Silverleaf
Alpha Buck
Meeple and Nemesis are 10 weeks old tomorrow, and are brothers. Last night after a few hours of playtime in the living room, Nemesis started humping Meeple and then basically held him down in that position for a minute. Meeple didn't protest. This happened a couple of times but they were eating together and snuggling up as usual when I shut them back in the cage before I went to bed (I stayed up watching them for a while just to make sure they were getting on okay).
He did the same thing tonight. I had to intervene a few times because Nemesis mounted Meeple's head and I know that's dangerous. After a few times Meeple started to move away and there were a couple of very light nips from both rabbits and a little circling - I think Meeple was getting a little annoyed at the humping and Nemesis was frustrated that I moved him off Meeple's head. Ushering them back into their cage settled them down and they went to sleep near each other.
So I know I'm supposed to let them sort out dominance issues by themselves (except if they really fight or hump each other's heads) but I really don't want their bond to break because they've been getting on very well. So what do I do here? I don't want to separate them but I don't want them to fight either. And obviously I can't supervise them 24/7.
Suspecting that they might be getting hormonal I had a look at their genital area for dropped testicles (they were NOT happy about that so I didn't get a very good look as it's hard to keep a struggling rabbit still and check for plums at the same time, and they are Nethies so tiny bunnies anyway, not easy to see).
Now I know what an adult male looks like down there, but I'm not so familiar with young bucks. I looked at the genitals when I picked them up two weeks ago, and a week ago the vet who vaccinated them confirmed their sex for me and said there was no sign of testicles yet. But today I can see little pink patches which I don't remember seeing on them before. Does this mean they've dropped? Nemesis's were bigger than Meeple's despite him being a lot smaller than his brother.
And we've had a few small pees on the floor blanket tonight (despite them being very good about using the litter boxes normally) and more then the usual amount of poos scattered around the room. Territorial behaviour, right?
Obviously I want to get them in for neutering as early as I can to minimise the potential for fighting so they can stay bonded. So how do I tell if they're ready?
He did the same thing tonight. I had to intervene a few times because Nemesis mounted Meeple's head and I know that's dangerous. After a few times Meeple started to move away and there were a couple of very light nips from both rabbits and a little circling - I think Meeple was getting a little annoyed at the humping and Nemesis was frustrated that I moved him off Meeple's head. Ushering them back into their cage settled them down and they went to sleep near each other.
So I know I'm supposed to let them sort out dominance issues by themselves (except if they really fight or hump each other's heads) but I really don't want their bond to break because they've been getting on very well. So what do I do here? I don't want to separate them but I don't want them to fight either. And obviously I can't supervise them 24/7.
Suspecting that they might be getting hormonal I had a look at their genital area for dropped testicles (they were NOT happy about that so I didn't get a very good look as it's hard to keep a struggling rabbit still and check for plums at the same time, and they are Nethies so tiny bunnies anyway, not easy to see).
Now I know what an adult male looks like down there, but I'm not so familiar with young bucks. I looked at the genitals when I picked them up two weeks ago, and a week ago the vet who vaccinated them confirmed their sex for me and said there was no sign of testicles yet. But today I can see little pink patches which I don't remember seeing on them before. Does this mean they've dropped? Nemesis's were bigger than Meeple's despite him being a lot smaller than his brother.
And we've had a few small pees on the floor blanket tonight (despite them being very good about using the litter boxes normally) and more then the usual amount of poos scattered around the room. Territorial behaviour, right?
Obviously I want to get them in for neutering as early as I can to minimise the potential for fighting so they can stay bonded. So how do I tell if they're ready?
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