Too enthuseastic about humping?

[mareofnight]

My first rabbit, Maddie, is about 4-5 years old and around 3 pounds. I adopted her a few months ago (she was spayed when she arrived at the shelter), and the shelter said that her family left her because the kids lost interest. She wasn’t very athletic at first – she seemed to have a bit of trouble hopping – but after the first few weeks she gained a little weight and got strong enough to run pretty fast. She acts very submissive toward humans.

Nicco came home about a month ago, very soon after his neuter surgery. He’s twice as big as Maddie (by weight), and full of energy. He’s a lot pushier with humans – he’ll demand to be petted, fed, etc. I don’t know how old he is because the shelter found him abandoned outdoors. The vet said he could be anywhere from puberty to middle age.

My roommate and I didn’t know that it takes a month for a neuter to take full effect, so we’d attempted some brief bonding sessions in the hall outside Nicco’s room about 2 weeks after his surgery. The first time he sniffed Maddie and ran away, but was really riled up after we separated them – running around the room and stomping and such. The second time, he chased Maddie briefly and then mounted her and sprayed (I assume it was a spray – he made a really musky smell). After that we looked it up and realized that his hormones were probably just too strong, and kept them apart for two more weeks.

Maddie didn’t seem upset by the mounting, that time – usually her eyes bug out if she’s scared, and that didn’t happen, and she didn’t try to resist. It was a pretty short chase, and I’m not sure if that’s because he’s faster or because she didn’t mind being caught. So I’m not sure if she considers it a problem. Also, later that night she was loose in the house and she climbed the stairs to get to the (closed) door of Nicco’s room – even though she hadn’t been interested in the stairs lately.

Roommate and I tried another bonding session last night, this time inside a big cardborad box so it would be neutral territory. It was pretty much the same deal as last time, but without as much stinkiness. I tried to get Nicco off of Maddie after he’d mounted for 10-20 seconds, but he was hanging on really tightly and biting the fur on her back. And then once I got him off he’d immediately re-mount, and because he’s so strong I couldn’t figure out how to stop him without hurting him.

We decided to try another approach – we put Nicco in an ex-pen in Maddie’s room for the evening. (It was big enough to take up 1/3 of the room, so this probably counted as “running time” to both of them.) Nicco ran back and forth along the side of the ex pen to follow Maddie wherever she went. She stayed away from him at first, hopped around doing her own thing but avoiding his pen, especially the end where the litter box was. Nicco was stomping a bit and seemed like he wanted to get our attention (like begging to be let through to the other side), so we left and listened from the next room. Afterward, when we looked in the doorway, they’d both settled and were lying down – him right up against the fence, her in the front part of her cage. Later in the evening, she came over to say hi a few times and they sniffed each others’ noses. I think he bit the fur on her face once – it looked like there was a tug – and after that she’d sniff him and then move away quickly. She didn’t seem too bothered, though. After that, Nicco got full of energy again and went back to running back and forth trying to be where she was.

From the way Nicco acts, I get the sense that he really wants to mount her, and it might not just be a dominance thing. Should I wait another week or two before tryiing again? Is letting him mount longer to “get it out of his system” a good idea? I’m worried that if he keeps at it too long, Maddie might become scared of him, or start fighting him in a way that could get dangerous. What should I do?

[HerculesandMolasses]

Nicco may still have hormones in him. Wait it out. Maybe he is trying to establish dominance on the last one. Push Nicco off of Maddie after 5 seconds otherwise Maddie may fight back.

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