Will Neutering Help?!

[HamsMom]

I am a recently divorced woman living on my own with my wonderful Mini Lop, Ham. He was adopted from a breeder in June at 8 weeks old (making him about ~6 Months old). I do understand that he is hitting sexual maturity about right now, but I have never ever had this problem in the past with any rabbit. I am a firm believer in House Rabbit life, and Ham is no different then the rabbits I have had in the past. He has almost perfect litter skills and loves me uncontionally. I have recently started dating a guy that I went to high school with and reconnected via FB, but Ham has a true hate for him. Michael loves Ham, and understands rabbits, having a house rabbit himself, but Ham will not warm up to him and it has been about 2 months now. When I am home alone, Ham is a doll, the perfect rabbit. Gentle, Quite, behaved, but when either Michael visits or stays over Ham is on the war path! When Michael visits, Ham chews, tries biting him, thumps his feet all night long, completely forgets about his litter pan (only poops, still pees in the box), and will not even take treats from either of us. I am just at my wits end. I have always planned on neutering him, but my vet isn't 100% that it will help in anyway with the behavior he is displaying towards Michael. I love my rabbit, but I can't have him be this way with other people or men.

 

[agnesthelion]

Well, it is quite possible that Ham views you as "his" and yes, due to him reaching sexual maturity, he is acting out to protect you

While it is endearing, it isn't the best behavior. I think you should definetly neuter him. It will take away those hormones and create a better chance for him to bond to your man friend.

There still could be a trust issue to work through. My rabbits are spayed and neutered but prefer me over my husband for sure. He just hasn't put in the time to get them to trust him.

So in addition to the neutering, your friend could bring treats, be patient, let Ham come up to him and explore him but don't touch him yet, things like that so as to create a trust there.

But yes, I'm a definite proponet of neutering and although it may not stop ALL of hams issues with your friend, it will only help.

Good luck and welcome to the forum!!

 

[LakeCondo]

How does Ham behave with other people? Is it all people other than yourself or just your guy he doesn't want to be around? Have you gone away & left the 2 together & what happens? He could be better if you're not there.

 

[HamsMom]

He seems a normal bunny around other people, not overly friendly, but no one else has been around him at length. Alone, they are 'ok' but there hasn't been that much time alone without me.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I don't think neutering would be a bad idea, but you may not get the results you hope for. I found Bonny on our front lawn one day. She came right to me when I called her. We had her for almost 4 years, neutered at @ 9months. She was fine with me and was always using courting behavior even after the neuter and was nest building with newspaper all the time. Any time Nancy came into the rabbit room, Bonny would screech and attack her legs, scratching and biting. One of us thought it was funny.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I just have to share a cat story. Elvis (I didn't name him) was my cat before I got married. I didn't have much of a life outside of my animals so Elvis and my iguanna were pretty spoiled. He would sit on the chair and converse with me over dinner, I brush my hair and bursh his hair, I brush my teeth then his teeth (differnt tooth brush!), I would climb in bed and he would sleep like a little person next to me with the covers tucked up under his chin.

Well then I got married and Joshua moved into ELVIS' house! Oh he was offended! When it was visiting it was ok, but now this other man was in HIS bed! It took three years and finally kitty prozac to get Elvis to stop marking where Joshua slept. Yes the cat was neutered, he was just angry and making it very clear. I was washing bedding almost every night for three years. I finally got to the point one night that I was so angry there were tears. I held him to look right in his face and told him if it didn't stop we were going to put him to sleep. He never did it again!

Best of luck. Animals can be so rewarding but also frustrating. I think neutering is a wonderful first step.

 

[tamsin]

I would neuter, even if it doesn't completely resolve it, it's still easier to reason with a rabbit that isn't hormonal on top of everything else.

I wonder if spending some alone time together might help them bond, and let him take over feeding to make positive associations.

 

[sugarbunnies]

I'm just going to throw this out here... I have known some animals that discriminate against certain people (race, sex, etc)... I actually had a dog that did not like (excuse me), black people. She was perfectly lovable towards other people, but any time any of that race came towards her she would go wild.

I have also known of animals that do not like males. In fact, hate them. If they were adopted, it's very possible that a male could have inflicted trauma. Or, for just no reason at all, they may not like males. From my experience, the animals I've been around prefer a woman's touch, but will tolerate a males.

Sounds weird, I know, but that's my experience.

 

[whitelop]

I agree with Alyssa. Sometimes animals prefer one sex over the other. We had a dog that was beaten by a man, then we adopted her and she hated men. She attacked the meter man on 3 different occasions and didn't like people of color. (I mean, if you were too tan, she would attack. We're a very fair people. hahaa)

Maybe something happened when Ham was a baby that made him not like men. Or he just "loves" you and he's being protective of you. My rooster is protective over me, so sometimes it gets ugly.

BTW, Brandy, the story about your cat made me laugh so hard! My husband just told me to shut up because I was really loud.

 

[HamsMom]

Just wanted to update, Ham was neutered yesterday and is home healing. He had 2 shots, was neutered and isn't happy about his 'new hair cut.'

 

[Nancy McClelland]

ray:

 

[HamsMom]

Update! Hammie is coming around! He let Michael pet him, of course with treats being given!

 

[Imbrium]

huzzah!

 

[HamsMom]

Ham with my Munckin Kitten, Dan

 

[Imbrium]

LOL, too cute

 

[HamsMom]

I had better pictures of her play fighting with her and then them cuddling, but they were very blurry as she doesn't stop going all the time.

 

[agnesthelion]

That's so great that Ham let your boyfriend pet him!! Yay!

Cute kitten. But also, be careful with the kitten accidently scratching your rabbit. I think I read on here about how it is very dangerous to rabbits. Maybe someone else can weigh in who has more info, just wanted to give you the heads up.

 

[Imbrium]

agnesthelion wrote:

Cute kitten. But also, be careful with the kitten accidently scratching your rabbit. I think I read on here about how it is very dangerous to rabbits. Maybe someone else can weigh in who has more info, just wanted to give you the heads up.

here's the discussion thread on the risks of cat scratches/bites to bunnies: http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=74390&forum_id=1