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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR hormones and litter training???

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    • Samantha1357
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        My bunnies just turned 12 weeks old up until now we were doing fabulous with potty training, only 2 accidents in over a week. Now there are SIX in one day!!!! I know the hormones are kicking in and theyre going to be fixed as soon as I can get an appointment for them but can their hormones kicking in cause them to start like marking everywhere and thats why all of a sudden we are having litterbox issues? All eating/peeing/pooping and no signs of illness


      • bmt87
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          Lola had impeccable litter box training and the second her hormones kicked in it all went out the window – she would have multiple accidents a day and went as far as peeing on my boyfriend on a regular basis before she was fixed. She had perfect litter habits again as soon as she was fixed.


        • LittlePuffyTail
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            Hormones definitely play a factor in territorial marking. This is most likely what is happening.

            What sex are your buns?

            Do you put hay in your litterboxes? That might encourage them to spend more time in their litterboxes.


          • Sarita
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              Here is an excellent article on Binky Bunny that I encourage you to read:

              https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINF…fault.aspx


            • Samantha1357
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                3 males 1 female, yes hay is in their litter box and so is their food bowl (doing that is what solved most of our accidents..until the hormones kicked in). Is it safe to have them fixed at 3 months old? Vet says 4 months-7months is when they reach sexual maturity but can they be done so early? theyre very small


              • bmt87
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                  I think you might have been the one that posted before about the 4 baby buns – but I just wanted to say JUSTTTT in case because it sounds like the hormones are coming in – to make sure they are separated completely. Even if you think the 3 are boys – it’s better safe than sorry.

                  I think desexing usually depends on the comfort of the vet and on the bunnies. Lola didn’t hit her sexual maturity for 5 months and we had her operation already scheduled so only had to deal with a week of craziness….but I will say it was like someone flipped a switch and my cute, snuggly baby bun was a rampant, mounting, peeing terror.

                  The article Sarita posted is excellent. Good luck – rabbit adolescence is no fun! – and messy.


                • Samantha1357
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                    Yes I did post about the four baby buns. I am not separating as I did that and the one girl got depressed being alone. Talked with the vet and if she winds up pregnant we will terminate it and spay her. You might not agree with it but I do rescue and we always terminate if possible so there arent more unwanted animals put into this world. Read the article Sarita posted. As of right now we arent having issues besides the litterbox and theyre starting to “mark” with their chin.


                  • bmt87
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                      I don’t disagree with terminating an early pregnancy with a spay…and I whole-heartedly agree with the “unwanted animal” portion. I just said that because I just know that sometimes it is really hard to tell a rabbit is pregnant until it is too late…even by a vet. There is actually another current thread on the forum with someone going through what could possibly be an “oops” litter that happened with her female bunny meeting a male bunny for only one 10 second meeting. If they are left together when they are going through puberty you are looking at a 99.9% chance that she will become pregnant. It may be worth phoning the vet now and asking if they could be fixed ASAP. Could save you time and stress in the long run. Not to mention when they are fixed litter training is a breeze. No more territorial peeing and spraying and very few stray poos – usually only when they are too lazy (i.e. spoiled) to move their little bums to the litter box.


                    • Beka27
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                        We DO advocate emergency spays in most situations, but I personally believe it’s best to not even have them at risk in the first place.

                        The boys should be able to be neutered now if the testicles are descended, or within the next 4 weeks… BUT they may still have viable sperm for a full 1-2 months AFTER neutering. If this happens, the female would be at risk for pregnancy until 5-6 months old, which is usually the youngest a vet will spay a female anyways.

                        I strongly encourage you to separate the female until she is spayed, and maybe talk with your vet about his level of comfort with spaying her early… If she gets pregnant at 4 months, an e-spay would be performed, so maybe he would just go ahead and do a regular spay at that time?

                        (This is also assuming they are all sexed correctly… you could have a couple girls and not realize…)


                      • Samantha1357
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                          At this point I do not feel separating her is worth it as she is most likely already pregnant with three boys around her. I don’t know if they are sexed correctly but the one believed to be a girl is the only one not humping *sigh* yes they started that . Going to phone the vet Monday morning to see how he feels about spaying her now, I just worry about her making it through as she is still so small. With the kittens in rescue they have to be 2 1/2 pounds minimum to be able to with stand surgery, is it different for rabbits? Her brother is larger and very hormonal but the two small dwarf boys I really worry about as they are HALF the size of the brother and sister. I can’t tell if their testicles have descended, I know how to check it in kittens but not in buns. Anyway to find out? Thanks everyone for your help


                        • AnnaNutBread
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                            I just flipped my bun around to look for his testicles. My bun is around 2.7 lbs and they went ahead and neutered him


                          • Samantha1357
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                              i cant find any, I don’t think theyve dropped yet. My babies are no where near 2.7 pounds, maybe the brother and sister are close to 2lbs but theyre very tiny. either way calling vet tomorrow

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                          Forum BEHAVIOR hormones and litter training???