Neutering a former breeder male?

[Jess]

Hi everyone – I am new to this forum but not to rabbits. However, I have my first male rabbit and he was formerly a breeder – I went to get a baby girl and ended up with him, too (don’t worry – they are separated until they’re both fixed and also will be properly introduced over time and in neutral territory). He’s a year and two months and I have already brought him to a vet for a checkup, blood work, and to schedule his neuter.

He is clearly frustrated no longer breeding. He has taken to humping my leg when I let him out, honking, circling, etc. He is overall nice to me but poops EVERYWHERE and pees all over his pen to mark his territory despite being somewhat litter box trained. He was also pretty feisty with my vet. I can tell he has a lot of pent up frustration!

My vet is fantastic with a lot of experience with rabbits. One concern he had was that since my rabbit has already lived the life of a breeder, some learned behaviors may stick around after his neutering and be impossible to break. Has anyone had a former breeder and had success reducing some of the behaviors post neuter anyway? Just looking for some experiences of others! Thank you for your input!!

[Azerane]

He’s still pretty young so I think you’ll be alright. Most of those behaviours will be hormonal, sometimes spraying can take a little longer to ease up or may not disappear at all, but it’s not like he’s been a breeding buck for 6 years. The behaviours may take a little longer to go away than if he’d just come into puberty, but I think you’ll be fine

[Bam]

Our member Vienna Blue In France has a boy bunny who used to be a breeding bunny. She had him neutered. I hope she’ll see this thread.

[Yoyo]

Hi Jess, welcome

I’m afraid, I cant offer any solid advice on a previous breeder bun whos neutered, BUT,.. I can at least tell you of my personal story with an unneutered male, who ready to ” frisk ” the world, and of the drastic changes, neutering brought about.
Everything you mentioned,.. my bad boy bun did,.. he circled, and tried to dry hump my girl dog to death,.. to this day,.. the poor chap has no idea how much lady luck was on his side either,.. lol,.. hes lucky, my dog, wanted to lick his ear wax… lol
Anyhow,.. point being,.. his behaviors, were TERRIBLE…before his neuter,.. I DAILY kicked myself I the arse, for bringing him home.. and, I say that honestly, but, truthfully.. I felt bad for the little guy.. but, had to keep him penned for almost 2 and half weeks before his neuter ( if I hadn’t,.. he would have pissed, and marked my house til it rotted, I’m sure )…
Here is where I am going to sound like a very sensible person however… got him neutered, and kept him still in his house, for a good week,.. week half after surgery ( cant remember ) but,.. it was just enough time, that, he emerged, an entirely new bunny… literally ALL of his bad bun instincts were gone,… he has been a pleasurable little chap since then – I cant speak for all, – just my personal experience.. neutering my guy, was saving grace… I know yur bun, has had the luxury of breeding before, but, I’m highly positive, once you neuter him,, his ” bad boy ” hormones will leave him,.. it may take some time, but – it will happen.

——-
ETA – mine, pooped, and peed EVERYWHERE too.. prior to surgery,.. now, he doesn’t even poo, out of his box, which, is 50/50 in buns…

I do hope to hear how your progress goes tho… keep us informed! <3 take care

[Jess]

Thank you so much for your encouragement!! My last rabbit was an unspayed female (I rescued her at am advanced age too old to spay) and she was an angel. She was bad with her litter box but at least knew her cage was her poop place… Not this boy. He is adorable and I will love him regardless, but you are giving me hope!!!!

[Jess]

Thank you so much! I definitely hope so!

[Bam]

I don’t know about neutering a breeder buck, but my experience with my Bam is very similar to Yoyo’s. Bam developed his sexual mania directed at my lucklity extremely good-tempered GSD when I’d had him for a year, and he was already fully adult when I got him, but it all went away with his neuter (took sth like 10 days – 2 weeks, I don’t remember exactly.)

[Yoyo]

Honey, I promise… it cant get any worse lol,.. make sure he is ” bonded ” to his litter box ( if that even makes sense lol,.. just something I made up saying, but,… its true ) … as long as he knows his ” special spot ” its highly likely, he will return to it. – I sometimes ” cheat ” if I think Yo hasn’t gone potty in awhile,.. I will crinkle a plastic baggie in his xpen, and just set out some greens…. he can’t resist – his corner back pen is there, and he usually makes good use of it

[Jess]

Haha that is a good tactic! Right now I have his hay right next to his litter box so he eats his hay while sitting in his box…And STILL he poops and pees everywhere. I am planning on switching litters and seeing if that helps…Right now I have yesterday’s news so I’ll attempt carefresh. I’m also going to switch to a bigger litter box even though I think it’s adequate. You never know, bunnies can be picky… But mostly I’m counting down to his neuter on the 21st lol

[Limit]

Monte is an ex breeding conti, neutered a month ago (He’s approx a year old). He still marks especially due to living side by side with my spayed female, on their first introduction he was grunting and humping her and this lead to a disagreement (bonding on hold until his leg is better). Like everyone’s said it’s mostly hormonal and it’s not a learnt behaviour, its just how they are, Monte is now litter trained mostly and he’s calming down considerably: No circling my feet unless I have food and there’s been no sign of him wanting to breed with everything and no frustration to get to my girl that lives beside him (best part is he’s stopped spraying). Hope this helps a bit, sounds like he’s a cheeky lad

[Vienna Blue in France]

Henry was Dad to some baby buns I believe, but he didn’t have a humping problem with my legs nor my female bunny.

He is non-stop energy though.

If he were a human, he’d be the kind who judders their leg up and down under the table or rips a napkin into a hundred pièces while you’re talking together, or looking out the window at the same time. He was / is a cage chewer but not as much as when I got him. I don’t know if this is due to his neutering, to his bonding with Zou or the fact he’s not in a cage as much now – all 3 things sort of happened together.

I do believe he has become a little calmer (neutered Oct 16), but if anything like my female bun (she was spayed at 2yrs after becoming very territorial, honking and circling ‘with intention’ and obsession) he needs a few more months for it to become noticeable.

His recovery from the neuter wasn’t simple – one of his sacs had a huuuuge haematoma (full of blood) so they kept him in for 3 days before the vets were sure he was OK with it. I can’t remember how long it took to reduce it’s size to disappear ‘back up’ but it was weeks. The vets did report they had never had a bun eat them out of FibaFirst sticks before !! LOL (That’s my boy)

Hope this helps. I certainly don’t think it would do any harm or that his behaviours would get any worse (and without females to ‘hump’, he will learn new (more acceptable! lol) behaviours.

[vanessa]

My boy Merlin had 36 kits before I neutered him. He was waaay easier with me after being neutered. No more spraying my hips – yes he would be on the ground and spray my hips as I walked by… didn’t seem so wild anymore, and was easier to handle. He had previously expressed interest in humping the cat, so she was very glad that he got neutered!

[Vienna Blue in France]

[Jess]

Thank you everyone!! Your stories are making me feel so much better! I have my fingers crossed for some improved behaviors. I’d definitely like to pet him during playtime without him furiously humping my leg!

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