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Humping bunnies

slaterk

New Kit
Hi everyone,

New to this forum so I should introduce myself. My name is Keith, I currently live in Germany but am moving back to the UK in a few weeks. Luckily the quarantine laws have changed so I can bring my monkeys back. I have 2 bunnies, Lilly and Hazel, Arthur the Chinchilla and Lincolina the hamster. Now, to my problem...

Lilly and Hazel have been together since being very young. They had no problems until they reached about 6 months. Then Lilly started chasing Hazel around. Hazel was acting like Lilly was the devil incarnate trying to get away so now they are in 2 seperate cages. When they get let out (which is for a good 5 or 6 hours / day, more at the weekends) they can be very sweet together, petting and grooming each other, then Lilly decides she is going to hump Hazel and Hazel really doesn't like this. I should probably add they are both female. I know this is a dominance thing and Lilly is clearly very dominant (she is also the more curious and definitely the cheekier) but Hazel really doesn't appreciate it. What should I do? I don't want to seperate them totally.

Thanks in advance.
 
Are they spayed? If not you will probably find that this will help. When a female bun is in season she will hump anything (will probably be territorial too). Honey used to be like this and would often be seen humping Alfie (my previous bun) and would even nest build.
She is now spayed and we no longer see this behaviour.
 
Sounds like they have hit the teenage years, girls and boys if not neutered will start humping!

My Thora has started to do it, next month we are going to get her neutered I think.
 
Welcome Keith - sounds like you have two unruley teenagers on your hands :lol: :lol:

I can only echo other good folks comments as both my girlies are spayed but the Humping does have all the traits of the girlies hormones kicking in -
Good luck on the move back to UK - hope the info on here helps?
 
I don't know about how experienced your vets are but mine specialise in rabbits and I asked him how many spays he had done and how many problems there had been and I think he had only lost a couple of bunnys over the 10 years he has been doing them. With Athena she was in and out with no probs, a bit quiet the next day and back to herself on day three!

I would make sure they have done lots of spays on rabbits before you go as rabbits need special anesthetic and stitches. If they are experienced there should be relatively low risk depending on how old your bunnys are now.

Caz
 
Hmm hearing this doesn't fill me with confidence to be honest. The reason they haven't been spayed is that there is a risk there, be it small, that I could lose one and that would be heart-breaking. They are still young, around 9 months but I lost my last bunny after an illness that was just the hardest thing in the world to watch. Seeing a rabbit deteriorate and trying to feed it baby food and antbiotics with a syringe is hard but then to have it die in yours arms is worse!

Will this behaviour continue through to adulthood if I don't get them spayed? Are there any other behaviours that could start?
 
The behaviour will continue into adulthood. Honey was nearly three by the time I got around to getting her spayed. Her behaviour didn't bother me - I quite like a feisty bun and it was usually Mark she would bite, if anyone :lol: :lol: but I was more concerned about the risk of uterine cancer and I felt that the risk of that outweighed the risk of the spay. I had a previous unspayed rescued femal of unknown age who died very suddenly and I am convinced this was as a result of uterine cancer - we live and learn don't we.
 
I've had four does spayed and they've all been fine. If you go to an experienced vet the risks are very low indeed. My vets haven't lost a bunny in a routine spay in years. It doesn't always cure a grumpy bunny's attitude problems but in most cases of hormonal aggression you do end up with a calmer, friendlier bunny. All mine were done at 5-6 months and the only complication was that one of them nibbled at her stitches and reopened part of the wound. But that healed up by itself and didn't even need antibiotics. Three days after the operation, apart from the bald patch on their tummies, you couldn't tell they'd had surgery at all.
 
As long as you use a good vet and research them you should be fine, what area in the UK are you moving back to? Someone on here could probably recommend their vet.

There is a health risk for females if they are not spayed, there are other illnesses they can develop if not spayed. Cant quite remember what they are at risk from though maybe someone else can shed some light on that one
 
I am moving to East London (Docklands). They are house rabbits so no need for a garden. If anyone could recommend a good vet I would very much appreciate it. I think you have all convinced me that a spayed bunny is healthier than a non spayed bunny. :)
 
Welcome here Keith
wave1.gif
 
Thank you very much. People seem to think I am some kind of madman because I won't shut up about my pets. It's good to know I am not alone!!!
 
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