Do male hormones go through cycles?

[AshAndMaple]

This might be a really daft question, but I'm wondering if there are times when intact males are calmer and times when they're hornier? Do they have cycles?

My male Ash is generally quite calm and laid-back but I definitely notice he has times when he's more hormonal. Today for instance, he's been grunting all day, trying to follow his sister (there's a barrier between them), and when I had him on my lap and she jumped onto my chair to join us, he was instantly aroused, I picked him up so he couldn't follow her (she jumped off after a few seconds) and his ***** was fully extended and erect.

It's a long story, but Maple is spayed and Ash is intact. I've spoken to multiple vets and they don't recommend neutering Ash as he suffered a reaction to anaesthetic, but instead they believe I should try to bond him with Maple and see if they can get along without him undergoing a high-risk operation. I'm wondering if there are better times for me to try to bond them as I've had times when they've both been cuddling and grooming each other on my lap for 15minutes or so with no issues, and then times like today where Ash immediately goes crazy.

Honestly any information about how I could reduce Ash's hormonal responses to Maple would be appreciated! I have a bottle of pet remedy spray which I haven't tried yet but I don't think any amount of it is going to override his hormones!

 

[JBun]

'Spring fever' can certainly be one of those times, for both male and female rabbits, intact or even sometimes fixed ones. For this, you just have to wait for it to pass, which usually doesn't last for more than a month.

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-care-advice/behaviour/hormonal-behaviour-neutered-rabbits/
If your vet isn't the most experienced rabbit vet that did the surgery, have you tried finding a more knowledgeable rabbit vet or specialist?

I was in a similar situation. I tried to get my last rabbit neutered so he could join his bonded family group, but he went into cardiac arrest when the anesthesia was given. Luckily they were able to revive him, but he remained unneutered. It's a vet that I had my other rabbits fixed at. Certainly not the best rabbit vet in the area, but I hadn't had any problems with any of the other rabbits before this.

I was scared to get him neutered after that, but I felt bad for him being alone. He was a really mellow bun and didn't show any hormonal behaviors on his own, like spraying or anything. So I thought that maybe he would be a mellow enough bun to bond into the group even though he was intact.

Nope. As soon as he got with the other buns, he just couldn't control himself, and his excessive attempts at humping were starting to bother his brother, the boss bun of the group. So I had to stop bonding attempts.

After about a year, I finally got brave enough to want to try again to get him neutered. This time though, I traveled to the best, and most expensive, rabbit vet in the area. I had presurgical blood work done, IV catheter for the surgery, and made sure he would be intubated for the surgery so that his airway was secured(also vet needing to be very experienced with intubating rabbits).

There were absolutely no problems this time, and he was neutered successfully. No issues with the anesthesia or his heart, and recovered just fine. So all I can think is that either the less experienced vet may have been off on the anesthesia dosages, and that caused the cardiac arrest. Or it may have been having him intubated the second time and securing his airway, is what made the difference, as he was a dwarf and had some minor airway restriction normally.

So neutering may still be an option, if it's a matter of you just needing a better rabbit vet. But of course any surgery does still carry some risk, even with the best rabbit vet in the world doing the surgery.

 

[AshAndMaple]

'Spring fever' can certainly be one of those times, for both male and female rabbits, intact or even sometimes fixed ones. For this, you just have to wait for it to pass, which usually doesn't last for more than a month.

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-care-advice/behaviour/hormonal-behaviour-neutered-rabbits/
If your vet isn't the most experienced rabbit vet that did the surgery, have you tried finding a more knowledgeable rabbit vet or specialist?

I was in a similar situation. I tried to get my last rabbit neutered so he could join his bonded family group, but he went into cardiac arrest when the anesthesia was given. Luckily they were able to revive him, but he remained unneutered. It's a vet that I had my other rabbits fixed at. Certainly not the best rabbit vet in the area, but I hadn't had any problems with any of the other rabbits before this.

I was scared to get him neutered after that, but I felt bad for him being alone. He was a really mellow bun and didn't show any hormonal behaviors on his own, like spraying or anything. So I thought that maybe he would be a mellow enough bun to bond into the group even though he was intact.

Nope. As soon as he got with the other buns, he just couldn't control himself, and his excessive attempts at humping were starting to bother his brother, the boss bun of the group. So I had to stop bonding attempts.

After about a year, I finally got brave enough to want to try again to get him neutered. This time though, I traveled to the best, and most expensive, rabbit vet in the area. I had presurgical blood work done, IV catheter for the surgery, and made sure he would be intubated for the surgery so that his airway was secured(also vet needing to be very experienced with intubating rabbits).

There were absolutely no problems this time, and he was neutered successfully. No issues with the anesthesia or his heart, and recovered just fine. So all I can think is that either the less experienced vet may have been off on the anesthesia dosages, and that caused the cardiac arrest. Or it may have been having him intubated the second time and securing his airway, is what made the difference, as he was a dwarf and had some minor airway restriction normally.

So neutering may still be an option, if it's a matter of you just needing a better rabbit vet. But of course any surgery does still carry some risk, even with the best rabbit vet in the world doing the surgery.

