Female attacking male’s genitals

[puffs-of-fluff]

Hi everyone,

I started a thread on this before but it doesn’t seem to have caught on, and I really need advice.

Gus has his neuter on wednesday and Ethel accompanied him (she wasn’t done).

All was fine until about an hour after we got home. He tried to mount her (obviously a quick recovery!) and she attacked him, circling him to nip at his genitals, mounting him back. I have never seen her do that.

The next day they had another huge fight, she ripped out a lot of his fur and he bit through her ear before I could grab one. They have now fought everytime they have been next to each other. They are separated but they have previously been very closely bonded, so was trying to at least keep them having their food together (watched closely by me), but don’t worry, I won’t do that anymore.

It first seemed that Ethel was only attacking when Gus started circling and sniffing her butt. However, she is now just lunging at his genitals without him doing this.

My question is, why does she keep lunging at his genitals? Is it the smell of the neuter or is it because she annoyed that he is obviously sexually attracted to her?

Additionally, they were in the vets together, left alone unsupervised in a cage. I am worried that she may be pregnant (and have booked another vet visit next week). My vet is very rabbit savvy but I noticed that the nurse was not (she tried to tickle Ethel under her chin to say hello) so she would have been the one caging them. What are the early signs of pregnancy. Ethel is moulting a lot (but could be the time of year), attacking Gus, being very clingy to me (no aggression), licking everything (an abnormal amount), but is still her normal self otherwise.

Advice please?

[Zombie-Sue]

They should’t be together until both are neutered. That’s really all there is to it. Hormonal bunnies act hormonal, usually that means aggressive. There’s no other reason.

The only way to know if she is pregnant is wait 30 days and see if she has babies, LOL, probably not the answer you wanted. You could have her spayed which would remove any possible pregnancy. There are some typical signs, but they’re not all that accurate and some pregnant rabbits behave differently anyway. Sometimes, late into the pregnancy a vet can feel for the babies but I’ve heard this isn’t recommended as they’re so fragile. 

That’s pretty stupid that the nurse put two unneutered animals together. I’d be livid!

But even if she didn’t get pregnant then, it sounds like you put them right back together immediately after the neuter. So there’s a REALLY GOOD chance she’s pregnant now. Males can still impregnate females for, I forget, like 4 weeks after they’re neutered I think? I’d say there’s like a 99% chance, if she’s reached sexual maturity. It’s extremely unhealthy for a very young female rabbit to give birth. It could kill her. I would highly recommend an emergency spay.

Furthermore, there’s a possibility she injured him when they were fighting. All rabbits need to be separated after surgery so they can heal. So, you need to bring him to the vet too, just in case. You might check his stitches to make sure there isn’t an emergency.

You’re really lucky they didn’t seriously injure or kill one another.

[Tessie]

Oh dear, that’s a stressful situation for you!  

I agree with zombie sue, they should be separated definitely.

Shame your veterinary nurse doesn’t know that! :/

And yeah, spay her before she has babies quick, haha!

[puffs-of-fluff]

They were only together after the neuter to eat (supervised), it was my way of trying to keep a small bond, something to work on later when i reunite them in the cage properly. However, as he is trying to mount and they are fighting, i will have to start from the beginning.

Ethel has not shown any signs of reaching sexual maturity until the last few days where she has gotten a bit moody and neither of them have ever shown any aggression to anyone or each other. She is still quite young (3.5 months?) but i think that she might be starting to get into her adolescent stage now, hence why they are separate. The vet didn’t want me to separate them as they were so bonded when they were babies, so she has neutered Gus early (she normally won’t do them until they are 5 months). The reason Ethel was not spayed at the same time is because of her age. When I take them to the vets next week, i will ask about palipitation. I have read up on signs of pregnancy and Ethel does not really fit that description but I will keep an eye out. She has no problem being picked up, lets me rub her tummy, not collecting hay etc. However, I was wondering if anyone knows of signs in early pregnancy (say 1 -2 weeks?).

You may be right, it may be that suddenly Ethel’s hormones have kicked in, which is why she is acting aggressive to him. However, my friend’s doe was aggressive to everyone when she hit puberty (at around 4-5 months?), so am unsure why Ethel has just taken a dislike to Gus.

I have checked his stitches everyday (more than once a day) and they are fine, he is his happy self, binkying around, flopping and eating everything!

My concern is her obsession with nipping at his genitals. When I re-start the bonding process, this is going to be a huge anxiety for me. She sniffs him between the legs then tries to nip and lunge. Does anyone have any experience of this in bonding?

Thanks

[Tessie]

I understand that you don’t want them to lose the bond, but it sounds like it’s more or less gone for now, so it think you really need to stop putting them together and hoping they’ll get along because unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to work like that.
It’s good that you’ve separated them, I think you should keep it that way for now.

