Mounting

[bunnyjames]

Hi everyone im new here and was wondering if i can get some help. About  2 weeks ago i got two rabbits from a a co-worker who was moving and couldnt take her bunnies with her, since i have a pretty big back yard i decided to take them in, she told me they were both males but now i am not sure both really are. one is about 4 yrs old and the younger one is about 7 or 8 months since i got them they younger bunny has been mounting the older one EVERY SINGLE night, this goes on for like hours, it gets tired gets off and a couple minutes later mounts the other rabbit again. Im now scared that the oldest one is actually a female since she doesnt try to mount the youngest but just runs away when she gets annoyed after a while and also when i carried he/her yesterday i noticed she had nipples and the youngest one doesnt, so now im really worried. I called my dogs vet and he told me it might be that the rabbit is just trying to establish his dominance, but he referred me to a vet who deals with rabbits and my appt. isnt until next week. Is this behavior normal IF both rabbits ARE in fact male? When i say every night i really mean every night for the past 2 weeks. Right now they both stay in the house and share a cage, I tried separating them two nights ago i went and bought another cage but the little one cried all night until i took him out and put him/her back in with the older one. I hate having to separate them since they both seem REALLY CLOSE and get pretty sad when they are not together.

[Monkeybun]

Are they neutered? If not, definitely get them done!

[bunnyjames]

No, neither is neuter they have an appointment for next week and that will DEFINATELY be done.

[Monkeybun]

Oh good, the sooner the better, especially if one turns out to be a girl! Girls do mount, but even if they are both boys, they can mount.. its a show of dominance for them. Its also a sign they are a little… frustrated… so getting them neutered will fix that.

[RabbitPam]

Ordinarily I’d say separate them, but they’ve been together so much that it is probably too late to prevent pregnancy if they are opposite sex. It’s usually pretty easy to tell an adult male. They have testicles, and also the penis can become quite visible. If your coworker was sure they were males, maybe you could call and ask her how she determined that. 7 months is also old enough to be able to tell. My guess is that they are.

As the others said, mounting is due to dominance, and the teenager is having a hormone surge. Neutering him asap is going to help a lot. But they do sound bonded already to me.

[bunnyjames]

Only the small one mounts though, the older one i have NEVER seen it mount, the little one is the persistant one, he/she will also do it if it sees im petting the older one he/she will immediately mount the older, and when i push him/her away it starts trying to nip at my hand. will neutering him/her really stop it completely i feel bad for the other one since it just lays there while it mounts and after a while tries to run away but the small one is really persistent. Is there a reason why the older one has nipples and the younger one doesnt?

[Beka27]

At 7-8 months, the younger one is right in the middle of his teenager period where hormones are going to be the strongest. The reason the older one may not mount is that the younger one has already been established as dominant bun, OR at an older age, that urge is no longer present.

I’m guessing that if the coworker had these buns all this time and never had a litter, they are both male OR both female. Females can also mount. Do you see testicles on either of them? If they are both female, I’d strongly recommend you get them in to be spayed ASAP. At 4 years old, the uterine cancer clock is ticking and time is of the essence.

[jerseygirl]

Just wanted to add, besides dominance, rabbits can also mount when stressed. So the little one may also be reacting to new place. That, plus hormones plus age plus dominance would be playing havoc with him. Neutering will definately help settle some of this behaviour.

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