One more question about behavior.

Question
Hello its me Cherie again.

I told you about my little boy rabbit and eating toilet paper rolls.  I was really pleased that I got an answer so fast.  I really like this site.

I bought him at a pet store right after new years.  They said he was about 8 weeks old, they were guessing I think cause they didn't know his exact birthday.  So I gave him a made up birthday of November 6th which was exactly 8 weeks from when I bought him.  That way I can have birthday parties for him and such.  Anyway it says you can have your rabbits fixed after their testicles are visible.  Well he is over 4 months old and they still haven't showed up.  I already know where I am taking him to get him fixed because my friend had her rabbit fixed there and they take care of rabbits.  But it costs $75 just for a general check up and I know he is healthy right now so I want to save my money and take him in only when he is ready to be fixed and they can do his general check up then.  Rather than paying to take him in only for them to tell me ok he is fine.  How do I know what the right age is to have him fixed?  Should he be 6 months old like cats and dogs?  Or should I do it now?

I only ask because he is a brat.  He gets into everything and terrorizes my house.  He doesn't bite me or anything but he just wants to eat things he isn't supposed to, like my carpet, I told you that.  He likes to sit up on the back of my couch and try to dig holes in that too.  I read that when you get them fixed they calm down.  He is completely litter trained and last night I was holding him while we were watching TV together.  He was completely happy, I can tell when he is happy because he chatters his teeth.  Well I always make sure he goes potty before we lay down together and he had just gone pee and we hadn't been laying on the couch more than 5 minutes when he decided to pee on my lap.  And not just a little bit either, he got it everywhere, all over me and the couch and the floor.  I didn't think a rabbit could pee that much.  It wasn't like spraying, because I have caught him doing that, it was a full blown peeing session.  Now why on earth would he do that?  He has never done that before.  Could he just have been so relaxed?  He was just laying there on my legs where he always lays, his teeth were chattering away and he was being all loving like normal.  I was just shocked.  I didn't yell at him but I said bad chip and I put him in his cage and made him stay in there for 15 minutes before I would let him out again.  Was it wrong for me to punish him?  It might have very well been an accident.  I don't want to punish him if he didn't do it on purpose but I didn't know how to tell.  As soon as I had myself and everything else cleaned up I let him out again.  Do you think I could have hurt his feelings by punishing him?  Because after that he didn't want to cuddle, he wanted to go dig in his paper box. (and your right his paper box is messy)

About the wood toys.  I can't cut wood.  I am a college student.  I don't even know how to work a saw.  Is there anywhere online that I can buy wooden toys that are safe, or the seafoam pads you talked about?  The pet stores don't have any safe toys.  Their toys are all colored wood, seriously like a rabbit is really going to care if his wood looks like a painted carrot or just a plain block.  I did find something interesting in the bird section.  They were solid metal bells that had the bottom covered too so there is no way to get to the noise making pieces.  I think it is a pretty safe toy.  I hung it from his cage which he can get in and out of as long as I am awake.  But now he has this thing where he likes to ring his bell ALL NIGHT LONG when he is in his cage.  It was a fun toy but almost impossible to sleep now without being woke up all night from the ringing bell.

Any more suggestions of where I can buy him safe toys on line would be greatly appreciated.  I have to order almost everything online.  Being in college, having my own apartment and trying to raise a rabbit doesn't leave me much free time.  I am starting to wonder if raising a baby might be easier than raising a rabbit. Well at least its good practice with being woke up several times a night I guess.

Thank you again for your help.

Cherie

Answer
Hi Cherie,

generally around 4 1/2 months ot 6 months males hit sexual maturity.  You won't always see testicles because they can bring them back into their body when they want to.

The fact he marked you (it doesn't have to be a drive-by spray) like you describe, could mean he is at sexual maturity, or darn close.  Or he just went because he was so relaxed - especially if you were holding him and he felt snug.  If he has begun to circle your feet and honk (light honking sounds), or if he does drive-by sprayings on you, he's hit sexual maturity.

By 6 months you'd be virtually certain to have your boy neutered, but almost everyone sees behavior changes that indicate they are able to be fixed.

You will not be able to skip the cost of a check-up.  The vet will want to examine him for general health before scheduling a surgery.  They will not do this the same day, because if your boy is sick and they can't do surgery, that surgical slot is wasted.  I am surprised it is that much, but depending on where you live, and your vet, that is what it is.

Yes, you can buy wood toys online.  www.busybunny.com.  They have a lot of nice wicker tents and tubes they can run through, lounge in, and eat.  I'd probably ditch the bell if you want to get sleep.  They can make noise with any toy, it doesn't need to have a noise-making piece in it.  

Leith Petwerks also has some nice toys.  Everything on this page is okay for rabbits.  http://www.leithpetwerks.com/indexpage.cfm?category=7

And, babies are way harder than rabbits.  Once you learn more about rabbits and their behavior, and start to know your guy really well, you may start helping other people with their rabbits.  One piece of advice: keep a journal/log and write down his behavior/stuff you do with him every day.  that way if he ever does start acting strange or out of routine, it will help if there ever is a problem.  It may alert you that a problem is starting before it really gets bad.  Plus if you ever have to go to the vet with a problem, you have a number of things already written down when you weren't under stress.

Lee