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When will he stop humping?

J

Jonny

Warren Scout
Ben has been neutered 10 days ago now. This morning I let him out of his pen, in with the girls and kept a watchful eye. A lot of sniffing went on, and just as I was thinking it was all going to be very easy, he tried to hump. Pippin took to her feet, and the chase began. He was promptly placed back in his pen!

I'm hoping to get him out with the girls as soon as possible, but I don't want him to annoy them constantly by chasing and humping, even if he is infertile!

How long after neutering does the urge to 'hump' start, and should I wait until he stops it altogether before letting him move in with the girls on a permanent basis?

Thanks!
 
Im not sure with rabbits, but I know with rats they cant meet any females until at least 4weeks after the op as they still carry sperm.

Lets hope he doesnt have any sperm left :?
 
OUR YOUR FEMALES SPEYED? IF NOT THEN HE SHOULDNT BE IN WITH THEM AT ALL UNTIL he has been castrated for a minuim of 4 weeks prerably waiting 6 weeks.

the hormone normally take 6 weeks to teer off but that is different in every rabbit.

humping is also a dominance thing and not just hormonal.
 
Simba, did urmm proper humping :oops: after I put him with my spayed female, 6 weeks after he had been done :roll:

Tried them together again after another couple of weeks and it was just half hearted dominance type humping for a couple of days, and then this stopped as well.

Kate x
 
How long after neutering does the urge to 'hump' start, and should I wait until he stops it altogether before letting him move in with the girls on a permanent basis?
Click to expand...

they will still hump other rabbits when they are introduced. Trip had been neutered about 3 months when I tried bonding him with malibu and he was humping her. Its just what they do when they are put with other bunnies :D
 
I was told 14 days was adequate. The lady at the rescue centre said she had been working on that basis for years and had never had a doe get pregnant yet.
 
eekk! I was told that it had to be a minimum of 4 weeks but that 6 weeks was the best as they could still be fertile up till then. :shock:
 
The advice does seem to vary so much doesn't it :? Personally I'd stick to 6 weeks to be on the safe side. But having said that, you will find that regardless of how long he has been done, he will still hump to start off with (and you might find that the girls do too), as it is also used as a sign of dominance, in addition to sexual behaviour. It should calm down once the buns establish their hierachy. If you keep on separating them, it will continue, because they have to pretty much 'start again' on sorting the hierachy every time you introduce them.
 
If it's only been 10 days I'd give it longer before introducing them as he might still be fertile. The rescue lady says 2 weeks but that's 14 days and that is the absolute minimum, I personally would wait 4 weeks to make sure.

Humping is a dominance thing, when Pippa was introduced to MJ after sniffing etc he started humping. Even now he chases her a bit but she soon puts him in his place. Thing is she's spayed so not likely to want to mate but your girls I presume would be 'up for it' if you know what I mean. I would wait a bit longer to make sure he's firing blanks then not worry as it's normal rabbit behaviour as far as I know.
 
It was just to let them have a brief sniff, that's all. I wouldn't have actually let any humping take place. I'll give it another week before introducing them again. I think that should be safe enough - the book I have says sperm can't survive more than 7-10 days. Celia, at the shelter, has looked after a huge no. of buns, so if there was a significant risk of pregnancy I think she would have experienced it herself.

Ben's pen is just 3 X 3, so I don't want to keep him fenced in for too long.
 
Jonny, welcome to the forum with your new bunnies. I would definitely err on the side of safety with bunnies as you really don't want an unwanted litter. Some of us on here have fallen foul of the rule of when to allow a male back with a female, and the result has been an unexpected litter. I have no doubt Celia is well experienced and I would not want to contradict any advice she has given you. However, I do know of litters occurring under the four weeks and can only give you my perspective of when it would be safe. I would definitely stick to the 6 week rule.
 
The advice I was given by several different sources said 6 weeks. Better to be safe than yet another unwanted litter.
 
I guess... but is a 3 X 3 pen adequate for to keep him in for another 3 or 4 weeks? I was anxious to allow him to freerange around the shed and the run with the girls asap to give him a bit more room. The small pen was only intended to be a very short-term measure.

The only other option is my 6 X 2 hutch, but it's currently outside and I think he's got used to the warmth of the shed now, plus he is gradually getting to know the girls (lots of nose rubbing and sniffing going on through the wire).
 
Please dont put them intogether!!!!! 6 weeks should be ok,

we had to politly explain to a client the other week why her doe was pregnant. her boy had been neutered 3 weeks before!!
 
It's just I'm confused with all the advice I seem to be getting. It really does seem to conflict.

A book I have says 10 days. Celia, who runs the shelter, said 2 weeks. My vet says 3. Most on here are saying 3, 4 or 6 weeks. A few google searches seem to show that 3 is the most common recommendation. But even the websites I visited range from 1 week to 8! :? :?

Very confused... all opinions welcome!

As I say, I don't want to leave him in his 3 X 3 pen longer than is absolutely necessary.
 
Just to add again that the rescue Jonnys rabbits are from, has several bucks a week neutered and has NEVER had a problem with putting them together at 2 weeks. (However I personally havent had as much experience with neutering so would wait longer.)

Jonny, 10 days is really too soon, you also need to think in terms of how well he is healing after his op. It literally only takes a second or two for them to mate too :eek:

Why not wait 4 weeks to be sure? Im sure he'll be fine outside in a 6ft hutch :) (Also have you looked into how you go about introducing them? It must be on neutral territory etc...)
 
OK will wait 4 weeks. Seems to be a reasonable compromise between the two suggested by Celia and the six some people are suggesting here.

The other reason why I don't want to leave it too long is because they are booked into a bunny hotel over Christmas when we are going away, so I'd like them to be bonded before then.

In the meantime, I'm thinking it might be best to keep him in his pen in the shed - they've been sharing the shed since Day 1. If I moved him to the hutch outside, the girls might start thinking they ruled the roost, and they might get a bit grumpy when Ben came back in!
 
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