neutered bunny trying to hump me non-stop

[Marsh]

I don’t know if it’s that it’s spring, or that he’s hit puberty, or what, but my neutered rabbit keeps attempting to hump me. He didn’t show any of this kind of behavior when I adopted him. He’s also started spraying, when before he’d almost exclusively pee in his litter box. Most of the time it will be because I’m cleaning up his territorial droppings, but sometimes he’ll come up to me or my little sister and spray on us out of nowhere. And this has begun happening multiple times a day. He’s also licking and nipping me excessively, usually while attempting to hump me,  to the point that he’s leaving bruises. It’s very weird to see his bunny dick as he attempts to scale my arm and literally vibrates against my arm in attempt to get friction and digs his teeth into my arm to try and keep me from moving my arm away and I’m very very tired and don’t know what to do.

He’s neutered, the vet confirmed it. So why is he so aggressively trying to mate with my arm? And being so suddenly territorial in general?

These days he’s either a complete terror or the sweetest thing in existence and I’m at such a loss.

[Azerane]

How old is he? Did you adopt him from a rescue?

Thirdly, how did the vet confirm he was neutered? Was it simply looking for testicles and not seeing them? Rabbits can draw them in to hide in a sort of little pouch of skin, especially when they feel scared or threatened such as at a vet visit. To find them when they’re like that you sort of need to push down and part the skin a little. Additionally if he’s young and just coming into puberty, it’s possible they hadn’t dropped yet when the vet saw him. The age when this happens can vary a little.

It certainly doesn’t sound like behaviour you would expect from a neutered rabbit. Spring can certainly bring these sort of behaviours on, but not usually to this extent with neutered buns.

[Marsh]

The vet said he’s probably around 7 months old, and also found the scars from the neutering; and I’ve never seen his bunny balls. I adopted him from a shelter (who also said he was neutered). However, I have no clue when he was neutered. He was abandoned at the shelter without any information.

[Wick & Fable]

If he was recently neutered (i.e., within the past month), it could be the post-neuter craze which just needs time to simmer itself down. Alternatively, it could be he was neutered and he actually still has a testicle or testicle matter causing the hormonal behavior. My rescue very recently discovered one of our rabbits who was indeed neutered had a 3rd testicle discovered via ultrasound, requested because he would sporadically show behaviors expected of a hormonal, intact rabbit.

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.

[DanaNM]

Very unusual!

Sometimes bladder issues can cause hormonal behaviors in neutered buns. You may want your vet to rule out a bladder infection or urinary stones.

How long have you had him?

. . . 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.  

[Marsh]

Thanks guys! I ended up contacting my vet, and he offered to see Archie tomorrow (free of charge!!) to make sure that he was right in saying Archie was neutered, and to ensure that all the genitalia was removed and hadn’t receded inwards. So we’ll be going to the vet then, and in the meantime I rubbed my hair on a stuffed animal so it would smell like me and gave it to him to groom/hump, in the hopes that he’ll stop trying to mate with my arms, because it was making me extremely uncomfortable.

I’ve had him just over two months, and he was neutered before we adopted him.

[DanaNM]

I think a vet visit is a good idea!  Even if he was neutered RIGHT before you got him, his hormones would have settled after 2 months.

A stuffy is a good idea!

. . . 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.  

[LBJ10]

It’s good that you are double checking! You never know, there could have been a mistake.

[Marsh]

UPDATE:  He’s not neutered!!!

He’d had them receded the past two times, and he receded them almost immediately after the vet saw them today. We’re looking into getting him neutered, but it’s a relief that we know what’s been going on with him, and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I’m also super happy because neutered bunnies are apparently much easier to litter train, so besides getting him to stop spraying and leaving territorial droppings (at least not to the current extent) I’ll probably also have better luck getting him to use the litter box in general!

(However, Archie is very mad at me atm for taking him to the vet lol.)

Also I’ll be very happy when he stops nipping, humping, and spraying me.

Neutering is very expensive where I am, so we’re seeing if the place we adopted him from might be able to do it for a discount, since they did tell us he was neutered (and I kept the adoption papers, so we have it in writing). I’m not sure how we’ll afford it otherwise, unless we go to a charity of some sort.

