Neutered male humping (still!)

He was neutered approximately 6 weeks ago now and I'm aware that there are still hormones going on there, all else is normal after his bout of being unwell. His friend is spayed and has been for several months.

The mounting isn't so bad in the sense that she tolerates it (she doesn't retaliate like she did in the early days) and either runs or sits there with a "please god not again" look on her face. However, he has pulled fur out around her neck as he's biting her quite hard - I really want to stop this or lessen this if at all possible as it's not fair on her. It looks like bald patches only as she's got a bit of lionhead in her so has thicker fluff there anyway, thankfully, I've not seen blood. It tends to be the worst in the evening and he won't let her have any peace! When I try to separate them, I either put something like a piece of cardboard between them, pick him up and turn him around, pick him up and put him in a separate part of the pen or I offer food as a distraction. If a pick up or separation, he has a tendency to react "angrily" and lunge (probably because I'm annoying him and interrupting his rendezvous), although I've gotten my hand out of the way quickly enough since the last bite a couple of weeks ago. Last actual bite happened when I was hand feeding his buddy and he chomped and locked onto my knuckles, assuming territorial over her in that instance.

Is there anything I can do to calm things down a little bit either on the mounting side or the separating them without undue stress side? I'm dreading hearing those blooming honks and knowing that he's zeroing in on her again! I'm assuming it will improve over coming months as the neutering is still recent in the grand scheme of things but I'd love if anyone has any ideas here to get to that bit!

I feel like he needs a cold shower... Sometimes I can catch him honking, say "NO" and he'll stop. But he's just been mounting her IN the tunnel and the whole thing was vibrating! Came out with another clump of fur in his mouth, poor girlie.

Is your doe spayed?

tulsi said:

Is your doe spayed?

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Yes, it's above - she's been spayed for several months prior to her coming here to live, thankfully. I would not put an intact female in with him as, of course, there's still hormones at play on his side, although he should be coming to the end of the period where he still has viable sperm. Anyway - moot point, sorry!

Oh yeah, missed that bit somehow. How frustrating for you. Not sure what to suggest.

I don't know if it helps but I have a bonded pair, Willow and Charlie and even though Charlie was neutered donkeys years ago, he still occasionally humps Willow. It seems to come in phases. Lots of humping one day and then nothing for months.
It has not caused any problems though. After a while Willow gets fed up and runs away into one of the tunnels and that's the end of it.

Lagomorphine said:

I don't know if it helps but I have a bonded pair, Willow and Charlie and even though Charlie was neutered donkeys years ago, he still occasionally humps Willow. It seems to come in phases. Lots of humping one day and then nothing for months.
It has not caused any problems though. After a while Willow gets fed up and runs away into one of the tunnels and that's the end of it.

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Thanks for the positive note! Still all the same with mounting here and biting in mounting (which is what I'm more worried about than just mounting). He's getting very angry with me when I separate them (I just move him a short distance away) and lunging with intent to bite but he's not so wound up that he can't eat, so that's something.

If anyone has other advice, I'd really appreciate it. I've seen an increase in droppings around the pen and not in litter boxes (differing from the norm) so assuming marking and territorial also for antsy behaviour.