male humping!

[BlackMiniRex]

Andy is humping my arm!! i push him away and say NO! but he still does it! will he eventually grow out of this? he is pretty young (about 4 months)
i can't get him neutered cause my parents and i can't pay 200-500 dollars,
please i hope you don't misunderstand, i can pay for his toys,food and bedding just not 200-500 dollars to get him fixed, some people say its optional for a male too.
can i train him to not do this? will he stop eventually? he usually does it morning and evening (when he's most active)
it can be annoying, but other then that he's the best bunny i could ask for, and i would hate to get rid of him.

 

[Blue eyes]

Neutering males is often considered optional if they aren't displaying undesirable behaviors. If he's only 4 months of age, he is still early in those hormones. You'll have to see if he displays further potential signs as the weeks go by.

Look out for circling, honking, aggression, spraying of urine, forgetting litter habits. With some rabbits, hormonal behavior is barely noticeable. With others, there's no mistaking it. If he does show more and more signs, then *not* neutering him may cause those behaviors to become ingrained.

Maybe you could begin to set aside a little money each week. It's a good idea to have a bunny emergency fund anyway for unexpected trips to the vet.

 

[BlackMiniRex]

he does not spray (which i'm very thankful) and uses the litterbox quite well,he does circle which i don't mind, but he's found a way to hump my leg when i stand up :/
i just got him a stuffed animal and whenever he humped my arm i gave him the stuffed animal and boy did he take it out on that, i am in debt to my parents from buying a bunch of litter lol but i'm rarely in debt, once i'm out i'll start putting money aside for vet bills, i hope his hormones settle down, i love this forum! i mentioned this in another forum website and... lets just say... things didn't go too well lol.

 

[Aki]

No, you can't prevent it. It's very possible that the hormonal behavior will worsen as he grows (I've experience the spraying and I hope for you it won't come to that because it's awful) or that it will settle down (it hasn't for mine, Tybalt was such a pain I could have married the vet who neutered him) but you can't train it out of him. A lot of people get rid of their rabbits because the humping / spraying / territorial behavior becomes unbearable after a while. Neutering is the only answer.
It is true that neutering a male isn't as important as spaying a female in a health point of view. Males still have cancers of the testicules but it's a lot less frequent than ovarian cancer. I think people mostly neuter males because their hormonal behavior makes you want to strangle them (I love Tybalt, but during a few months, I wanted to kill him... several times a day). Nevertheless, you need to be aware that should your rabbit ever become sick it will cost you several hundred dollars in vet bills. Having a pet, no matter which, is always expensive. So, yeah, even if you decide against neutering him, start saving up for the rabbit, it will always come in handy... (I have an emergency "pet" account at the bank - just in a year, I've had 2 visits for the dog who got a hot spot and a bad reaction to a deworming pill, and 2 visits for Aki the rabbit for GI stasis... of course, that's not counting vaccination for the 2 rabbits and the dog - animals are money pits)

 

[RavenousDragon]

I don't know if this makes a difference to you, but everyone covered the important stuff- so. Intact male rabbit urine also smells absolutely horrid. Not that urine ever smells great, but if you do get him neutered, you'll soon find he is much less smelly.

 

[BlackMiniRex]

I actually don't mind it, when I clean his litter box I smell it, but if I 'm two feet away from it I don't smell it (either that or I have really good litter! Lol)
Aki, sorry I might have misunderstood, but do you mean every male rabbit's hormones get worse as they get older?
I've read a few stories about how people live perfectly fine without having a rabbit neutered.
Also, I will start putting some money aside for emergency vet bills.
Also he has never sprayed urine.

 

[Blue eyes]

All males are different. But since your little guy is only 4 months of age and is already displaying some hormonal behavior, then, yes, it is very possible that things will get worse. He may start spraying urine anytime in the next few months. Only time will tell.

 

[BlackMiniRex]

okay now i'm starting to think of neutering him, i'll probably start putting money aside now, it will probably take me about a month to get the money neuter him, will he be fine if he gets neutered at 5-7 months of age?
also, I've heard some people neutering their rabbit for 65-85 dollars, is that true? i live in New Hampshire i'm not sure how expensive it will be here.

 

[BlackMiniRex]

i can't find any clinics!! anyone know any good clinics in NH i could look into?

 

[Blue eyes]

Your best bet might be to contact a local rabbit rescue and ask them for a rabbit savvy vet reference.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat:

 

[BlackMiniRex]

not sure if we have any 'rabbit' rescues around here, maybe, i just never seen/heard one around here

 

[ladysown]

get him a stuffy. Seriously. A couple of stuffies, dump them in the wash and he'll be just fine. Just make sure children don't play with HIS stuffies.

And just so you know... many male rabbits do not spray.

that fact that he is four months is .. he's a teenager. Feeling his oats a bit. If he's not spraying now, chances are really high that he won't.

Get him a stuffy, redirect his attentions to the stuffy and enjoy your rabbit.

I'm of the opinion that if you don't need to spay/neuter your rabbit don't do it. Rabbits can and do die from aesthetic.. EVEN WITH good rabbit savvy vets.

 

[RavenousDragon]

I respectfully disagree. The risk of death due to anesthesia is much lower than the death due to ovarian or uterine cysts/neoplasia. Female rabbits really do need to be spayed if you want them to live to be over 10 years old (yes, I'm sure there are exceptions, but if the female is over a few years old, if we are spaying her, we almost always see at least 1 cyst. While this itself is not deadly, but quite painful. Which just seems cruel to me).

 

[BlackMiniRex]

@ RavenousDragon, i understand the risk to females, but he's a male.

 

[RavenousDragon]

That response was more for Ladysown. Since he/she doesn't think they should be fixed at all.

With males, the risk of testicular cancer is still there. If you remove the testicles, then they obviously can't get cancerous. I've always preferred to have my males neutered mostly for behavioral reasons, including bonding rather than health reasons.

And I personally have never lost a rabbit to anesthesia. Especially the males. The actual neuter usually takes under 10 minutes, provided both testicles are descended and there are no other complications. The risk of anesthesia for 10 minutes is quite minimal (to do a teeth filing, it actually means the animal is under anesthesia for even longer for example).

But I'm very pro-sterilization of animals, so I'm quite biased.

 

[BlackMiniRex]

well, i can't get him neutered right now... i have no money i might have some in a couple months

 

[RavenousDragon]

That I understand 100%. Depending on where you live, the local shelters sometimes will do them for a little more cheaply. However, you are paying for what you get so they run a higher risk of complications. If that helps at all. Good luck!