older female “humping” younger female

[Momto2]

We have a 1 year old dwarf bunny – Lulu, and recently got a lionhead bunny – Tribble (12 weeks). Both are female. We took time to bond the two bunnies, they seemed to get along well, and recently put them in the same cage. They’ve done fine for a week or so, although lulu will show dominant behaviors such as laying her head on tribble, etc. But the past few days I have noticed that lulu will get on top of tribble and “hump” her. ( sorry if it is referred to as something else!). My husband read online that this can be fixed by getting them spayed. Only thing is, in my area the only vet I have found to do it costs $162, and I can’t afford that for 2, let alone 1 bunny!! Any other solutions? Or is it normal and not a big deal? Its rather embarrassing when people come over!! Thank you kindly!

[Sarita]

That is a very good price for a spay and rabbits should be spayed because of an 80% chance of getting uterine cancer. I think you should save up and take both girls in for their spay.

As for the humping, it is usually due to dominance or excitement – spaying doesn’t necessarily take care of this though but that is not the reason for spaying anyway.

[Linette]

Wow, that is a GREAT price! Where do you live, I have doe who is about due for spaying! JK, don’t need to say where you live, but a LOT of places charge $400-$500 for a rabbit spay!

Females hump to express dominance. Depending on the rabbit’s temperments and their relationship, they might be fine with it, or they might decide they want to challange who’s the boss.

In and of itself it’s not harmful or a worrisome behavior, but keep an eye on the situation and see how they are doing.

I agree with the post above, save up and get them spayed, even if you have to do it one at a time. I have had pairs of does that were unspayed do fine together, as well as pairs where one was spayed and one was not. Ultimately spaying is preferable for a lot of reasons, but it is not impossible to have an unspayed pair.

In the pair I had where only one was spayed, she STILL was the dominant one!

[Momto2]

Why is it so expensive to get them spayed!?! I figured the price would be similar to cats/dogs.

[MoveDiagonally]

Rabbits are considered “exotic” pets and not all vets are educated in their care and treatment. Anything medical that requires specialized training is usually more expensive. $162 isn’t bad at all. Around here it costs close to $300 to spay one rabbit. If there are rabbit rescues in your area you can contact them and ask if they know of any lower cost options.

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