Two female rabbits humping?

[Homework9293]

I have two female rabbits (or so I was told) and I recently was just watching them in their cage and I could have sworn one humped the other. And then they started circling around each other.

Do two females do this..??

 

[JBun]

Yes, female rabbits will do this as well. It's how rabbits assert dominance. Though it's also possible your rabbits weren't sexed correctly, which can easily happen with young rabbits.

Your rabbits are starting to show hormonal behavior now that they're getting older. Them circling means that aggressive behavior may be escalating. If it continues to escalate, a fight could break out, where serious injuries occur. Once this happens, chances of bonding them once they're spayed, can be greatly diminished.

I would recommend separating tham into their own areas. They would need to be kept separate until they're old enough to get spayed, then wait 3-8 weeks for hormones to fade before attempting bonding sessions.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Spaying_and_neutering_rabbits
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

 

[Preitler]

Normal rabbit behaviour. Does have several escalation steps when sorting out their hierachy, Evil Eye, shooing, humping, circling, short bursts of chasing, plucking fur from each others behind, real chases, full out fight.

So, your does are not neutered, and in puberty (between 3 and 8 months), right? That behaviour shows that there are tensions, nothing critical yet, but have an eye on it and maybe adjust some things.

I keep all my rabbits in pairs, currently one group consists of 11 rabbits, 2 does (3 and 4yo) and 3 litters of which one doe is 6 months now. What makes that work for me is that they have a structured space, 3 hutches connected with tunnels, so if they feel like it they can get out of each others eyes, and each adopts a corner as her space while the rest is common ground. Also, they are out in the garden (ca. 200m²) during daytime.

I would divide their living space with 2 openings to get from one to the other, and make some places that are higher up and only have place for one rabbit, and also hidey houses (at least two openings). Avoid any dead ends.

A lot of that behaviour is triggered by hormones, so getting them spayed might be a good idea.
I'm very cautious about seperating. If you can get them spayed soon, and the situation doesn't get worse, I wouldn't. But as I said, I give my does the opportunity to get out of each others eyes.

Anyway: Check their sex. Sexing them wrong is so common that we attribute it to the Sex Change Fairy (a fat guy in rainbow fairy outfit). Even after 10 years of breeding rabbits I still ask for a second opinion when sorting out litters.

 

[Homework9293]

Normal rabbit behaviour. Does have several escalation steps when sorting out their hierachy, Evil Eye, shooing, humping, circling, short bursts of chasing, plucking fur from each others behind, real chases, full out fight.

So, your does are not neutered, and in puberty (between 3 and 8 months), right? That behaviour shows that there are tensions, nothing critical yet, but have an eye on it and maybe adjust some things.

I keep all my rabbits in pairs, currently one group consists of 11 rabbits, 2 does (3 and 4yo) and 3 litters of which one doe is 6 months now. What makes that work for me is that they have a structured space, 3 hutches connected with tunnels, so if they feel like it they can get out of each others eyes, and each adopts a corner as her space while the rest is common ground. Also, they are out in the garden (ca. 200m²) during daytime.

I would divide their living space with 2 openings to get from one to the other, and make some places that are higher up and only have place for one rabbit, and also hidey houses (at least two openings). Avoid any dead ends.

A lot of that behaviour is triggered by hormones, so getting them spayed might be a good idea.
I'm very cautious about seperating. If you can get them spayed soon, and the situation doesn't get worse, I wouldn't. But as I said, I give my does the opportunity to get out of each others eyes.

Anyway: Check their sex. Sexing them wrong is so common that we attribute it to the Sex Change Fairy (a fat guy in rainbow fairy outfit). Even after 10 years of breeding rabbits I still ask for a second opinion when sorting out litters.

They're 9 weeks old. They haven't shown any signs of aggression AND they're also litter mates. They came from the same mom. I've had them for two weeks and I don't know if it was really circling. After one humped the other they were sort of like sniffing and circling etc. They were just doing binkies together before.

 

[Homework9293]

Yes, female rabbits will do this as well. It's how rabbits assert dominance. Though it's also possible your rabbits weren't sexed correctly, which can easily happen with young rabbits.

Your rabbits are starting to show hormonal behavior now that they're getting older. Them circling means that aggressive behavior may be escalating. If it continues to escalate, a fight could break out, where serious injuries occur. Once this happens, chances of bonding them once they're spayed, can be greatly diminished.

I would recommend separating tham into their own areas. They would need to be kept separate until they're old enough to get spayed, then wait 3-8 weeks for hormones to fade before attempting bonding sessions.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Spaying_and_neutering_rabbits
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

Usually rabbits from the same litter can live together fine no?

 

[Preitler]

Usually rabbits from the same litter can live together fine no?

No, doesn't matter. Once puberty hits you start from square one. Characters need to be compatible, and that doesn't really mean that they should be similiar . That can work, or not, If one is a born Alpha the other needs to be able to cope with that (my 10 and 8yo does are such a pair, Fury still humping her daughter - which just doesn't care) or they simply should get along without putting much energy into hierachy (like my Chantal and Ruth, 3 and 4yo). Siblings can vary one way or another.

I select a doeling from a litter that gets along best with mom, I can wait 6, 7 months to make that decision. Siblings are almost as much a lottery as unrelated rabbits, only thing is that they learned to live with the others quirks, but that isn't always enough.

 

[Homework9293]

No, doesn't matter. Once puberty hits you start from square one. Characters need to be compatible, and that doesn't really mean that they should be similiar . That can work, or not, If one is a born Alpha the other needs to be able to cope with that (my 10 and 8yo does are such a pair) or they simply should get along without putting much energy into hierachy (like my Chantal and Ruth, 3 and 4yo). Siblings can vary one way or another.

