Mamma humping babies

[Laura]

Hi,

I’m fostering momma and 3 babies for the Humane Society.  I have had them for a week.  Babies are 5 weeks old.  For the last 24 hours momma has been humping her babies and she has been hopping around the pen like a crazy bun.  She is also thumping and I have no idea what she is thumping for.  Should I do anything?

Also, I have them in a small dog pen (taking them out of the cage the shelter had them in).  The bottom is lined with a tarp and a towel, litter box on one end, blanket on the other end, food and water in the middle (against the sides).   The pee and poop is out of control.  Sometimes momma and babies use the box, I clean it out twice a day.  But there is still a lot of pee in front of the box (probably the babies).  I’m picking up poo 3 times a day (I come home for lunch).  I replace the towel once a day but it needs to be done more than that, they could get urine burn.  I will have them for 3 more weeks what other set up can I do for them?  I was thinking of getting rid of the towel and laying down bedding/shavings, still keep the litter pan and blanket.  Oh I don’t know.

Thanks again,

Laura 

[Sarita]

I think Momma needs some time away from the kids. Can you separate them so she can get some mommy time away?

I think no matter what you do you are going to have to clean alot – babies are MESSY. I think if you put bedding and shavings down it’s going to be more work though cleaning that often – big cage/pen and cleaning that may be challenging.

[Laura]

I do take the babies out for 15 min to 1/2 hour at night to clean everything and feed momma veggies.

Last night was the first time I took momma out of the pen, but I have to keep her in the kitchen/dining area. I can’t let her go into the living room because that is where Bambi and Cinnamon play at night and I don’t want her to leave her scent and get Bambi and Cinnamon upset and start peeing/pooping in the living room.

I could put the babies back in the cage that they came in, it’s big enough for 3 babies, just not all 4 of them. How much time alone does momma need?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Agreed-take momma out for her sanity

Moms in the wild and in general (Bunny moms, but I’m sure human moms wish it were the same) Feed twice a day, am and pm. Otherwise they are away from the babies (This is because the babies do not smell-will not lure predators to them, so mom keeps away-because she does smell and does not want to lure predators to the babies….also babies  constatntly asking to play videogames are annoying so mom keeps ‘busy’ elsewhere &#160.

Let mom out as much as you can-conceivably ‘free range’ so she can go to the babies and feed them when needed but otherwise be away-that’s natural.

Keep us posted!

[Beka27]

You might try to attach an xpen and make it where mom can hop over the divider but babies cannot… It is unnatural for mom to be around the babies that much.

[Desma]

Maybe she is demonstrating and teaching her babies “sex education”?

[Monkeybun]

Mama definitely needs to be away from babies more, 15 minutes to a half hour isnt nearly enough time

[Porsche's Rescue]

My “maternity hutch” allows mums to have a break with a balcony where she can see them, but babies can’t follow as it’s too high for them to hop onto. You could replicate this with a tall box that is comfortable and rigid enough for her to get a bit of sleep.

I think the underlieing problem with her humping is that she’s oversexed and very dominant. She’s probably not seeing the bunnies as her own babies anymore. Perhaps you should do some experiments, like moving a fake bunny around and seeing if she’ll hump that. Desexing may be the only way to lessen this behaviour, although I’ve found it doesn’t stop it entirely. Of course this isn’t really an option if she’s still feeding them, so I guess there’s not much you can do about it other than make sure she doesn’t injure her babies.

[Laura]

Oh, unfortunately I have no where else to put her. Unless I put the babies back in the cage (wire floor) that the shelter originally put all of them in. But then they can’t run around like they do now in the pen.

And the dog pen they are in now is 3 feet high, and they have all escaped from it (momma jumps, babies climb!).

[Monkeybun]

can you get another pen to let her run around in seperate from the babies for a longer amount of time each day?

[Laura]

No. But I put the babies in the cage for about 2 hours tonight with momma allowed to run around the office. She binks and understands the word no.

[Author]

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