Thanks for your reply, in terms of 'spring fever', do you know what it is that sets them off? My buns live indoors at the top of a block of flats and I rarely open the windows - I know there will still be some airflow though so I'm wondering if pollen is a factor?

The operation was attempted at the same vet surgery his sister was spayed at - she was fine and had no issues with the anesthetic, she was eating again immediately afterwards and there was no need to syringe feed or anything. That vet surgery is the most suitable for them in my town. There is an exotics surgery but I've never been impressed with them and I'd feel uncomfortable taking them there.

The vet I went to for a second opinion was out of town but they were recommended to me by a local rabbit rescue. This vet seemed very knowledgeable about rabbits and basically said the same thing as the first vet - that they'd wait a few months before considering trying again, and that they could use different protocols with different drugs incase he had a reaction to one of them. She also said they could inject local anaesthetic into his testicles which would reduce the amount of general anaesthetic they would need to use. She told me there was no need to rush, and she recommended trying to bond him with Maple incase it could work because she would consider him a high-risk patient.

What happened with Ash is that he stopped breathing for over 5 minutes when the vet + nurse were putting him under, and so they had to breathe for him. His heartbeat remained strong the whole time and they gave him loads of drugs to bring him back round. It took hours and one-on-one care for him to come back around properly - about 7hrs until he was fully with it. Within 10 minutes of being back home he was eating, grooming himself and playing with his toys though! It could have gone very very differently and that thought terrifies me. It's been suggested by a colleague of mine who works with rabbits that I could see if he calms down at all once he's over a year old (although she doubts it!) - he's almost 7 months now.

Ash was 1.5kg when he went in (I haven't weighed him recently, but I doubt he's put on much more), and he's a lionhead mix. His mother wasn't a lionhead, but seeing as 2 out of her 3 kits were lionheads, I'd guess that Ash and Maple's father was a lionhead. Maple is slightly bigger than Ash but not by that much.

Here are some pictures of him, I don't know how I'd define his breed but he definitely has agouti fur and a mane! His mane was much bigger and puffier when he was a baby. He's also developed a sort of mountain-range-like line on his body which I think is quite quirky! His sister has dark grey stripes across her body.

This is Maple;

 

[CrazyChickenGirl]

Thanks for your reply, in terms of 'spring fever', do you know what it is that sets them off? My buns live indoors at the top of a block of flats and I rarely open the windows - I know there will still be some airflow though so I'm wondering if pollen is a factor?

The operation was attempted at the same vet surgery his sister was spayed at - she was fine and had no issues with the anesthetic, she was eating again immediately afterwards and there was no need to syringe feed or anything. That vet surgery is the most suitable for them in my town. There is an exotics surgery but I've never been impressed with them and I'd feel uncomfortable taking them there.

The vet I went to for a second opinion was out of town but they were recommended to me by a local rabbit rescue. This vet seemed very knowledgeable about rabbits and basically said the same thing as the first vet - that they'd wait a few months before considering trying again, and that they could use different protocols with different drugs incase he had a reaction to one of them. She also said they could inject local anaesthetic into his testicles which would reduce the amount of general anaesthetic they would need to use. She told me there was no need to rush, and she recommended trying to bond him with Maple incase it could work because she would consider him a high-risk patient.

What happened with Ash is that he stopped breathing for over 5 minutes when the vet + nurse were putting him under, and so they had to breathe for him. His heartbeat remained strong the whole time and they gave him loads of drugs to bring him back round. It took hours and one-on-one care for him to come back around properly - about 7hrs until he was fully with it. Within 10 minutes of being back home he was eating, grooming himself and playing with his toys though! It could have gone very very differently and that thought terrifies me. It's been suggested by a colleague of mine who works with rabbits that I could see if he calms down at all once he's over a year old (although she doubts it!) - he's almost 7 months now.

Ash was 1.5kg when he went in (I haven't weighed him recently, but I doubt he's put on much more), and he's a lionhead mix. His mother wasn't a lionhead, but seeing as 2 out of her 3 kits were lionheads, I'd guess that Ash and Maple's father was a lionhead. Maple is slightly bigger than Ash but not by that much.

Here are some pictures of him, I don't know how I'd define his breed but he definitely has agouti fur and a mane! His mane was much bigger and puffier when he was a baby. He's also developed a sort of mountain-range-like line on his body which I think is quite quirky! His sister has dark grey stripes across her body.
View attachment 63944View attachment 63945View attachment 63946
This is Maple;

View attachment 63947

Awww! Maple looks like she is a Japanese harlequin just like my boy Dune!

I hope bonding goes well!

 

[AshAndMaple]

Awww! Maple looks like she is a Japanese harlequin just like my boy Dune!View attachment 63950

I hope bonding goes well!

Aww!! They both have harlequin colouring, although Maple's is a lot more obvious - Ash has ginger patches on the top of his feet and in random patches across his back and tummy!

Neither of them have the split-face colouring of classic harlequins and they both have agouti fur so I'd be intrigued as to where that comes from - I've heard that comes from Netherland Dwarfs but I don't know if Chinchillas can have those genes too?

Here's a video from when they were in the rescue with their mum and sister. The tiny baby is a wild rabbit who their mum accepted and nursed as though it was her own.

View attachment PXL_20220901_135542876.mp4