Humping – to control or not to control…

[hooty22]

Hello BinkyBunny gang! Long time, no talk. After finally solving the ‘Felony won’t stop humping the new kittens’ problem, I decided to prolong my insanity. Fel has a new bro! He’s a very big and very handsome himalayan/new zealand that we have dubbed Mr. Molesley. I just started bonding them today, and it seems to be going well.

I can’t seem to find an answer to my question in the bonding forum. They aren’t aggressive, and it seems to be going pretty well, but they keep playing Ring Around the Rosie. They spin around face to butt in an attempt to win humping position. There is a little fur nipping and a touch of pulling, but nothing bad. Should I let them hump and spin until they get dizzy as long as its not getting overly aggressive?

[LittlePuffyTail]

Congrats on your new bun! Pictures please.

Most reading I have done on bonding, I don’t have a lot of hands-on experience, states that you should let them work out the humping issues, as long as there is no aggression. They need to work out their hierarchy on their own.

[hooty22]

Also, any idea on when I should introduce Molesley to the kittens? Felony and the kits are bffs for life. Should I introduce the kits before the bonding with him and Felony is complete?

[CharliePebblets]

Hello Hooty!!  From what you described it sounds just like what I just posted here early this morning!! I put up the video too – our bunnies run around each other in circles and he humps her – and the nipping of the fur and such – you should watch the video and see if that’s what yours looks like!  Then we know we aren’t alone!! It’s the post titled “2nd Video update what’s going on here?” I wasn’t sure about the nipping of fur either – I saw him at one point with a tuft of her fur sticking out of his mouth!  (not in video) But yeah, they seemed to just do that for a while and then just relax.. have a bite to eat.. lay down, chill.. then he’ll start it up again..   sure is cute though eh??

[Stickerbunny]

They are both trying to see if they are going to be able to be the dominant one. They have to sort it out on their own, as long as there is no injury or excessive stress. If you fear for injury or stress gets to the point one or the other is really upset (IE: my girl would cry in the most pitiful sound when she was humped) then step in and stop it. Else, when they figure out who is going to be dominant, it should die down. If you do need to stop it, just petting them can sometimes distract them enough and aid in bonding. Or, a spray bottle work too, if they really aren’t responding well to distraction and other methods of stopping. For the most part, that isn’t required though.

As for the kittens, i’d bond them first before you throw in the cats scents.

[peppypoo]

Yep, they’ve got to sort out the pecking order. Sometimes when one bunny is humping another, the one on top will bite a tuft of fur on the other’s back to get a grip…do try to prevent this from happening excessively. Also, if one bunny is shown to consistently be the hump-er, it might be nice to let the poor little guy on the bottom catch a break and stop them for a little bit. Otherwise, it’s definitely just part of bonding behavior.

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