Female rabbit humping - concerned about aggression

[New_member]

I have 2 11 week old mini lops. They have seen a vet and advised that they are believed to be male and female. The male is booked in to be neutered in December which is the earliest they will do it. I am planning to also have the female neutered when she is a bit older and the vet will do it. The vet didn’t say I needed to split them up at any point though?

They are siblings which I know isn’t a true bond at the moment, I’m just explaining they have been together since birth so are not a new pairing.

I’ve never seen this before but I’ve just been watching them out of the window in their run and the female was kind of digging on the males body and then they started circling each other and then she was trying to hump him. He was trying to get away but she kept chasing and trying to do it. I opened the back door to get them to stop because I was worried it might turn into a fight.

Should I be concerned? I’m worried about this behaviour happening overnight and waking up to an injured or worse, dead bunny in the morning. Or is this normal behaviour and the female establishing dominance?

Just wanted to add that I obviously don’t see their behaviour 24/7 but I have only ever seen the male grooming the female. So maybe the female is just establishing her dominance?

 

[Omi]

I really think the vet should have told you to split them up, haing advised that they are in fact male and female. The main issue is that female rabbits can become fertile as early as 12 weeks and you don't want to risk an early pregnancy with her. The behaviour you are seeing is probably pubertal rather than aggressive.

I would leave them apart, certainly until after the boy has been neutered and if you plan to have the female spayed shortly afterwards, then probably wait until after that, before re-introducing them. You will then need to follow advice for bonding.

 

[New_member]

Thank you. I definitely don’t want her to become pregnant, especially at this age.

The vet has told me they will neuter the male at 4 months (which will be end of December) and the female at 6 months so in February. They will definitely both be neutered.

Splitting them up now and keeping them apart until they are able to be bonded again will mean housing them separately for quite a few months. They currently live outside so I would need to buy some sort of enclosure and run to keep them both outside. I don’t have enough space inside to house them both separately. If I kept one outside in the current set up and brought the other inside, would this make it a lot harder to bond them back together as they won’t have even seen each other for months? Is this something you would advise doing?

 

[Omi]

If this were me I would want to split them up asap, NOW even, whilst you consider your options. There are a number of things to consider. I have listed some, but there might be more.

Boys can be neutered as soon as their testicles drop, which is usually around 10-12 weeks, so he might be able to have it done quite soon. https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/neutering-castration-and-spaying/ An option for you would be to see if another rabbit savvy vet near to you could do it sooner. One thing to watch though, is that vets usually like to wait until a rabbit weighs 1kg and as they are mini lops, you would need to check this. 16-20 weeks is the time advised for spaying females.

If you could get both neuters done earlier, then their time apart should be less. However, you would not be able to change where they are living, from inside to outside or vice versa, until the weather warms up in the spring. You would need to consider whether it would be doable to have them both inside, so a short time separately and then housed together. When it became warmer you could then decided whether you would want them permanently inside or out.

 

[New_member]

I’ve just called round the other vets that I could travel to (I don’t drive!) and the only one that said they would do it earlier said only if he weighs 1.5kg. I haven’t weighed him but I’m pretty sure he won’t weigh enough, they are both still quite small.

I’m not sure how to sort things at the moment to be honest. I think if they were both inside then I would have to have a huge rearrange of all of the furniture. I don’t have a problem moving things about, it’s just where I would move them to! They are in a converted Wendy house with a tunnel attached to a run at the moment. If they were both going to stay outside, I guess I’d need to buy a hutch and another run or something?

 

[joey&boo]

Would you be able to find some way to divide the wendy house & give them alternate access to the run?

 

[New_member]

Would you be able to find some way to divide the wendy house & give them alternate access to the run?

I don’t think so to be honest. We did build a second level but it only extends to half of the whole bottom floor space so wouldn’t be fair (and potentially unsafe) for one to be put on the top.

If I was able to find a way to keep them both inside and kept them separated by a metal pen so that they could still see/smell each other constantly. Potentially even lay next to each other so be touching through the bars, would they still need to be rebonded further down the line?

 

[bunny momma]

I would separate them even if they each have less space though you probably give them separate time to get exercise. Some of my small bunnies never reached 1kg and the vet neutered/spayed them once they were ready.

 

[Omi]

I think this is your best option to be inside, but separated by a metal barrier. You could let each one out separately for some free time, as long as the room was secure (re wires etc). I would make absolutely sure that they are not too close though, bunnies can be ingenious and it's been known for matings to occur between metal bars Perhaps make it safe with an extra layer of chicken mesh or something similar.

It's also a better option as both bunnies will be having GAs. Depending on where you are situated it's better to have a warm living area to come home to after an operation.

 

[tulsi]

I was advised to keep my two bucks apart out of sight and smell of each other for at least six weeks before attempting to rebond in the autumn/winter, which I did.

I ended up bonding them to each other and to two rescue does. They were a wonderful quad for many many years.

I hope you find a good solution.