BunnyInTheStow
New Kit
Hi there, this is my first post but I really hope you are able to help me! Soz for the amount of detail below but am really hoping that someone can help.
I have a gorgeous male dutch rabbit who lives outdoors. He is 2 years old, neutered at around 10 months after he started to occasionally hump. We wanted to do it earlier but only one of his testicles had dropped, bless him, and the vet wanted to see if the other dropped naturally. Following the op, we were told his behaviour would start to change after 4 - 8 weeks but it didn’t - after a few months (as winter came) he did eventually stop humping.
However, this spring (i.e. the first spring after his op) he literally woke up one morning and started humping at the sign of any kind of human contact. He’ll sit peacefully and happily when you’re not there, but the moment he hears me open the door to go and see him, he starts heavy breathing, runs back and forth and if you go to stroke him / put an arm or a foot in his run, he’ll hump incessantly. He even ignores food until you’re gone, only noticing it when he calms down.
As a result, it’s impossible to spend any time with him at all.(the humping isn’t ideal, but he also uses his claws and teeth to hold on while he’s at it). I followed the local rabbit-specialist vet’s advice, and got him a toy to hump, and spray him with water when he does it to teach that it’s unacceptable behaviour. We are doing this, but it hasn’t made a difference - the spraying doesn’t put him off and the behaviour has continued. I wanted him to be able to come and hang out in the house but with this behaviour it just isn't possible.
No-one I speak to (incl 3 vets) has encountered this from a castrated bun before, all say that it must be learned behaviour and that he must be a naturally dominant bun - but this puzzles me because a) he wasn’t like this before he was neutered (he was much more selective about who he humped!!) and b) it doesn’t seem like aggression to me. I wondered if the op hadn’t been done properly (they had to open him up to get the second testicle) but the local vet said that the notes indicate that it went to plan, and the only check would be an ultrasound scan for remaining tissues but this would cost £250, which unfortunately I can’t afford. I asked for the vet to come out to see his behaviour, but he said there was no point.
Has anyone had a similar experience? Is there someone that can give some advice on what to do? I really miss him - as it feels like I don’t have a bunny rabbit any more. He lives on his own, so I’m worried about his lack of human interaction, I would consider getting another rabbit but don’t think his amorous advances would go down very well - presumably another bun would fight back, would this be a good thing or bad?
Apologies again for the length of this post but I really am at the end of my tether.
I have a gorgeous male dutch rabbit who lives outdoors. He is 2 years old, neutered at around 10 months after he started to occasionally hump. We wanted to do it earlier but only one of his testicles had dropped, bless him, and the vet wanted to see if the other dropped naturally. Following the op, we were told his behaviour would start to change after 4 - 8 weeks but it didn’t - after a few months (as winter came) he did eventually stop humping.
However, this spring (i.e. the first spring after his op) he literally woke up one morning and started humping at the sign of any kind of human contact. He’ll sit peacefully and happily when you’re not there, but the moment he hears me open the door to go and see him, he starts heavy breathing, runs back and forth and if you go to stroke him / put an arm or a foot in his run, he’ll hump incessantly. He even ignores food until you’re gone, only noticing it when he calms down.
As a result, it’s impossible to spend any time with him at all.(the humping isn’t ideal, but he also uses his claws and teeth to hold on while he’s at it). I followed the local rabbit-specialist vet’s advice, and got him a toy to hump, and spray him with water when he does it to teach that it’s unacceptable behaviour. We are doing this, but it hasn’t made a difference - the spraying doesn’t put him off and the behaviour has continued. I wanted him to be able to come and hang out in the house but with this behaviour it just isn't possible.
No-one I speak to (incl 3 vets) has encountered this from a castrated bun before, all say that it must be learned behaviour and that he must be a naturally dominant bun - but this puzzles me because a) he wasn’t like this before he was neutered (he was much more selective about who he humped!!) and b) it doesn’t seem like aggression to me. I wondered if the op hadn’t been done properly (they had to open him up to get the second testicle) but the local vet said that the notes indicate that it went to plan, and the only check would be an ultrasound scan for remaining tissues but this would cost £250, which unfortunately I can’t afford. I asked for the vet to come out to see his behaviour, but he said there was no point.
Has anyone had a similar experience? Is there someone that can give some advice on what to do? I really miss him - as it feels like I don’t have a bunny rabbit any more. He lives on his own, so I’m worried about his lack of human interaction, I would consider getting another rabbit but don’t think his amorous advances would go down very well - presumably another bun would fight back, would this be a good thing or bad?
Apologies again for the length of this post but I really am at the end of my tether.
