when do the "teenage years" begin

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purplepeacock

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Hi, my name is becca and by bunny liffy is a little over 2 months old. the vets in my area don't spay until 6 months of age. i was wondering when the "teenage bunny behavior" kicks in. Liffy is a great bun. very sweet and loves to be held. she pees and now poops in her litter box---all on her own. i can let her out and she won't pee anywhere or really poop either. although she still poops on us when we hold her...lol....but i know if a bun doesn't get fixed they can start all kinds of behavior. i'm just wondering when this behavior starts. if i get her fixed right at the 6 month mark will it be in time before all the hormones kick in?
 
6 months is about the right time for a spay. if it is done too soon some experts say that it will interfere with normal bone development in females( rabbits need some hormones to regulate growth and development into healthy adults )

I hate to say it but adolescent behavior can start before that. They can get nippy , hate being handled and behave exactly the opposite of the sweet thing that you bought or rescued.

A bun will still have adolescent behavior even after a spay/neuter..call it "young bunny syndrome" LOL but they won't have hormonally driven behavior .
 
I would say that teenage years begin at 6 months and as for when they end, Tony's probably about 2 and a half and he doesn't seem to be getting any less bratty! He's fixed too, but likes to get in all kinds of trouble. Maybe at 2 or 3 years old?
 
Yeah from about 5 months to 2-2.5years bunnies are in their teenage years. Sometimes even if you spay/neuter them early they still act up during that time (but probably not as much as they would if not altered). Ive also seen girls who are very well behaved but get very bad (going outside the litterbox etc) immediately after the surgery, only to calm back down a month or so later.

Hope that helps! Youre definitely making the right decision to have her spayed. Do you have a good vet who's experienced with rabbits?
 
there seems to be a decent vet in the area who has bunny experience. there was a vet about 10 minutes from me that does mainly bunnies and she was on some rabbitt organization website but when i called about prices it will cost me $51 just to talk to her to get a "ballpark figure". that wouldn't include the exam for liffy, the bloodwork, or the spay. i asked if they could even just give me a rough estimate but they said they don't do that i'd have to pay the $51 just to get the information. all the other vets in the area average between $300-$500 for a spay. this is why i only have 1 bunny. i wish there was another alternative.

thanks for all the info. she's such a good girl----i'll just keep my fingers crossed that she stays that way.
 
I think I've been pretty lucky with my bunnies. Cinnabun (male) was neutered at about 7 months of age (13 years ago!). He started getting territorial about his cage once he matured, and that actually didn't cease until he was about 5 years old! He also bit occasionally once he wasn't a baby anymore, but overall he was a complete joy. He never sprayed urine or humped or anything and was actually completely litter trained from the time we got him. I think my experience was a bit atypical because he was very skittish for the first several months he was with us, it wasn't until he was an adult that he loved being held and given attention.

Rory was neutered when he was about seven months old too, two weeks after we got him from the animal shelter. Like Cinnabun, Rory was magically already litter trained. He also didn't hump or spray urine and also has never been territorial about anything. He's a little bit reserved, but will lie on his back in my arms and likes to be petted and kissed. I didn't know him as a baby, but since he was so nice before and after being neutered (and he's still in his teen years I guess since he's a little over a year old), I can imagine he was very sweet baby.

Tallulah was an incredibly sweet baby. She liked being held and would lie on her back on my lap, follow me around and sought me out for attention and pets. Sometimes she wouldn't leave me alone! It was pretty funny because on the DAY she turned 6 months old, she bit me for the first time because I stopped petting her. She bit me lightly every day for about a week when I'd feed her, but then she stopped and never bit for the last month of her life. I think she figured out that she'd have to wait longer to be fed (only 10 minutes or so, but a lifetime for her I'm sure) if she bit! She started marking around Rory's cage with poop and started chinning things. She also stopped wanting to be held or cuddled as much. It didn't hurt my feelings too much though because we were closely bonded anyway and I knew it was because of her hormones. We were going to have her spayed shortly after she died (she had been sick most of her life so I wanted to wait longer before spaying her, she even had an appointment 3 weeks before she died but I canceled it because I wanted to wait longer). It would have been interesting to see if she would have been better with her litter box or stopped chinning things after she was spayed, and if she would have liked cuddling again.

Sky is now 7 1/2 months old and like the other boys, never humped or marked or sprayed. He was neutered almost 3 months ago and still isn't very good with his litter box, but has gotten much better! He's super sweet and his personality doesn't seem to have changed really.

Sorry this is so long! I just wanted to share about all my bunnies. Basically, I wouldn't worry too much about Liffy's personality changing. I thought I would be sad if Tallulah stopped being as cuddly, but when it happened I wasn't too much. I knew she still loved me just as much as before, and she was still bonded to me. For example, we left her with a friend for a weekend when we went to get Skyler, and she refused to come out of her cage the whole time! When I dropped her off and when I came back, she was excited to come out of her cage there and play in the living room. Also, if Liffy does get moodier, she might go back to being cuddly once she's older. Cinnabun was incredibly loving and cuddly after the age of 4 or 5, much more so than when he was younger actually.