 

[DanaNM]

Whew! What a relief!! And so good they were able to check! That really explains everything!

And yes I bet the rescue will help you out, they will probably be very embarrassed that they adopted out an un-neutered rabbit!

. . . 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.  

[Azerane]

Wonderful news that you have an answer to all those questions! Good idea on going back to the adoption place as well. You might need it in writing from your vet that he isn’t neutered they might want to contact the vet themselves to confirm.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

What a mess… But I’m glad that it’s something that can be fixed (wink wink, nudge nudge… ehm… I’ll see myself out…)

Sadly it happens sometimes that adoption places advertise with fixed rabbits, and you get a surprise when you take them home 🙁

A friend of mine is very fond of rescuing and she brought her male bun to a shelter to be bonded to a rescue. They bonded him to an unspayed female, while the staff said that she was spayed. (Bonding with an intact rabbit is very questionable, because hormones can cause dangerous aggression.)

When she took the rabbits home the female became very territorial and peed everywhere. A vet visit confirmed that she was still intact, and that meant a €300 surprise spay bill. A couple of weeks after her spay the urinating behaviour didn’t stop. Turns out that she has incontinence problems as well. What a lovely surprise…

Sadly she didn’t have a proper case against the shelter because it was a verbal confirmation that she was spayed. I’m glad that you have paperwork to back you up.

If they act up you can also report this place to the animal welfare authorities: these “mix-ups” are so bad for rabbit welfare. Imagine that you had a young female that was still too young to be spayed: he could have gotten her pregnant at an age where that’s very risky. Imagine that he was adopted by a less caring owner: they might have dumped him if they heard that he still needed such an expensive surgery. There are some things that you need to be sure of when dealing with rabbits, and being fixed or not is probably the most important one.

[Marsh]

Oh wow! That’s awful 🙁

Thankfully, the shelter was super apologetic and one of their vets is going to be neutering him on June 1st free of charge. I’m nervous, but I talked to the vet’s assistant and they’ve been doing this for a really long time and have only ever had it go wrong once.

Quick question, so in a month or two I’m going to look into getting Archie a friend. If I ask the shelter to confirm in writing that they were the ones to neuter/spay the bunny, then that’ll ensure that they’re telling the truth, right? Since they wouldn’t want to risk legal action? I just really want Archie’s friend to already be a fixed adult so we don’t go through this again

[DanaNM]

I think asking for written confirmation is fair. Usually adoption paperwork will have the date of spay or neuter on it. Also I’m very sure that Archie’s situation was an error from the shelter, rather than an intentional lie! Rescues deal with tons of rabbits and mistakes and mix-ups do happen sometimes, although they are very rare!

. . . 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]

Awww, Archie is a very cute name ^_^ Glad that things worked out and that they’re going to solve the problem without extra costs for you!

Bunny surgeries have become a lot safer over the years as veterinary techniques improved. A neuter is a small and simple procedure and not very invasive. Right after the surgery they get a dose of Metacam painkillers which works for 24 hours, and that is enough for most bunnies. Our Owen was active and happy again within 2 days.

An important thing to do as an owner is to feed Archie well on the day of his surgery. Rabbits shouldn’t be fasted before surgery: it only slows their recovery and can cause GI issues. They need all the energy they can get.

There’s one thing that you may want to get to help him be comfortable after his neuter: a hot water bottle with a cover. Some bunnies are a bit inactive and cold after surgery, and they like to snuggle up against something warm. I wouldn’t recommend chewable things like cherry pit cushions or liquid hot packs, because bunnies are curious and get in trouble easily.

Yes, I think that it’s reasonable to ask for a written confirmation. Here in the EU pets have a passport which contains info on their dental status, vaccinations and surgeries. If they don’t have that you could always ask the shelter if they know anything about the rabbit’s medical history.

It’s always a good idea to take your new rabbit to the vet just after you got them. We did the same the day after we picked up our new buns from a hobby breeder: just a quick checkup to see if they’re healthy, and giving them their vaccinations ASAP.

[Marsh]

Update: He got neutered this morning and is now safe and home <3

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Woohoo! Glad that it went well ^_^ Hoping for a speedy recovery for Archie!

[DanaNM]

Excellent! thanks for the update!

. . . 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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