Bonded rabbits suddenly humping again?

[lindsay715]

Wesley and Bluebell have been bonded for a little over three months with pretty much no trouble.  In the first week or so of their bonding experience there was a bit of humping – Wesley started it, and then Bluebell ended it pretty quick…  Bluebell has been the dominant bunny since then – she gets much more attention from Wes than she gives back.  He sometimes will stick his head underneath hers after he grooms her to try to get her to groom him back.  Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t.  

The last few days, however, Wesley has picked up humping her again.  She’ll either run away, or turn around and face him before he can start in with it (no face humping, thankfully…) But they’re still cuddling and grooming a lot of the time.  They haven’t been nipping or malicious at all really.  I know that this kind of behavior can indicate health problems, so I have been keeping an eye on them.  They seem completely fine.  I have read posts here about bonded pairs getting aggressive with each other, but they all seem to involve fighting.  Bluebell and Wes are not fighting at all.  Has anyone gone through this?  Is it a sign of more aggression to come?

By the way, they are both fixed and both are around 20 months.  

[Stickerbunny]

Some humping throughout the relationship is normal. Powder still tries it with Stickers, but she says no and runs away and he has to give it up. That is why I have to have a raised litter box though (one is in the air on a plastic storage container) so she can jump up and get away from him to go potty, else he tries to hump her when she’s in the litter box and she just jumps out and uses the floor. Otherwise, they are fine together.

[lindsay715]

How often do yours do this? It’s been pretty frequent this afternoon with mine… Bluebell just runs away and Wesley is now chasing her until she gets under something. Sometimes he will try to groom her when he catches up. Usually not though. I’m worried that it’s stressing her out.

[Stickerbunny]

Depends when Powder gets in the mood. Sometimes he is obsessive about it til Stickers tells him to knock it off, basically. Sometimes he doesn’t do it at all.

[LittlePuffyTail]

How are your bunnies now? Still having the humping issue?

[lindsay715]

Yes, not as frequent as before, but Wesley is still trying to mount her at least a dozen times a day. Sometimes she runs away, other times she just turns around. He often has an erection too. I’m not sure if he is trying to get her attention, show affection, or what. They are both in good health and other behavior is normal.

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