March madness or ehm…. another form of excitement?

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

It’s been unseasonably warm in the Netherlands for the last couple of weeks, and nature is confused. Some plants are already budding and animals are more active.

There’s also a massive spike in Owen and Molly’s activity level: they’re practically bouncing off the walls and want to run and play all the time. When they’re tired they do get together more often, laying with their heads together touching through the bars, or side by side. It’s very cute and it gives me some hope for the future.

 

Owen acted really strangely tonight though: he ran around Molly’s pen, humming loudly, doing binkies and raising his tail. He got so worked up that he crashed into her pen at high speed, that ended his antics for a while.

 

Is this just plain March madness, or is he ehm… happy to see her? Maybe she’s giving signals because she’s still hormonal?

(Both bunnies are fixed, but somehow Molly has hormones that shouldn’t have been there. She still acts like an unpredictable teenager and has big mood swings, which is why she’s in a pen for now. She’s a unique case and doctors are still looking for a treatment.)

 

I took this video of Owen’s behaviour. Sorry about the poor lighting, but I had to record it quickly. Can anybody tell me more about this behaviour?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5jnec2mc6bzygpj/20230114_222347.mp4?dl=0

 

[Bam]

I think its March madness, because I’ve seen it both Bam (neutered male, living single) and Vilde (intact male, single) in January. It seems early in the year, but there is already a continous increase in amount of daylight compared to mid winter. It is primarily amount of light that drives these hormones. (Outdoors male buns need a certain temp for sperm production, but for indoors buns, the ambient temperature is always favorable for procreation). Not that Owen will produce any sperm, of course, but he still has some testo production by his adrenal glands.

Molly could be exuding more sex  hormones, triggered by the increase in light and Owen could be responding to that.

It is rather annoying, because it can trigger spraying and poop marking, but it will pass.

[DanaNM]

My buns too! Coop and Bonnie have been absolutely bonkers! We’ve had some weirdly warm days as well and everyone’s molting like crazy!

. . . 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.  

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Oof, it sounds like they all coordinated it again to the minute. How on earth do they do it, across continents with different weather patterns and halfway around the globe?

 

We saw a documentary lately called “Remarkable Rabbits”. It showed the mating ritual of wild rabbits, and we noticed that Owen and Molly make exactly the same binkies as rabbits do in the wild.

The “cavorting” ritual has the male rumning towards the female. She sits still, but suddenly jumps straight into the air like an exploding popcorn kernel. The male speeds by under her when she’s in the air, doing his own binkies below her. It’s really impressive to see.

I’ve only seen male binkies before: Breintje’s were similar to Owen’s binkies, but Owen is a bit more oafish and crashes into things more often.

Molly does a type of binky that I never saw before until I watched that documentary. From a normal standing position she just jumps into the air half a metre high. It’s really impressive!

Who knew that male and female domesticated rabbits may still have different binky patterns?

I’m definitely seeing a lot of these binkies from Molly lately, so she may be in the mood. She’s also very cheeky and constantly demanding attention. She’s super affectionate towards Bas too: he can pet her when she’s loafing! I’m the big bogeyman for the moment, she only wants something to do with me if I’m holding a treat or opening her pen.

[DanaNM]

Oh man, now I think Cooper has a bladder infection. All of the sudden (starting today) he’s dribbling dark brown urine all over the place. Poor baby doesn’t look very comfortable either. Hopefully our vet will be able to see him tomorrow or at least early this week.

. . . 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.  

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