I select a doeling from a litter that gets along best with mom, I can wait 6, 7 months to make that decision. Siblings are almost as much a lottery as unrelated rabbits, only thing is that they learned to live with the others quirks, but that isn't always enough.

Okay but think about it. Google resources say litter mates are more than likely to get along.

I've had rats and bred them as well. The siblings would never fight. They would play fight but never be aggressive.

 

[Preitler]

As I said, there is the advantage that they learned social skills to cope with each other. That isn't a guarentee long term, and rabbits are not rats. I think rats are much more pragmatic.
The issue is, if things are prone to escalate every hormonal change can be a trigger. Neutering doesn't remove aggression, just reduces the reasons to pop up. My Dotty (spayed) fiercly attacks any rabbit that enters her territory, even kits - not even Fury, who full out attacks instantly any adult intruding doe, does that.

What I could tell about google doesn't fit here, it just tells you what you are looking for, not the answer to your question.

 

[Blue eyes]

There have been many times here on RO that we've had people get sibling rabbits that ended up fighting with the onset of hormones. As @Preitler explained, being siblings isn't going to make them get along. It's their individual personalities that matter. They may or may not get along after they are fixed.

Google doesn't have all the answers and they can be wrong. I'd trust the experience of actual rabbit owners who have had years of experience with rabbits over anything some random website says.

 

[JBun]

Google isn't the ultimate authority on correct information. Being litter mates doesn't mean rabbits will get along. It is possible that siblings can get along because they grew up with each other, but it ultimately depends on how hormonal each rabbit is, what sex both rabbits are, and what personality each rabbit develops as it matures(dominant, bossy, laid back, submissive, tolerant, etc).

Really hormonal rabbits can pester the other rabbit until it gets fed up with the humping and a fight breaks out. Male/female siblings can more easily get along for the obvious reason of hormones and mating. Female/female siblings can sometimes get along if at least one of them is submissive to the other and they have the space to run away and have a break from the dominant female, but fights can still occur. Male/male siblings will almost never be able to get along when the hormones come in due to the unrelenting humping, and this can lead to vicious, even fatal fights.

We're giving you suggestions and advice based on decades of rabbit experience between us. But it's your choice whether or not you want to take that advice. Just be aware that if your two rabbits end up not being compatible personalities, and the situation escalates into a fight, very serious injuries can occur, that could either result in a very expensive vet trip to stitch up an injury, injuries causing permanent damage like a torn ear, or injuries that can even be fatal to one of the rabbits. It does and can happen, even between sibling bunnies.

Here are just a few past threads on fights breaking out between unfixed siblings as they matured and the hormones started up.

https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/sisters-fighting-help.85642/
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/help-young-rabbit-siblings-fighting.97412/
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/brothers-no-more.83914/

 

[Homework9293]

Google isn't the ultimate authority on correct information. Being litter mates doesn't mean rabbits will get along. It is possible that siblings can get along because they grew up with each other, but it ultimately depends on how hormonal each rabbit is, what sex both rabbits are, and what personality each rabbit develops as it matures(dominant, bossy, laid back, submissive, tolerant, etc).

Really hormonal rabbits can pester the other rabbit until it gets fed up with the humping and a fight breaks out. Male/female siblings can more easily get along for the obvious reason of hormones and mating. Female/female siblings can sometimes get along if at least one of them is submissive to the other and they have the space to run away and have a break from the dominant female, but fights can still occur. Male/male siblings will almost never be able to get along when the hormones come in due to the unrelenting humping, and this can lead to vicious, even fatal fights.

We're giving you suggestions and advice based on decades of rabbit experience between us. But it's your choice whether or not you want to take that advice. Just be aware that if your two rabbits end up not being compatible personalities, and the situation escalates into a fight, very serious injuries can occur, that could either result in a very expensive vet trip to stitch up an injury, injuries causing permanent damage like a torn ear, or injuries that can even be fatal to one of the rabbits. It does and can happen, even between sibling bunnies.

Here are just a few past threads on fights breaking out between unfixed siblings as they matured and the hormones started up.

https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/sisters-fighting-help.85642/
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/help-young-rabbit-siblings-fighting.97412/
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/brothers-no-more.83914/

Okay but how do I know if I have to separate them? What if they were just playing with each other? Is it possible it's just a one time thing?

 

[Homework9293]

Google isn't the ultimate authority on correct information. Being litter mates doesn't mean rabbits will get along. It is possible that siblings can get along because they grew up with each other, but it ultimately depends on how hormonal each rabbit is, what sex both rabbits are, and what personality each rabbit develops as it matures(dominant, bossy, laid back, submissive, tolerant, etc).

Really hormonal rabbits can pester the other rabbit until it gets fed up with the humping and a fight breaks out. Male/female siblings can more easily get along for the obvious reason of hormones and mating. Female/female siblings can sometimes get along if at least one of them is submissive to the other and they have the space to run away and have a break from the dominant female, but fights can still occur. Male/male siblings will almost never be able to get along when the hormones come in due to the unrelenting humping, and this can lead to vicious, even fatal fights.

We're giving you suggestions and advice based on decades of rabbit experience between us. But it's your choice whether or not you want to take that advice. Just be aware that if your two rabbits end up not being compatible personalities, and the situation escalates into a fight, very serious injuries can occur, that could either result in a very expensive vet trip to stitch up an injury, injuries causing permanent damage like a torn ear, or injuries that can even be fatal to one of the rabbits. It does and can happen, even between sibling bunnies.

Here are just a few past threads on fights breaking out between unfixed siblings as they matured and the hormones started up.

https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/sisters-fighting-help.85642/
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/help-young-rabbit-siblings-fighting.97412/
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/brothers-no-more.83914/

Like should I rehome one of them before it's too late?