Bonding a male and female

[CharliePebblets]

I have had my Holland lop for a few months – and she’s pretty much litter trained now .. and has a large-ish rabbit home we built.. I just got a New Zealand male – about a year and a half ish – from the humane society – so he’s neutered – but my girl isn’t.  We introduced them at first in the living room – but then read up on better places – so we used the bathtub –  NOW – he was HUMPING her like crazy – and she was just letting him – wasn’t trying to get away or making any scared sounds or grunts or anything – is this acceptable?? I have a video but I’m not sure I should post it – it looked FRANTIC – and I thought – is he actually mating with her?? do they do that even though he’s been neutered??  I can post the video but I don’t want people to judge me cus I read that mounting and humping was normal – and to stop if it’s FACIAL mounting – and if the other rabbit is not into it..  So to sum up.. Is it normal for RAMPANT humping and a LOT of it?? does it ever stop?? we’ve put him away in a cage – cus she seemed to be getting “annoyed” with it – like – snapping a bit – but only after it had been a while.. kind of like “enough already!!”  and my other question is when should I try again?? AND is it possible they’re mating?? When he’s been neutered??  And also, should I post the video??  Cheers all!! S – bunnies are SO cute!!

[Beka27]

She has to be spayed before you bond. How old is she?

[RoyalElvira]

Humping is okay and a good sign! Let them hump it out for maybe 30 seconds and then slowly push the humper off. They should both be fixed before you try to bond them — it makes it much easier. But until you have your girl fixed, house them next to each other so that they get used to each other. I was in a similar situation and would let each out one at a time while the other was still in their cage. They got used to each other and eventually would groom each other through the cage bars.
Once we got the girl spayed we introduced them (two weeks after the spay) and they got along famously.
Long story short, humping is ok! Just dont let them hump too long because one might get upset and try to bite. Here is a good site that will tell you what to do and what to look for! http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bond.shtml

[bella&smudge]

Id recommend desexing your girl bun asap. and house them next door to one another so they can smell and see each other.
They will get used to each other this way. Too much humping from your boy bun could depend on how long ago he was desexed, his hormones could still be going crazy. its normal behavior but i wouldnt let him do that constantly to her. after all, she was the first bun of the house, so at this time its her domain. and you dont want her to get upset or angry. bunny bites can be very nasty.
When i brought Smudge our rescued lop home, and our girl bunny was already desexed.) we would only do short supervised introductions of 10-20 mins each time. we housed them next to each other for 2 weeks (until we felt confident to leaving them together), and then they moved in together. just dont rush the process, check out http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/introductions.html
good luck

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