Odd Behavior

[Nova]

 Phenom is not acting aggresive anymore. Instead, she is acting the opposite – very clingy, following me around, perky.

This morning, when I went to pick her up, she began rapidly humping (I call it jackhammering..lol) my hand and then let out a big… cough? or grunt?Her entire body thrusted forward – almost felt like a big sneeze. But it didn’t add up with the jackhammering. I thought okay maybe she sneezed. This is accompanied by a strange … scent? odor? Kind of skunky. Her stools are normal, eating and drinking normally.

But now she does it every time I pick her up. Jackhammers my hand for a few seconds and then thrusts, coughs.

She’s otherwise acting happy.

So now I am wondering 

 

1. What is this behavior? Why?

2. could it be hormonal?

3. Is she a HE?

 

I’m wondering if maybe her gender is wrong because she seemingly does not have a dewlap. Although she doesnt have testicles either. I looked at her genitals it’s definitely not a circle, it’s kind of a slit, but if you pull the skin back enough it can resemble a circle. This is so very confusing. I am so inexperienced with gender-specific bunny stuff. Please help!

 

(Maybe I should take a pic of her hoo-ha?)

 

[Sam and Lady's Human]

How old is she and have you taken her to the vet yet? Not every female gets a dewlap, and as for their genitals, it looks ridiculously the same for the first few months

ETA, Neither of my females (1 spayed one not) have done that.

[bullrider76543]

Umm I dont know about any females cause I have only had males but Nibbette used to do that to my wifes leg. She might just be a he…

[Nova]

She’s been to the vet but he only palpated her abdomen to check for malformed stools (when Beau was alive, we couldnt figure out which of them had mushy poo). The vet didnt look at her genitals.
She’s 4.5 months old, and is a Dwarf breed (dwarf hotot) so it’s EXTREMELY hard to tell at this stage. Dwarf breeds sexually mature quicker, too.

If she is a he… I’m gonna flip, cause the whole reason why I had neutered Beau is cause we didnt want babies. But, Beau died during that surgery. It may not have even been necessary…

I am going to take a photo of her hoo-ha. I will post it here in a few mins.

brb

[Stickerbunny]

The behavior you are describing sounds like when my male would hump my female, when he “finished” he’d grunt and roll over … I have been told that is the normal, uh, behavior of a male in orgasm by someone who breeds them around here.

[Nova]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah I thought thats probably what it sounds like – a male orgasm…. this is so confusing. Her bum has some cecum poops around it, apologies. These were the best photos I could get. Can you tell me what you think? If I pull the skin back too much it looks a little like a hole rather than a slit. So I used moderate pressure.

 

[Nova]

No ideas huh.. lol

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Ohhh that is a boy-I’m sure of it. The last picture you posted has a definite (to my vision) ‘cheerio’ -Very very sure, at least from the picture-very sure.

Certainly females do that too, and Kokanee would do exactly what you were describing -this cough sneeze thing at the end. Normal, at any rate. Perhaps time for the neuter and in the meantime a stuffed animal for such activities?

[Nova]

ohhh boy…..

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Here’s pictures, basically a girl from the side looks like a triangle/pyramid, and boys look more like a tube
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml

[Nova]

 That’s the thing, it doesn’t quite look like a tube with a hole to me… but also doesn’t seem to be shaped like a “pyramid” either, well not completely, and the slit is not very pronounced, if there is one.

 

This is really bugging me, because I don’t know what to call “her” anymore….

 

Here are some additional photos…. from diff angles

 

 

 

[Sam and Lady's Human]

ok looking at this one, it looks more like a girl? http://www.raising-rabbits.com/sexing-rabbits.html

[RabbitPam]

If it’s not to difficult, when she starts humping again, but before the grunt and smell, can you take a look? Spockie, a boy, did that too, and I was always able to see his “toothpick” very clearly when it was erect. Because your bunny is so much smaller, that could be a he, and the behavior sounds similar.

Why don’t you make an appointment for a spay or neuter with a vet you want to use, and see what the vet says?
I wouldn’t put that kind of regret and “what if” on the tragedy with Beau. A neuter is also very good for a bunny’s health, so it would have been your decision anyway. No reason to second guess yourself with blame. You did what was wise under the circumstances with the information you had.
It’s good that you are trying to get this question resolved, too.

[Stickerbunny]

Indeed, Pam is right not to worry about the “what if” – even if your girl turns out to be a boy, often (usually) two unneutered males will fight if around each other, so you would have needed to have it done anyway. It was an unfortunate accident and very rare for a bun to not make it through neuter surgery. *hugs* Don’t feel bad if your other bun is also a boy.

