Humping in bonded pair?!

[Sirius&Luna]

Atlas was just grooming Luna then next time I looked he was suddenly humping her face!
I clapped and he stopped. She just sat there and ignored the whole thing. Then he went and flopped somewhere and she flopped with him.

I’ve been calling them bonded for 3 weeks now, and this is the first negative behaviour I’ve seen. What does it mean?? Is a bit of humping to be expected occasionally? Are they safe to stay together? Luna didn’t turn on him which I find reassuring.

[sarahthegemini]

Peanut has humped Buttercup’s face 3x since I called them officially bonded end of Jan/beginning of Feb time. Not really sure if it was a dominance thing or if he was a bit frisky. Usually if he’s extra frisky he honks at her and gets a little close to her rear lol. First two times it happened, Buttercup didn’t move, she just let it happen. Poor girl was probably as confused as we were lol. You must always stop face humping of course, but in the short time it took me to get down to their level physically, she didn’t respond. Third time was just over a week ago actually and Buttercup tried to run away – as in, run forward whilst he was on her head. No nipping or biting tho so I say she reacted well.

I think a bit of humping is to be expected. Sometimes the dominant bun likes to reiterate, and sometimes the submissive one likes to throw a spanner in the works lol and sometimes they just get a bit randy! I’m not sure whether face humping signifies anything different tho.

Would love to read other’s opinions on this!

[Mikey]

Pretty normal, actually My Blue and Bombur have been bonded for two years now and Blue still occasionally humps Bombur. He usually only does it if he feels Bombur has been getting more attention than him, or if Bombur stole a toy and ran away with it, lol.

[Sirius&Luna]

Oh good, I had a huge panic! I was glad Luna just ignored him and didn’t even escalate to nips, but I was still a bit concerned it happened at all.

Thanks for the reassurance!

[sarahthegemini]

Peanut humped Buttercup’s face again last night :-/ I’m wondering if it’s because she never stays still if he goes near her bum. So, face it is!

[Sirius&Luna]

These boys are so rude :/

Is Peanut the black or white bunny by the way?

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Sirius&Luna on 10/27/2017 6:20 AM
These boys are so rude :/

Is Peanut the black or white bunny by the way?

Very rude indeed! He’s the black bun

[Boymom4]

We have a bonded pair and it seems like every few months they go through this for a day or so. We noticed it first when our male was given a treat by one of our children and the female was inadvertently left out. She had always been the submissive one but decided it was time to exert a little dominance and they had several hours worth of a mild spat. Sometimes if one gets more attention the other gets jealous and it starts up again. We separate them for about an hour if there is any hair pulling and by the time they get back together they seem to have forgotten why they were so eager to be dominant in the first place. The longer they are together the less often it happens.

[Sirius&Luna]

I’m getting a bit worried about this now, as I’ve seen Atlas trying to hump Luna every day for the last few days. Yesterday it escalated into circling. What shall I do?

Nothing has changed in their environment, neither is moulting. Does Atlas just suddenly want to be dominant? Should I put them back in the bathroom for a couple of days? Or take them for a drive? The problem with driving is that Luna hates it and Atlas isn’t really bothered.

[Mikey]

Hm, if its still happening, its often, and its escalating, I would assume he is trying to be the dominant bunny now. I would try a few bonding sessions in the bathroom and see what happens. If he doesnt do anything there, I would assume there is something in their shared territory that is making him feel insecure some how

[Sirius&Luna]

Thanks Mikey, I’ll try a bit of bathroom bonding again.

The other thing I forgot to mention is that he’s doing the grunting/honking thing – which makes me think that its sexual? Or do they grunt when they’re humping for dominance too?

Yesterday evening they were totally fine, strangely.

[Mikey]

That usually means it is sexual. Is he honking and running circles around her? Thats sort of their mating song and dance, if so. Have the seasons been changing where you are? Getting warmer or colder? Sometimes rabbits go through hormonal phases that can last a few hours up to a few weeks, and hormonal phases seem to be most common around weather changes.

[sarahthegemini]

Peanut gets very frisky sometimes. He runs in circles around Buttercup and honks. No idea what triggers his randy-ness!

[Sirius&Luna]

He does do some circling, but it looks playful. like running around in figure of 8s and binkying next to her. He did that yesterday, but then no humping followed. Maybe he’s showing off to impress her.

But yes, it has suddenly got very cold and winter-y here, so perhaps its a seasonal thing. He’s been neutered for over 4 months now though – so funny how they can still be driven by hormonal urges!

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Sirius&Luna on 11/15/2017 3:21 AM

He does do some circling, but it looks playful. like running around in figure of 8s and binkying next to her. He did that yesterday, but then no humping followed. Maybe he’s showing off to impress her.

But yes, it has suddenly got very cold and winter-y here, so perhaps its a seasonal thing. He’s been neutered for over 4 months now though – so funny how they can still be driven by hormonal urges!

Peanut has been neutered almost a year 

[Sirius&Luna]

Haha, I guess it’s just one of those strange bunny things then

[Author]

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