Sheesh, sorry again for it being long! I just love your Liffy girl, she's so adorable. You should share more pictures! :biggrin2:
 
snowyshiloh,

thank you for all the encouragment!!! Liffy is actually less cuddly now but it's b/c she wants to be down exploring everything. she wasn't litter trained when i got her. but she litter trained herself in a few weeks time. she's 100% with pee and about 75% with poop. but i think for her she just likes things in a certain place and that includes pee and poop! but she's very active. and she does like to be held but usually for a few minutes then she wants to race around again...lol....i don't mind. i have to work full time so its good that she enjoys being on her own and then it's good to come home and snuggle for a few minutes before she wants to be loose again...lol.... i do have to get more pics of her. i keep trying but she literally always changes position as soon as i hit the button on the camra. and since she's all black it's hard to get a good one. let me see what i can do tonight when i get home from work.....maybe i'll have something to post :D
 
Wow thats a lot for a spay! Although spays are more risky so you do want someone very experienced with rabbits.

Did you check out our list of rabbit savvy vets in PA? Maybe you could call around and see if any close to you are any cheaper (but as experienced with bunnies).

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11628&forum_id=9

Good luck and keep us posted when you do get her spayed!
 
dr. santiago in bethlehem is the one i called that would charge me the $51 just to chat. i even asked if i chose that dr to do the surgury would they put that toward my bill and they said no. i'll keep searching:D
 
purplepeacock wrote:
snowyshiloh,

thank you for all the encouragment!!!  Liffy is actually less cuddly now but it's b/c she wants to be down exploring everything.  she wasn't litter trained when i got her.  but she litter trained herself in a few weeks time.  she's 100% with pee and about 75% with poop.  but i think for her she just likes things in a certain place and that includes pee and poop!  but she's very active.  and she does like to be held but usually for a few minutes then she wants to race around again...lol....i don't mind.  i have to work full time so its good that she enjoys being on her own and then it's good to come home and snuggle for a few minutes before she wants to be loose again...lol.... i do have to get more pics of her.  i keep trying but she literally always changes position as soon as i hit the button on the camra.  and since she's all black it's hard to get a good one.  let me see what i can do tonight when i get home from work.....maybe i'll have something to post :D

Wow! Liffy sounds just like my bunny. My friends had a female mini rex and she never got that bad, so they didn't have to spay her, but she was an outdoor bunny.
 
Just a couple of points..

it is best to save up and spend it on an experienced vet than go to one that isn't

A female needs to be spayed not because of hormonal behavior alone but also because the risk of uterine cancer in a unspayed female is higher than 85%
 
I have a little buck who is 11 weeks old and he has very good aim already. I think size more than age dictates when they start their teenage years. I have does that at 3 1/2 to 4 months start flirting with the bucks and want to be bred. Of course they don't get their wish.

Roger
 
This thread has actually been a big help to me as well. I logging onto my computer with the intent to post a new thread asking for help about a change in our bunnies' behavior. Our bunny brothers are 8 months old now, almost 9 months. The vet fixed them at 5 months. They got along fine until they had their bunny ball rumble a couple weeks ago, and every since they've been separated. As some of you know, my husband and I were devastated that they couldn't be together, but we decided not to push the situation for now and let them be. They seem to be very happy in their own cages, having their own separate "devil run" times.

I did notice changes in both of them. Gen-bun is actually a lot more friendly than he's ever been. When he was with Moses bear he was less loving, but not mean or anything. Moses was the love bunny, but now he seems to be grunting and growling a lot when we have our hands in his cage cleaning things up or giving him food. Could this possibly by the teenage bunny syndrome? Has Moses bear become crabby in his "older" months, or could he have developed crabby bunny syndrome. He seems okay otherwise. He just grunts and growls and seems to get irritated a little more.
 
it could be a combination of behavior changes related to adolescence (it's great that they are both neutered) ;
and possibly Moses was the dominant bun of the 2 when they were together and misses being able to push Gen bun around and
gen-bun is more loving because he is away from Moses and is happier and/or

Moses is developing cage -possessiveness as a normal adult personality trait.
All of this sounds normal BUT continue to check on anything that could be physical just in case
 
angieluv wrote:
and possibly Moses was the dominant bun of the 2 when they were together and misses being able to push Gen bun around and
gen-bun is more loving because he is away from Moses and is happier and/or
I think you hit it right on the head there! I know for a fact Moses was the alpha bun so that might have something to do with his behavior now that he's by himself. He has a stuffed dog bone that we bought for him since he always needs to lay up against something and groom it. He takes it and throws it, and humps it, and if we touch "his" bone, he growls about it. So he owns the bone, but sometimes even just giving him his snackies makes him growl. I hope he passes soon, but we're taking your advice and watching them both closely and logging everything. Thanks!
 
wow....after getting Liffy i just love her so much i wanted another bun but after reading all this i'm thinking maybe not. she's such a sweetie and she's so happy and good. i'm almost afraid to get her a friend for fear she'll start growling and spraying etc....maybe i should just count my blessings and just be happy with one bun. but one of her siblings is still without a home :(
 
if you want a challenge and are willing to learn how to handle it( the 2 may not bond)you could have 2 buns..but if you like it exactlythe way you have it now ..probably better not to at least for awhile
 
Nubbles just got spayed last month, at about 8 months. I think the hormones started kicking in probably a little before 6 months. Man, she turned into like this whole other bunny! On one hand she got all cuddly, but on the other hand she started with all the humping and biting and then there's that sexy sexy bunny smell for us all to enjoy :p


 
SMELL??????? oh good lord that's something i didn't know about. is it really horrid? oh well it can't be any worse than working at the wound care center and smelling gangrene all day long....lol
 

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