Humping bun’s

[Lo]

Hi everyone! I’m a new bunny mom (about a month) and I’m still learning the basics! I’ve had my two little ones into the vet and was told that they are both little girls (I was certain Stewart was a boy, oops!).  Then earlier today I noticed Stweart getting a little too excited and he started humping Anna.  Was my vet wrong, or do girl bunnies hump too?  

 I’m hoping to get them fixed in about 2 months when they should be 6 months old, but unfortunatly it’s going to cost me about $400CDN for the both of them so I don’t think I can swing it in the immediate future -but I also don’t want to add any new members to the family any time soon!

 

[sevyn]

Hi loisme, and welcome to BinkyBunny! Congrats on becoming a bunny mom, and I hope your experiences with buns are a good one.
Anyways, this is normal behaviour even for two bunnies of the same gender. Humping is usually just a way of bunnies asserting dominance – therefore, your one bun was likely just trying to show Anna that she was the top bunny in thier relationship. How old are your bunnies? Does your vet deal with bunnies often? It is often hard to tell on young buns and even the most qualified vets sometimes make mistakes about genders, so I would exert caution in the case that you actually do have a boy and a girl.
Either way, if you trust your vet, never fear since this is one of many ways your buns might try to put themselves above each other. I would simply make sure that your bun does not mount the other backwards (as the bunny on bottom may retaliate by biting, and serious damage can be done) and that no serious qualms about dominance break out between the two.
Good luck!

[osprey]

Girls definitely mount each other and boys too as a way of expressing dominance.  Your girls are coming of age, and starting to want to claim their territory.  I hope you find a way to get them spayed at around 6 months or so, because they may start to fight if their hormones make them aggressive.

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

As the others have said, it is normal for females to hump as a sign of dominance, but with buns as young as yours, it is very easy to confuse the gender; so be aware of this. One of them may end up being male after all… it’s a good idea to double check now that they’re reaching sexual maturity!

[Lo]

Thanks everyone I appreciate all the info! I wasn’t feeling very confident with the first vet we visited so I think we’ll try again. 

Here’s another question for you: if I’m having behaviour issues with just one (Stewart has also started nipping a little) would it be okay to have one fixed now and the other closer to six months? I’m estimating that they are about 4 months old now -when I adopted them their previous owner had very little information to offer…

 

[Gravehearted]

welcome to BinkyBunny Loisme! 🙂

Many vets just don’t know enough about bunnies to give them proper care, so it takes a little research and time to find the right vet. It’s also a good idea to ask some questions before making an appointment. How many bunnies do they see annually? How many spays / neuters do they do successfully for bunnies yearly? Should you fast a bunny before surgery (this is a trick question, since the answer should be NO)

You might try this list to start finding a good bunny vet.
http://members.shaw.ca/cocoasun/CanadianRabbitVets.htm

It’s perfectly ok to neuter or spay one bunny first and then the other. they all reach sexual maturity at different ages. Generally if one starts to get nippy or very humpity, you know it’s time to get neutered. You can also tell boys are ready if thier “nanas” have dropped. I’ve seen a lot of pairs go from being best friends to getting really aggressive and biting each other when they hit puberty. So, it’s always best to get them neutered as soon as they’re old enough.

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome Loisme!! Well, I do certainly hope they are the same sex so you won’t have more, but other than that, I just ditto what everyone has said, and it is normal for same sexes to hump as a dominance display. I also think it’s good idea to at least do one now. And i would choose the one that is displaying the most territorial behavior first.

Again welcome!! And keep us updated.

[Author]

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