Leopold and Wooly – Relentless humping?

[LBJ10]

So the vet said not to let Leopold and Wooly see each other until at least 7 days had passed since Wooly’s neuter (due to the complication Wooly had). Well, it has been over 7 days. I know they say to wait a month for the hormones to go down, but it’s not like they have never been out to play together before. My husband thought I should let them see each other for a bit since one always wants to see the other when one is out playing and the other is in his cage. Okay, fine. I let them out together and, well, there was nothing but humping going on. Here’s the kicker though, it wasn’t Wooly who was doing the humping. In fact, he was being totally submissive. He would come up to Leopold and lay flat on his stomach while Leopold sniffed him over. Then Leopold started getting a crazed, horny look in his eye. Next thing I know, he’s humping the crap out of Wooly’s head! Agh! I shooed Leopold away, but what followed was what I would describe as Leopold relentlessly pursuing Wooly around the room in an effort to hump him. So is this how it is going to be? How should I handle this? Should I just let Leopold do whatever he wants and eventually he’ll be all humped out? I mean, jeeze! Poor Wooly! All he wanted to do was see Leopold and this is what he gets?

[Monkeybun]

Wait til the hormones are gone. Definitely. His hormone levels will be all over the place for a bit, so it’s safer to keep them apart for now.

Leopold is telling Wooly who the boss is, he will settle eventually once he knows Wooly will accept him as such. But do wait til Wooly is hormone free

[LBJ10]

I have heard of humping to show dominance, but Leopold was an animal! LOL Wooly was being so submissive, you would have thought Leopold would pick up on that. Do you think Leopold senses something has changed and that’s why he’s so bent on humping? He was a lot nicer to Wooly whenever they were together in the past, they would even groom each other a bit. Well anyway, I think I have convinced my husband that it is best to wait another 3 weeks to try bonding them for real. I think he’s just impatient because he really has it in his head that they should be living together in the same cage. I don’t know if I want that though if this is what Wooly will be subjected to 24/7!

[Monkeybun]

he won’t have to deal with it 24/7, don’t worry. Leopold will settle down as time goes on, and it’s definitely possible he knew something had changed with Wooly. Bunnies are sensitive to scent changes

[Beka27]

Eventually, humping can be allowed in limited doses. Sometimes it’s the only way to get them past that stage. But at this point, it is far too soon after Wooly’s neuter for him to be humped like that. For his safety, you have to wait until he is completely healed.

[LBJ10]

I feel bad since Wooly seemed upset this morning. It’s not like Leopold was hurting him, but I suppose I would be mad too. I agree about waiting longer to do this. Unfortunately, Wooly is going to have to get subjected to the humping at some point though. Poor thing!

[Beka27]

Humping isn’t bad tho. It seems that people never want their rabbits to hump ever, but it’s going to happen. I honestly think that it worries us humans more than it does the bunnies. It’s a show for dominance, and it is very common. You do not want them to hump “the wrong way” because the rabbit underneath can bite the humper’s genitals resulting in a nasty wound. You do not want the humping to continue longer than maybe 20-30 seconds. At that point, try to nudge the humper off. If the rabbit being humped is accepting and always has the option/space to run off, it can be allowed. The issue at this point is with Wooly being so newly neutered.

There is humping in my pair every single day. They have been bonded for almost 3 years. For some pairs, this is something that is always present. Others will establish dominance and then eventually stop the humping, except maybe on the rare occasion.

As far as your husband, if he thinks he can do a better job, by all means, allow him to do the research required and sit for hours and hours supervising the bunnies interactions. This way YOU can lay down, have a glass of wine, maybe read a good book…? Sounds like a win-win for all! LOL!

But in all seriousness, he needs to recognize that there is no guarantee with bonding bunnies. Some bond instantly, some take months. Some DO NOT BOND and can never live in the same habitat. For every member we have with a bonded pair, we have another member with two buns who, despite trying every method, would literally tear each other apart given the opportunity. Hopefully he knew this was a possibility. Let’s say you can not bond them. Will he be okay with having them live separately for the next 8-12 years, or would he want to rehome one or the other?

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