Face humping!!!!

FORUM

What are we about? Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules.

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 3sd replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 10 months ago by DanaNM.

Viewing 3 reply threads

Author

Messages
- 05/01/2020 at 1:21 PM
  Gingerxmistyxo
  Participant
  29 posts
  Hi everyone,
  
  just have a quick question about humping. I have had my boy Ginger, since December 2018 when I bought him with my other little boy Toffee who sadly passed away when they were both being neutered in March 2019. Ginger was lonely and so I then adopted misty in March 2019. She was spayed in may of last year and then in October of last year after 2 months of trying to bond them, I finally got there!!! They were great for the first month and then the humping originally started. They would both jump each other both from the back at first, but they then began doing it on each other’s faces. I knew immediately this had to be stopped as it can cause injury, especially to my boy and I’m really scared of that happening. Anyway so I made their space smaller and worked my way up again. And the humping all stopped. Now again in the past few weeks, the humping has started again, mostly on their faces. There’s no other signs that their fighting for dominance. Misty always grooms ginger ( dominant one) but then decides that she wants to hump him as shes had enough of grooming him. What can I do to stop this. I really don’t want one getting hurt. Any advice would be great as this is a first time experience for me and I’m not sure what to do. In general they are snuggly and playful with one another, besides the humping.
  
  thanks in advance!!
- 05/01/2020 at 1:26 PM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9064 posts
  Hi there, welcome 🙂
  
  So, in a bonded pair, face humping is less of a concern, but you do want to be sure they are truly bonded (esp since yours are newly bonded). With my first pair, during grooming my girl would shove her head so far under my boy it would trigger some face humping. Half the time she wouldn’t notice and would think she was still getting groomed (LOL), other half she would run off and that was all there was to it.
  
  What happens with yours? Are both doing the humping? Does it lead to bickering? Is it out of the blue or triggered by grooming requests? Do they go right back to cuddling and grooming after?
  
  Bonded pairs can have some level of mounting or mounting attempts, and as long as no bun seems upset about it it’s usually fine.
  
  . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
- 05/01/2020 at 1:39 PM
  Gingerxmistyxo
  Participant
  29 posts
  Hi!
  So it mostly happens when they’ve been snuggling for a long time or when ginger is being groomed and misty gets bored. Neither of them react when it happens. It’s mostly ginger who humps mistys face, and when I get him off or he finishes, she doesn’t look at all fazed. She just carries on being flopped or chilling. I’ve never seen either of them react negatively since they bonded with one another, unless one of them has had enough of being humped from behind, and even then they just run away, they don’t go for each other. After it’s like nothing happened and they go back to snuggling and grooming etc.
  
  thanks for your response by the way!
- 05/01/2020 at 2:04 PM
  DanaNM
  Moderator
  9064 posts
  That sounds like it’s just part of their relationship, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Some buns get a bit crazy in spring, so that could explain the uptick you saw recently. 🙂 If you notice one bun suddenly gets upset about it, that changes things and you might need to work with them on it.
  
  . . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
Author

Messages

Viewing 3 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.