the loss of the urge to mate or have babies made for much more relaxed Bunnies :D
I have noticed that if a buck is neutered at an older age, say 3-4 years they do tend to retain some of their Buckly behaviour. Uncle Albert was neutered at about 6 years of age and he remained a buzzer and had a very passionate affair with a broom :shock: :oops: despite being bonded to Cerys. Unkie A would also oblige with the occassional spray, scoring a direct hit in my mouth on more than one occassion :mrgreen: :roll: :lol:
Old Bill was neutered at about 6 years too. He now gets the urge to eat confused with the urge to hump :? :shock: :? So every time he feels hungry he humps Lara :roll: :roll:

With the Does I have found that spaying at a later age leads to less obvious character changes but certainly makes for a less stressful time for them, especially if they were prone to pseudopregnancies. A spay appears less likely to reduce aggression in a feisty adult Doe but its so important to have it done because of the health benefits ( prevention of Uterine infections and cancer)

Janex :D
 
Jen was spayed at five months. Before her spay she'd just started to get hormonal. She'd lunge at me when I went into her hutch and would nip if she felt she wasn't getting enough attention. Post spay she returned to being the friendly, gentle rabbit she was before :D
 
Chocolate was known as agressive when I got her - she nipped & boxed, but after spaying at 2 years old she became a sweetheart. She's now one of my friendlier buns

Cracker's personality didn't changed much - he was neutered at 2-3years old, but retained his chasing & humping tendencies.


Spice was having phantom pregnancies constantly after an incomplete spay. She was nipping her friends & fighting with her sister. After the second attempt at spaying:roll: she's a friendly one too.

Most of the others were just a mild improvement. No one got worse - & only Cracker didn't change much.
 
Audrey was spayed at about 2.5 years old. There hasn't been a dramatic change in her behaviour but it has improved...She was chewing bun from hell before- constantly chewing everything she could get her teeth into with a particular liking for the skirting boards. Now she still does it but to nowhere near as great an extent and she is often just happy to lie around without chewing :shock:

Also, I'd say she was about 50% litter trained before and now it is about 90%.

She is still a fiesty character and she was very loving before being spayed and that hasn't changed.
 
Back
Top