[Nova]

*nods*

I did take a peek just before she grunted and there was nothing. I was reading on one of the sites in the links here and on one of the pages it said to very gently roll back the “foreskin” of the genital *if* the rabbit is at least at sexual maturing age or older and…VERY gentle cause you can inure them if youre not.. if male, its little penis will pop out when you do this, and if female, the slit will just get deeper. Well, I did that, and the hole just got deeper. Kind of an oval-slit-like-hole.

True about the neutering thing… an unfortunate accident indeed… I guess its normal for me to ask myself if I could have done something different, would he be alive today.. but he and Noms were very, very bonded..

Oh also Noms has pretty pronounced nipples. dunno if that matters, lol. and I can’t see any testicles. I know, that wouldn’t mean they’re not there if she is a boy. I really hope she’s not. It’d be weird to stop calling her my little princess! But she could be my little prince, just like Beau was.

[Emmie]

I would certainly hedge my bets on you having a little male there. I thought Thane was female for the longest time, then one day… BAM! Testicles, ha! He’s also a dwarf rabbit, unneutered (He’s recovering from a UTI) and has never been sexually interested, luckily. Not to worry, I’m told there’s no major difference between raising a male and a female.

[MimzMum]

Kind of hard to say, first pic I’d say male, but second seems more like female to me. And it looks like her anal glands want cleaning. That could be contributing to the skunky smell.
A trip to an exotics vet you trust is in order, if only to determine gender and set up a speuter. I know it had to have made you gunshy to lose your dear Beau like that, but you still want the best start for Phenom (which is an excellent gender neutral name, btw.) Perhaps the full glands are causing her discomfort, hence the behavior. My Pip went through a UTI recently that made her wet her bedding, become aggressive and bite and also her glands got packed with goo. She was an unhappy bun till we got that under control.

We also misgendered both her and Mimzy. It happens.

Some vibes for you and Noms. ((((((((((((((vibes)))))))))))) I hope things improve soon.

[TaraMichele]

 My female sophie had this exact behavior towards my boyfriend..it got to a point he couldnt go in the room without being attacked and she would do the grunting noise quite a bit…and oddly my boy never did any humping until he met sophie but prior to it was pretty easy to see he was a male… One of the ways I definitely knew was when he was cleaning his privates, couldnt miss the “tube”

[Sarita]

This behavior is not a gender thing – males and females both have this type of behavior if not altered.

[LBJ10]

I guess there was never a question with either of my buns. They were both very obviously boys and had their little jewels to prove it. LOL I’m saying this even when Wooly turned out to have one undescended testicle since there was a little fat deposit where that one should have been. It was really weird and the vet was even confused at first.

Anyway, both boys and girls will hump things. Leopold was the only one of my two that ever humped anything. I don’t recall the sneezing thing, but he was already neutered when he was humping so maybe nothing could happen? LOL

[Nova]

My fiance obviously wants a daughter. Everytime I mention that Noms might be a dude… he’s like “NO! SHE is wearing a TUTU FOR HALLOWEEN!” lmao (this of course is a joke..) their appts with their new vet are in an hour. So we’ll find out for sure. and love her just as much either way.

Yes I know her glands need frequent cleanings.

[Nova]

She is a confirmed girl, lol. We had to stretch the vagina back up (upwards, meaning, toward her head) a bit to see the “slit” If she were a boy, his little penis would pop out if you did that.Cool technique you guys might like to know!

[MimzMum]

Oh dear…definitely want to see pix if she does end up in a tutu. But yeah, I don’t dress my bunnies either. I have often bought the little hats and stuff that are bunny sized and then I put them on my stuffed animals instead. lol.
I don’t even dress my yorkie unless it’s for outdoors, and then only essentials to keep her warm/dry.
Congrats that she is a girl! It’s hard when you find you’ve been calling your bun ‘she’ when it’s a ‘he’ and vice versa, (btdt) although I don’t think the bunnies care much. ^_^
Stretching private parts…um…ow. 0_o

I read your other thread about the newborn bunnies and I am glad you’ve found a vet who is as excited about bunnies as you are. (Also good on you for taking on this pet store, I hope it turns out well for all involved.) I understand her not wanting to clean the glands for fear of infection, but I find my lionhead, Pip, needs it done often because otherwise she does get very caked and uncomfortable and my mini rex will smell terrible without cleaning. However, my lop has never needed his done. I guess it’s a ‘to each his own’ thing.

Did she say anything about the behavior?

[Nova]

Yeah I think I am gonna try to see if I can get her comfortable and maybe use a softer cotton swab :\ I’m not sure why the vet told me not to bother with it… my vet said she has four rabbits and the one in particular has the same problem with the glands and while she does swab it off, usually it just causes her bunny stress when she does it. :\

She said the behavior is hard to tell because both males and females hump. The hormones are a-ragin’, and I’m guessing Noms went through a tough puberty, while her bonded mate died too :\
She’s acting aggressive instead of amorous again (I think she’s incredibly PO’d that she went to the vet, lol)

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