Humpy bunny problem

[Knittybun]

Almost three years ago, we bonded our recently widowed female with a new younger male.  It was not an easy bonding, but they eventually settled in together.  Our girl is now 10 1/2 years old, generally healthy, but thin and frail looking.  He is approx 6yrs old, and chubby.  Recently we have noticed that he has been mounting her in an vigourous manner that has me very concerned for her safety.  She has a bit of a limp, and I’m scared that this is too much preasure for her hips.  She use to be a very vocal bunny, making her displeasure know clearly with a grunt or a snap, but now she is so much quieter and doesn’t have the strength to fight back.  When they first bonded there was some humping, and the odd time over the last couple years, but it has become all too regular now.  

At the moment we have speorated them for a temporary time out after pulling him off twice in less the 5 min.  We have had to rearrange the furniture for some working being done in the house today, including their usual hangout, so we wondered if the stress of that could have caused the ramp up today.  He’s always been a very sensitive, timid bunny.

Is there anything we can do to stop the humping? I would hate to have to seporate them.  Our girl has almost always had a partner, and took the loss of her first partner of seven years, very hard. I would hate for her to have to be alone. 

[Mikey]

If they feel they are in a new area, they will feel like their hierarchy is messed up and might need to be rebonded. The rebonding will go easier, and hopefully will help the mounting simmer down to a minimum for your poor girl. If he doesnt slow down/stop with the mounting, and you feel he is hurting your girl, you might need to keep them close but separated to avoid her pain

Are they both spayed/neutered?

[Knittybun]

Yes, they are both fixed, have been for years.
Today’s rearrangement was temporary, and has been reset to the usual arrangement. Things have been quiet for the rest of the day. But even before the adjustment, he was acting up. Maybe a few events a week. Maybe more that we are unaware of.
We are keeping a close eye on them both, and on her walking.
Any thoughts on deturnents?
Thank you!

[Knittybun]

One thing that did change was that they started spending more time in there tunnels then in the more open area of the living room.  This started several weeks ago, around the time the humping started increasing.  This seemed to be her choice, as he usually just follows her lead on most things. The tunnels are still in the same space, and have always been around, just a recent increase in interest.  Could the tighter quarters in the tunnels have something to do with it?

[LBJ10]

Something made him think he needed to reassert his dominance. What is actually going on in his little bunny brain is anyone’s guess though. Typically, the humper settles down once they have everything “worked out”. If you’re concerned that he could be hurting her, then you can try redirecting him. Let him hump her for a few seconds, then turn him away from her and onto a stand-in. Most people use a stuffed animal as a stand-in.

[jerseygirl]

When my neutered buck reached 6-7years of age, he became like this also. When I was looking into it, I found several owners reporting it occurring with their boys also starting around age 5-7. I didn’t find much that was definitive about it, but most speculated it was possibly an adrenal problem.
I haven’t had much luck getting this tested. The vets Ive spoken too said they dont have the normal hormone assays for desexed rabbits to test… 

Binky Bunny also experienced this a bit with her rabbit Jack. The circumstances were different as she was bonding him with a new mate, so some humping was to be expected. But she felt it was over the top for him. It was discovered he had a bladder stone and the vet thought perhaps the humping was some displacement behaviour. Anyway, he had the stone removed and the bonding went smoother after he had recovered. 

With my rabbit Rumball, it ebbs and flows. It has settled a bit now. He does get more like it when I’m in their area cleaning or when they are in close quarters together.
With my pair, Ive given Ailis a box she can sit up on top of that there is only enough room for her. So if he is getting really annoying, she can go there where he can’t bother her.
If your girl is a bit frail, this might not work for her but could you give her a hidey box that only she can fit into? Or perhaps a ramp up to a shelf that is only wide enough for one rabbit?
The only concern with this is if she felt the need to jump down if he came up the ramp with intentions to hump. Or if she ends up in a hidey box most of the day if he won’t give up.
Out of curiosity, are you noticing certain times of day that he gets like this or is it totally random?

[LBJ10]

Hmm, good thoughts Jersey. It might be something to check out if he doesn’t settle down soon.

[jerseygirl]

It’s kind of hard to check out, from my experience though. But from what Ive seen, these buns do act much like newly neutered rabbits and there is the dominance plays as suggested.
With Rumball, he even took up spraying.

[Knittybun]

Oh goodness! I hope he doesn’t start spraying. We had enough of that when we first got our girl, before she was spayed.
Just had another incident. She was half in the tunnel, with her butt sticking out, and he mounted her. I picked him up, growled at him, and set him down on the far side of the rug. He went off to hide in the litter box. She didn’t do anything the whole time. She didn’t even move when I picked him up. I went to check on her again once he was settled in the litterbox, at which point she was getting up, so I pet her nose a bit. She went for a hop around, sat in their box house for a moment, then went back to the tube, where he had also returned to.
I’m not sure if she just not bothered by it, or doesn’t have the strength to protest.

[LBJ10]

The possibility of a bladder stone can be checked out. But yes, some of the possibilities could end in speculation.

Knittybun – I wouldn’t get too worried yet. Wait and see if this plays out. If he is feeling insecure about something, he should start to settle down. Normally, I just say to let them hump it out. As long as the humping isn’t causing fights or distress, then there is no reason to intervene. Since you were worried that he was hurting her, I suggested the surrogate humpee.

[Author]

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