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Female Rabbit Humping Male Rabbit

SammyG

New Kit
Hi everyone, been searching around this forum for an answer to my problem, but there seems to be several different possible answers. I thought i would join and post my problem, to see if anyone can explain for me.

I am a novice rabbit keeper, i have always been interested in them but have never had them previously. I bought one male albino rabbit, when i got him he was just a tiny little thing. A couple of months later he was getting lonely, so i decided to buy another female albino rabbit, she also was very very small when i got her, and the male rabbit was a lot bigger than her.

I used a guide i found on the internet on how to bond them, and everything went fine. They have been living together ever since, and the female rabbit is probably a bit bigger than the male rabbit now. The male rabbit is probably about 9 months old, and the female rabbit about 7-8 months old.

They have not been spayed/neutered yet, as i would like the female to have a litter of bunnies.

They have ALWAYS got on well, they play together, sleep snug up together, eat and drink together. When i first put them together, the male rabbit would always try to hump the female rabbit, but then a few weeks later that just stopped, and there has been no humping until now.

The female rabbit is constantly humping the back of the male rabbit, he then runs to the other side of the run, leaving the female rabbit clueless. The female rabbit will then try it again, and he just runs away again. She is always sniffing away at his tail/bum area too. But then they will stop it for a while... they will snug and lick each other and eat together... but then she will start trying to hump him again.... and hes having none of it. They dont appear to be fighting or anything...

Im confused, what can it be?
 
You'll find its either her asserting dominance or she is on heat/wanting to have babies. My girl bunny acted like this just before she feel pregnant, it might be like a type of mating call to him saying "I'm ready now!"

Are you really sure you want them to breed? I was the same as you but its quite traumatic finding suitable homes for the babies, and bear in mind that as soon as she gives birth she will get pregnant again the same day.

So as soon as you notice signs of pregnancy (which arent always very obvious until the birth) I would get your boy un-boyed straight away to avoid two consecutive litters which can be very stressful on little girl bunnies health.

just a friendly word of advice!
 
How long have they been together? Im wondering as shes not yet pregnant whether in fact you have 2 buns of the same sex, normally the female gets pregnant quite quickly. Constantly being humoped is going to make the other rabbit very unhappy. I wuld take them to the vet & have them sexed & neutered. That way you will have 2 happy buns & there wont be another litter of buns adding to the already overgrown rabbit population
 
You'll find its either her asserting dominance or she is on heat/wanting to have babies. My girl bunny acted like this just before she feel pregnant, it might be like a type of mating call to him saying "I'm ready now!"

Are you really sure you want them to breed? I was the same as you but its quite traumatic finding suitable homes for the babies, and bear in mind that as soon as she gives birth she will get pregnant again the same day.

So as soon as you notice signs of pregnancy (which arent always very obvious until the birth) I would get your boy un-boyed straight away to avoid two consecutive litters which can be very stressful on little girl bunnies health.

just a friendly word of advice!

Rabbits don't come into heat.

A female can get hormonal from about 5 months plus. This will pretty much last the duration of her life unless she is spayed. Unspayed females have an 80% cancer risk. This is greatly improved by spaying.

If your buns are unspayed/neutered, there's a high chance your female will already be pregnant. They carry their young for 28-32 days. The male needs removing before the babies are born as he may kill them, & the female can get pregnant again immediately after giving birth. This would be a tremendous strain on her - as she would still be feeding one litter (up until 8 weeks of age) when the next litter was born.

Baby buns will need separating from mum when weaned at about 8 weeks. Boy/girl babies will need separating not long after. Male buns are fertile from 12 weeks - sometimes even earlier, so if left with Mum or sisters you risk more pregnancies. Apparently if you left 2 un-neutered/unspayed buns together, within a year you could have a 1000 buns from them & their offspring.

There are over 30,000 rabbits in Rescues up & down the UK, & many have a waiting list for buns waiting to come in. I'm not even a Rescue & had a phone call the other day asking me to take the "3 babies that were left, cos no one wanted them, & Mum was pregnant again". This woman has 25 rabbits cos of inexperience & ignorance. She started with 2 that she let "play" together.

Unless you are breeding from "rung", purebred buns, you risk unknown genetic problems. I recently had 3 nethie fosters here with severe dental problems from 11 weeks of age. Their previous owner bred her petshop-bought buns.

If you neuter a male he will still be fertile for up to 6 weeks after so shouldn't be put with an unspayed female until after that time has passed. It is better for a male to be neutered to reduce the testicular cancer risk & also save him from a lifetime of sexual frustration.

Neutering/spaying CAN make buns more friendly.

If you decide you don't want the babies that your female may be carrying, your vet may do an emergency spay. Some people are against this though.

If you do have the babies, & have the space, time & money to spend on their future neuters (I pay £40 spay, & £35 neuter per bun), then good luck.
If you are looking to rehome the offspring, you might want to read some of the other threads about Rescues having money/time/space issues.
 
As others have said a female humping a male is a dominance thing. I have 5 neutered/spayed male/female pairs and the only humping that goes on is with one pair and that's the female on the male. All my buns are rescues.

I would ask please, please, please don't let your female have a litter there are so many rabbits in rescues needing homes, so many in pet shops that have been bread for profit without any thought for all those which get abandond, left out for the fox to get etc, etc. There really is no need to bring any more rabbits into the world.