It’s good to hear his stitches are fine

The aggression is most likely because he’s come back smelling different and because she’s has hit or is hitting puberty. 3.5 months is plenty old enough to have hit puberty sadly, haha!

You can’t tell if a bun is pregnant until late in the pregnancy as far as I am aware. They only start nest building, collecting hay and fur and having sensitive tummies a day or so before the babies come I think.

I think you should get her spayed to make sure, and it will also make it less time to wait before they are re-bonded so that makes it easier for you.

[Zombie-Sue]

Getting into her adolescent state would mean that she has hit sexual maturity. All of the aggressiveness is signs of sexual maturity. She’s shown lots of signs. I know you want to believe that everything will be okay, but mistakes were made here and you should be concerned. It is a shame your vet didn’t tell you about this, but he may have not known either. A spay could prevent serious problems here, I’d really have a serious conversation with your vet about spaying her as soon as possible.

Rabbits can impregnate each other in literally a few seconds. Eating together isn’t a good idea, for future reference. In fact, rabbits can impregnate each other through the bars of cages. If she’s that young, it will PROBABLY be okay, because it’s rare for females to be able to reproduce at 4 months (it’s more common at 5 -6), but it all comes down to how much risk you’re willing to take.

Rabbits all act differently. Your friend’s rabbit acted one way, you’ll find that some rabbits couldn’t possibly be more different if they were a different animal entirely!

I have a rabbit who still nips at my other rabbit’s genitals. I don’t understand it AT ALL but it doesn’t cause problems. It calmed down a LOT after they moved back in together. Bonding is kind of a tough project, something you’ll definitely want to spend a lot of time reading about before you attempt (and only attempt after both are altered and healed up because you don’t need any more anxiety than you already have) but I think you’ll find that the gential nipping almost, if not completely, goes away pretty fast.

[puffs-of-fluff]

Okay great. Thanks for that info.

They are separated I promise, and I will keep them that way. I will also stop trying to keep the brief encounters going because it’s obviously not working and going on what you have said about how quick they can mate, I don’t want to risk it. I thought that a buck had to erm..finish. That they would let out a grunt or something, but obviously I have been misinformed. I thought that as long as I didn’t allow prolonged mounting that there wouldn’t be a problem. They were just so lovely together and such good friends that I didn’t want to believe that splitting them up from the word go was the right thing to do. I chose to believe that I could keep them together until he was neutered and all would be good in their bond forever. When the vet told me that i could keep them together, I was so happy about it that I chose to believe it, even though I has read to the contrary on this website. I know that was more about my needs and wants than their best interests and I admit that mistakes were made. It breaks my heart though to see them apart and angry with each other.

I will ask my vet about spaying. I was so nervous when I took him that I cried all the way there and all the way home. I will be so nervous about her having an op so young that I think I might have a panic attack. They are my best friends. Ethel is flopped next to me right now. the only good thing that has come out of this broken bond is how much more bonded to me they have become.

You are right though, the quicker I have her spayed, the quicker I can work on bonding. I guess i will just have to come back on this forum at the bonding stage and ask for help if the circling and genital nipping continues.

Thanks all.

[Tessie]

I’m so impressed with your selflessness in dealing with this.

I understand, it’s hard, when you want to believe you won’t have to do the whole bonding thing and it will just all work out, haha!

I think you’re making the right decision, though. And try not to be too nervous for your buns, they are delicate, but they’ll be okay
It’s lovely to hear that the experience has made your girl more cuddly with you too!
Keep us updated!

[puffs-of-fluff]

Thanks Tessie,

That cheered me up.

Thank you all always for your advice that I am sure I will need again in the future.

Enjoy your weekends

[Zombie-Sue]

You thought the buck had to erm finish. OH MY GOD YOU’RE SO CUTE, LOL. Sorry I’m not making fun of you I swear but that really made my day hahaha.

Yes you’ve been misinformed heehee. The whole “breed like rabbits” saying exists for that very reason, they’re ridiculously prolific, those little rabbits.

Try not to be nervous when you get her spayed. I know that some of it you really can’t help but I have never heard of a rabbit dying from a routine spay unless she had other, unknown complications (which would have hurt her anyway.) It’s extremely rare to have problems.

I’ll be thinking about you

[puffs-of-fluff]

Ha ha. Thanks all.

 For an update, the vet said Ethel was not pregnant but does not want her to be spayed until the very earliest 5 months. So I guess I will have to wait.

I will just enjoy the undivided attention! lol

[Tessie]

Phew, what a relief to hear she’s not pregnant, haha! How did they check?

It’s a pain having them seperate, but it will all work out in the end!

[puffs-of-fluff]

They had a feel. I have heard mixed reviews on whether or not that is safe, but i suppose at her age it would not be wise to let her have a litter anyway so the vet probably wasn’t worried about damage to potential kits (that sounds awful doesn’t it?) as they would have booked her in for an emergency spay.

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