Edit: Male Mounting Male? +More!

[Marco]

 My rabbits are both neutered males. Last night, I saw one start mounting the other. What does this mean? Is it an aggressive thing? They both sleep together and groom eachother. Not sure why he would do that.

[KytKattin]

It is a dominance thing. As long as the one being mounted is accepting of it, and the one mounting doesn’t carry on for too long then it typically does not cause problems. Mounting can also be a sign of health issues, or excitement (around food time, ect).

[Marco]

 Oh, okay! Thanks. The other rabbit did accept it, and it only lasted a few seconds.

[Beka27]

In your case it might also be due to insecurity being in the new environment. Another thing to be careful of is that they do not mount the wrong way (one bunny humping the other bunny’s head) as the bun underneath can bite the genitals and cause an injury.

[KytKattin]

Thanks Beka, I knew that there was something I was forgetting since her rabbits are new!

[Sarita]

I agree that it could be stress related rather than dominance at this point.

I have a female/female pair too and Twizzler mounts Toffee when she gets excited as well – not so much anymore though, but that’s always when I’ve seen her mounting Toffee.

[PEPPA GEORGIE]

If my girl bunnies are approx 5-6 months old and spayed but have never mounted each other or anything or one does that mean they will never do it or will they still start doing it as they get older? x

[Sarita]

I would never say never. I have a friend who had a bonded pair and the male would only mount the female when she put them in the carrier to take them to the vet which I think was more of a stress related behavior but other than that Rocky never mounted Ruby.

[Marco]

There is another thing worrying me that’s going on now. Groucho has started to chase Gizmo and Gizmo doesn’t like it. He hides from him. They also sniff each other’s genitals. What’s going on with these two?

[Beka27]

How long were they bonded before you got them?

When you got them, you were given a “too-small” cage right? Did you move them out of the cage and into a bigger area/condo? If so, there may be some territorial behavior going on since they’re in a new space. I would continue to keep them together, but if there is any sign of real aggression or fighting, they may need to be separated temporarily until their bond can be re-established.

Peppa, to answer your question about mounting… my two buns were bonded for approximately 6 months or so before I saw a single episode of mounting. Now they mount several times a day. It is mostly my male mounting the female, but sometimes she will try and hump him. I’m still not entirely clear on WHY they are doing this, nothing has changed, routine is still the same… but so far, no harm has come from this. Fortunately my female will usually accept the behavior and Max always grooms her and cuddles… so I think it’s more an affectionate behavior in this situation. You may never see any humping.

[Marco]

I have no idea of their past. For all I know, they could have been bonded that day. They’re still in the too small cage right now, but today I’m picking up 16 feet of caging. Thanks for the help! I appreciate it. Let’s see if this behavior stops when they have the bigger cage.

[Sarita]

Hi Marco – has their behavior changed any since the last post?

[Marco]

No, Groucho is still chasing Gizmo around.

[Sarita]

Oh goodness. Do let us know if the bigger cage helps. Hopefully too they well de-stress soon and that will calm Groucho down as well.

[Marco]

I’ll keep you guys updated!

[Author]

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