Rabswood
 
firstly humping can be dominance related. please get both de sexed they will both be happier . remember that a rabbit can live up to 14years... a litter can be up to 12 babies and good homes where the children wont get board they feed 80%hay and feed a good quality pellet mix are important the new owners wil lneed adequet accomodation(minimum of a 6x2x2ft hutch attatched to a 6x6ft run with at least 4hours run time a day preferably 24/7 access.the hutches runs need bolts and lids to stop predators getting in and ideally padlocks. if you cant go back at least 4 generations then the kittens will be likely to have unforseen gentic problems. also its very young for your rabbit to have its firsst litter and many mums will eat or mutilate them if they are too young or in expeirianced there are so many unnwanted buns in rescues you are better to not breed. your female has an 85% of having uterine cancer if not speyed believe me iv had one die of it it isnt nice. remember the cost of babies too as each rabbit needs myxo every 6 months and vhd every 12 months adn pannacuring regualrly. you will need a very rabbit savvy vet as they are classed as exootics and not use sawdust which can cause respiritory problems if you handle the babies without mums smell then shewill likely mutilate them or reject them leading to you needing to hand rear using goats milk. alsobunyns can die in kit birth too. i sincerly ask that yo uget both buns sexed by a competant vet adn then have them both neutered.
 
hmmmmm are you sure they are not the same sex as sounds like they have been together a while and she would of been pregnant by now as it only takes a second to fall. I would get them sexed again and then go from there maybe seperate them until you find out whats what. My bun had an unexpected litter last year. She had 13 babies of which 2 died and 2 where hand reared sucsessfully. Make sure you are doing the right thing and not wanting awww cute bunnies as it does get stressful making sure they are ok and it is getting cold months now so harder to find suitable homes.:roll:

Good luck
 
I agree with the other posts - they would almost certainly be pregnant by now if they were not same sex.

Either way - please dont let them breed!! Its not worth it. Get them checked out by a vet :)
 
Im having the same problem

Hi i have just read this thread and your answers which have helped slightly. My problem is i have a female and male rabbit which have lived together for almost a year now. They have always seemed to get on fine together untill when i started cleaning out the cage and finding fur from the male! I have started watching them and she is chasing him and pinning him down with his mane in her teeth, so when he runs she has a mouth full of hair. I have picked him up today and his neck is completly bald!! Its not red or sore looking but its ugly!!! I dont know what to do because it worries me that she may kill him? but then they sleep, eat and snuggle together without any fighting! My mother in law thinks im over-reacting so its hard for me to split them up while im living there!i would appreciate your help!!
ps The male is neuted but the female isnt..
 
ps The male is neuted but the female isnt..

Then there's your problem! :p

A unspayed female will be *very* hormonal - especially at this time of year with Spring fast approaching. ;)

Spaying will make her happier but will also help to prevent several nasty diseases such as cancer so I'd book her in a.s.a.p.
 
Both my rabbits have been speyed/neutered, yet my female rabbit humps my male rabbit. Is this a dominanc thing then? My male rabbit just sits there and lets her do it too (he's quite placid anyway, nothing really phases him!) If it's a dominance thing then I guess it's quite normal and I shouldn't worry?
 
We have had two bonded spayed females that are two years old. Up to now they have gotten along fine but suddenly one is acting like a male by trying to hump the other. Is this normal? And is it potentially harmful. My wife has noticed small tufts of white hair in the the crate but no blood or other issues. It is hot in Arizona right now so they only get about an hour of outside exercise. What should be our response to this behavior.
 
We have had two bonded spayed females that are two years old. Up to now they have gotten along fine but suddenly one is acting like a male by trying to hump the other. Is this normal? And is it potentially harmful. My wife has noticed small tufts of white hair in the the crate but no blood or other issues. It is hot in Arizona right now so they only get about an hour of outside exercise. What should be our response to this behavior.

Hi, welcome to the forum :wave:

There are a couple of reasons that spring to mind, which could be causing this change in behaviour.

Humping is sometimes a dominance issue, so if the one humping is sensing that the other rabbit's health is compromised in some way, this could be the response. A vet examination would put your mind at rest on that one.

Alternatively, and in my view probably more likely, is boredom. If, as you say, they get little exercise because it's too hot atm, they might be getting bored in their crate. Is it possible to let them free range for a while at least indoors? How large is their crate? Perhaps you could provide some stimulation for them with rabbit friendly things to nibble. I don't know what would be available in Arizona, but perhaps some tree branches.

The behaviour between rabbits of the same sex happens occasionally and is not in itself harmful. A problem would arise, if the one being humped got upset and then a fight could happen which would mean you would need to split them up.

I hope you can sort something out for them.
 
Although they are spayed one of them is a bit broody hence the fur in the litter tray. This is a hint to the other rabbit who can't do anything about it as she is a female also.
 
Thanks to you both, it is a peaceable kingdom today. We added some more chew toys and will monitor. Soon the heat here should cool some and then they can have a lot more time outside. We'll post any changes, again thanks.
 
I found this thread when I was searching for answers to this issue with my 2 rabbits. They are a brother and sister (spayed and neutered) who are 5 months old. Just in the last week, the female has been very aggressively humping the male (who is smaller). At first, he just let it happen, but now he runs away. It hasn't seemed to affect their bond as they still sleep next to each other, play etc. I think it may be bothering me more than it bothers him, but I just feel bad for him. If it IS a dominance thing, will she do this constantly, or will it eventually run it's course?
 
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