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My Wife is pregnant, now the rabbit wants to mount us...

TangoFiver

New Kit
As above really....

She is 15 weeks pregnant (the wife), and we have a 6yo buck who has been neutered.

He has started to try to mount both my wife and myself on our feet/ankles/shins.

It was funny at first, but now it's getting unbearable as my wife has been admitted to hospital with Hyperemisis on five occasions, and he has also started biting us and trying to dig up the carpet.

He's never had this sort of behaviour before, and so he has obviously picked up on my wifes' hormones.

Is this behaviour likely to continue until our baby is born in around 25 weeks time?

What can we do to try to calm him down?

Please help!
 
As above really....

She is 15 weeks pregnant (the wife), and we have a 6yo buck who has been neutered.

He has started to try to mount both my wife and myself on our feet/ankles/shins.

It was funny at first, but now it's getting unbearable as my wife has been admitted to hospital with Hyperemisis on five occasions, and he has also started biting us and trying to dig up the carpet.

He's never had this sort of behaviour before, and so he has obviously picked up on my wifes' hormones.

Is this behaviour likely to continue until our baby is born in around 25 weeks time?

What can we do to try to calm him down?

Please help!

Oh dear..........

Well firstly I would get you Rabbit checked over by a Rabbit savvy Vet. Whilst his behaviour may be related to him detecting your wife's pregnancy (congrats, btw :D ) it could be related to a health problem. In particular a problem relating to the adrenal glands.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-3862.2010.00011.x/full
 
As above really....

She is 15 weeks pregnant (the wife), and we have a 6yo buck who has been neutered.

He has started to try to mount both my wife and myself on our feet/ankles/shins.

It was funny at first, but now it's getting unbearable as my wife has been admitted to hospital with Hyperemisis on five occasions, and he has also started biting us and trying to dig up the carpet.

He's never had this sort of behaviour before, and so he has obviously picked up on my wifes' hormones.

Is this behaviour likely to continue until our baby is born in around 25 weeks time?

What can we do to try to calm him down?

Please help!


Congratulations to you and your wife!

He has picked up on your wife's hormones, and also he senses that change is in the air. This can also make him fearful for his future and he is quite literally 'sticking' to you both for safety. Animals pick up on the vibes we give out.

Hormonal behaviours can also be exhibited in neutered rabbits especially in the Spring time. This could be happening in addition to the hormones he senses from your wife. Most behaviours are mild, but some can be quite marked.

As the day length increases and the temperature rises this triggers rabbits into ‘spring mode’ and their hormones heighten, leading to behaviours that will be driven by them. Some of which are those we aim to eliminate through neutering.



I should consult a *very* rabbit savvy vet if you prefer not to wait and see how this goes. You can of course get him a partner of his own to distract him, but this may not be possible for you at the moment?

I'm sorry you'e got this situation and hope it can be resolved successfully for you all.
 
Has he been castrated? A rabbit friend of his own may help divert him and give him companionship when you two are taken up caring for the baby.

Many rescues will help with bonding. Best of luck.
 
Has he been castrated?

Yes - a few years ago.

Any suggestions on how we could source a "rabbit savvy" vet?

My wife rang our local vet and explained the situation, to which the vet said "I've never heard of anything like that before".....

We're NW England (J35 M6) if anyone can recommend a local vet?
 
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