Behavior I wonder about

[CrunchyFrog]

Lola: Holland lop, 2 years old, female – – adopted. Unspayed.

I don’t know what Lola’s first year was like, but when we adopted her, we understood bunnytime in her family had been all but lost to commutes and school schedules, and we’re thinking in a typical week she went Monday-Friday with almost no attention.

Lola seems an appreciative bunny, all full of licks when we pet her. She has no interest in toys, life is all about being petted (and digging, pooping, and chewing).

When she’s honking that playful bunny-honk sound and circling me and grooming my shirt or licking my hand, once in a while she seems to get worked up and latch with her front paws around my arm- – almost like a doggy trying to hump a leg (the vet has seen her and as far as we know she’s female). As I lift my forearm out-of-reach her whole body can get tense, like she’s trying to cling with front paws and climb up.

I wonder how unique to Lola this behavior may be? We speculate Lola may have spent a lot of her life caged and wanting more contact. We notice similar grabbing behavior when she’s standing up in her pen to be petted: If she gets a sense we’re about to stop petting, she may try to pull us into her pen with teeth or paws !

 

 

[Barbie]

Sounds to me like she’s just being a typical hormonal bunny. It’s my understanding that females can get humpy too. Are you planning on spaying her? Not only does desexing help with litter box habits and prevent cancer (female bunnies have an 85% chance of getting reproductive cancer by the time they’re 2), but it also will decrease that behavior.  The circling, while cute, is definitely an intact bunny move – it says ” hey, I like you, lets make babies!”

From what I can tell from your avatar, it looks like she has the same coloring as my Leroy – very pretty!

And btw, welcome to BB!  Thank you so much for rescuing her, sounds like she’s got a great, loving home!

[Monkeybun]

Definitely agree on its a typical intact bunny behavior.. the circling, honking, humping… yep, hormonal bunny! Definitely suggest spaying, will make for a happier bunny, in that she won’t be focused on mating all the time, and she’ll enjoy a longer life as well.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

When she’s honking that playful bunny-honk sound and circling me and grooming my shirt or licking my hand, once in a while she seems to get worked up and latch with her front paws around my arm- – almost like a doggy trying to hump a leg (the vet has seen her and as far as we know she’s female). As I lift my forearm out-of-reach her whole body can get tense, like she’s trying to cling with front paws and climb up.

She’s sexually mature and trying to breed with your arm. It’s time to spay!

[CrunchyFrog]

Thanks all. We hadn’t realized hormones could be responsible – – we’d concluded Lola was needy (we thought we saw a puppy-dog personality in Lola, a bunny who follows us around) and a bit rough-playing and obsessive from growing up caged too much. Lola must have been more resilient than we’d thought!

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