Sudden humping episodes

[LBJ10]

OK… weirdest thing EVER.

I was really annoyed this morning when I went into the rabbit room to give Wooly his meds. There were chunks of fur all over the floor. The internet people were coming today so I quickly picked them up. I thought maybe Wooly was pulling his fur again. He’s done it in the past when he’s upset. I didn’t think much of it after that and left for work.

Well, tonight I happened to glance in their room and there was fur chunks everywhere again. WTH? Then I saw Wooly sitting next to Leopold, who had backed himself into a corner. What happened next was shocking. Wooly went right up to Leopold and mounted him. He latched on and pulled a big chunk of fur out. I exclaimed “Mr. Wooly!” and Wooly stopped and looked at me… with a big chunk of fur just hanging out of his mouth. I told him no and pushed him away from Leopold. While I was standing there, I observed Wooly humping Leopold several more times. He was obsessed. Absolutely obsessed. But the weird thing? Leopold was just taking it. He put his head down as if he was being submissive and allowed Wooly to keep doing it. Excuse me? If you know Leopold, you know his isn’t a pushover. In fact, he was the one who did all the humping during their initial bonding. I’m baffled, but also a bit concerned. I don’t know what would have triggered this. I’m hoping there isn’t anything physically wrong with Wooly. I also don’t want this to escalate.

I did tell Wooly “no” a few more times. He definitely heard me and understood because he would stop and look at me. Then, very slowly and while still looking at me, he would creep back over toward Leopold. I did give them their puzzle toy to play with so they would be distracted. I’m a little worried about going to bed. I don’t want to find fur chunks again.

For those of you who don’t know, both boys are 7 years old. They have been bonded since they were about 6 and 9 months old. Their bond was an easy one. Leopold did some humping and that was it. They were best buddies after that. There have been no issues at all. They love each other and Leopold has been looking after Wooly lately.

[Azerane]

That is very puzzling, especially since they have been bonded for so long with no problems at all. Perhaps Wooly is ok, but maybe Leopold is the one who may be unwell. If he’s acting different to normal or “weaker”, Wooly may be using it to his advantage to gain the upper hand. That being said, I think with their change in age it may also be natural for the pecking order to change after such a length of time, especially if one bunny tends to be more youthful than the other.

I hope you can figure it out and Wooly stops being a little bully.

[Q8bunny]

Could there be any new smells involved? Either in the room or unwittingly transferred onto one of the buns via you guys?

[LBJ10]

I haven’t noticed Leopold acting any differently than normal. It appeared as though Leopold was genuinely trying to be nice to Wooly. I did call the vet. She thinks he might be upset/anxious about something. She said stress can make them want to hump someone or something. I’ve been instructed to give him some melatonin to see if that helps calm him down. I talked to some other people. The only thing we could come up with was the internet guy drilling into the bricks on the outside of the house, but where they were was right where their room is. My husband said it was very loud. Odd though because my husband finished replacing the roof 1.5 weeks ago and they seemed absolutely oblivious to any of that noise. My husband was using a nail gun on the roof and I’m sure they could hear it.

[LBJ10]

FYI – Wooly has pulled out his own fur in the past due to stress.

[Q8bunny]

Rotary drills can produce extremely high frequencies (some we can’t even hear) – so unlike the nail gun, it might’ve been the pitch that freaked him out. Keep in mind that high pitched sounds might be associated with mortal fear or pain in a bun’s mind.

[LBJ10]

It’s possible Q8. I wasn’t home when the internet guy was here. I didn’t even know they were going to mount something on the outside of our house.

[LBJ10]

Well… I can’t tell if the melatonin is doing anything. I did find some 1mg tablets at the health food store. I have to crush them up and mix them with water. Wooly didn’t seem to know the difference since he’s getting antibiotics too. They were sleeping on opposite sides of the room this morning when I went to open their curtain. I didn’t see any hair tufts on the floor. At least no new ones. I think. Huh, it would probably help if I vacuumed the old ones up…

[jerseygirl]

Has this resolved, LBJ??

[LBJ10]

I’ve caught Wooly humping Leopold, but he’s not pulling so much fur.

[sarahthegemini]

Are they back to playing nice now?

I dunno if you saw my thread last week(ish) but I came down to a few fur tufts in the living room. Don’t think it’s moulting as it hasn’t happened since. At all! Curious as to what sparked it but they made up quickly whatever it was!

[LBJ10]

They seem to be playing nice(r). I think Wooly has calmed down at least. I do catch him every once in awhile, but he just does the mounting motion and doesn’t go into full blown humping/fur pulling mode. And if I catch him, I tell him no and he actually stops. Not like before where he would simply pause and then continue on with his humping attempt. LOL

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By LBJ10 on 6/20/2017 9:27 PM

They seem to be playing nice(r). I think Wooly has calmed down at least. I do catch him every once in awhile, but he just does the mounting motion and doesn’t go into full blown humping/fur pulling mode. And if I catch him, I tell him no and he actually stops. Not like before where he would simply pause and then continue on with his humping attempt. LOL

Haha! Well that’s good, I’m pleased to hear that. Bunnies can be so unpredictable! 

[BinkyBunny]

Just saw this! This can happen due to stress for sure – so the noise may cause that. Also discomfort (Jack got humpy when he had a stone in his bladder). It can also happen if a new scent entered the household, whether it be by a friends animal or just left over from clothes (if you were handling an another animal that they are not familiar with).
It can also happen if one of the bunnies smells funny, like if Leopold had a UTI, or if he was at the vet and came home smelling unfamiliar.

Glad to know he is settling down a bit.

[LBJ10]

He is definitely doing better now. He’s not so obsessed. I really think it was the noise. *sigh* And, of course, the 4th of July is just around the corner.

[Author]

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