Female humping= fights

[Jane]

Percy (neutered male 16months old) was bonded with poppy (9month old spayed female) in early October. Everything was going well but then in November she tried to hump him, which he doesn’t appreciate and it lead to a fight. She was then spayed (late November) and everything has been fine and they are good friends. Last week out of the blue she’s started trying to hump him again, Percy gets very upset at the attempts and things quickly escalate into a fight if we don’t intervene straight away. We’ve been keep them separate when we’ve not been able to supervise closely. When she’s not trying to hump they get on welll still. Is there a way we can stop this as I worry if she continues their bond will be permanently broken and they are normally so good together.

[DanaNM]

It sounds like they are re-establishing their dominance, and it honestly sounds like the bond may already be broken. Were either of them injured in the fight (any broken skin)?

For now, I would keep them separate all the time, but do pre-binding, as I think starting over with bonding sessions in a neutral space are in order. Hopefully they will patch things up quickly. Also, sometimes rabbits will try to re-establish dominance when one of the bunnies is ill.

A vet visit would be good to rule out any underlying illness that could have triggered this.

If one of the bunnies was hurt in the fight, then you should probably take a 1-3 month break to allow them to cool off. But, it doesn’t sound like things got that serious with the fight??

Also, to clear my confusion, was Poppy spayed when you first bonded them in October? It sounds like, no, but then was spayed later in November? It can take females up to 6 months to drain hormones, so all of this could be due to her hormones changing over time.

If that’s the case, I would separate them for a 2-3 months but keep up pre-bonding, then start bonding again. Hopefully things will go smoothly once they have time to cool off.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Jane]

Thanks for the advice.

When they had a fight in November (pre spay-which was in November) percy had a bite wound in his side but no injuries these times. I think since November poppy has been the dominant rabbit but hasn’t shown any aggression or anything.

Poppy was a little poorly 5 days before the humping started last week, I think she had consumed too much hair (she’s moulting) and started to get gut stasis, we whisked her to the vet that day where she got some injections and by the time we got back home she was looking much brighter and was all better by the next day, so maybe that helped trigger it?

[Author]

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