3.5 Month Old Humping Bunny Problem!

[fitchik]

I have2 femaledwarf bunnies who are 3.5 months old. Coco Puff used to be the runt and now has grown MUCH bigger than her sister Lil Fluff. They both eat plenty. Anyhow, a few days ago Coco Puff learned how to hump and won't stop trying to hump her sister who runs away to escape in their cage.

I read I should wait until they are around 6 months old to get them spayed. Is there anything I should be doing until then? I feel bad that Lil Fluff is being harassed by her sister all the time.

Thanks for the help in this topic

 

[Numbat]

Welcome to the forum!

I will leave other more experienced rabbit owners to answer your question but I would like to say that from your avatar your bunnies are gorgeous!

 

[Maureen Las]

You should separate them until after they are spayed but keep them living next to each other so that you can rebond them after their spays. yes it is best to wait until about 6 months to spay a female.

it isn't good for the one girl to be harassed by her sister who is just really getting dominant and hormonal

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Welcome to the forum! I agree, your bunnies are really cute and I like their names. Are you sure you have two girl bunnies? Baby rabbits are notoriously hard to sex... I got 5 of my rabbits as youngsters and if you can believe it, 4 of them were missexed at some point. Coco Puff could be humping because she's actually a boy and is reaching sexual maturity, in which case keeping him with his sister definitely wouldn't be advisable.

 

[BlueGiants]

It's not unusual for two does to hump each other, it is a dominance issue. BUT (big but!) the first thing I'd do is double check the sexes. Snowy is right, it's easy to be mistaken when they are babies.

Either way, I'd separate them until they are spayed (or neutered). Keep them next to each other and re-bond after they heal from surgery. You don't want one getting hurt or bitten... and you don't want the submissive one to become shy and withdrawn.

 

[fitchik]

Thank you all for taking time to answer my post! I have checked them both 3 times and still look like girls. The smaller of the two (Lil Puff) has always been the "mother" figure, always washes the other, etc. The now-bigger one Coco Puff has always been more of the "kid" (a bit of a crazy personality but still sweet). Reguardless, they both are inseperable and do most thing together and always sleep next to eachother. The only time there is an issue is when Coco Puff decides to hump, which isa new thing.

If I do need to get another cage, any suggestions on where to get a super cheap one since I'm on a huge budget?

Thanks again for helping! )

 

[SOOOSKA]

You should build one out of the NIC cubes. Very cheap and you can make them any size.

Alos try Craigs list, and Kijiji (not sure if you have Kijiji in the States though).

Susan

ps

I'd love to see more pictures of your 2 little cuties.

 

[maherwoman]

One other thing that might be worth noting: dwarf/smaller breeds mature quicker. I'm not saying they'll be safe to spay earlier...but they will mature sexually earlier, and be quicker to act hormonal sooner than the larger breeds.

I know my Maisie started acting hormonal at that age! And she's a dwarf MIX!

((HUGS)) to you and the buns! And welcome to the forum!!

Rosie*

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Fitchik, what exactly do you do when you check them to see if they're a girl or a boy? Do you just look to see if they have testicles, or do you press over their anus to see what pops out? Keep in mind that something pops out with both genders. From what I understand, boy bunnies can kind of pull in their testicles and they're so furry down there anyway.

Here's a link to how to sex your rabbits:
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml

If what pops out looks like a little tube with a hole in the center (like a donut), it's a boy. If what pops out has a slit in the center instead of a hole (like a hard shell taco), it's a girl. Also keep in mind that those are photos of adult rabbits, your bunnies will be a little different. I really wish I could find the web site that I used to sex Phoebe Mae. The people I got her from insisted she was a boy and her brother was a girl, but just by looking at the photos on the other web site I knew they were wrong.

I hope you do have two girls and one's just feeling dominant, but I just want to make sure that girls are really what you have so you aren't faced with a really young doe being pregnant. Cinnabun's testicles didn't become obvious until he was at least 4 months old, and he was humping another rabbit well before then for whatever reason.

 

[fitchik]

Hi there. I just looked at the website you referred me to and both the girls and boys partskinda look the same....both can have a protruding bump. I looked more closely at Cocoa's, and there is a bump, but it looks like one of the pics both the male and femalereferrance pics. I still have no clue. It's hard because Cocoa is a baby and a dwarf. I did take a pic, so if anyone might be able to tell from a pic, I will email it to you.

Why can't bunnies just have an inni or outtie like human babies

Thanks!

 

[maherwoman]

LOL...innie or outie...too cute, and good point! I swear they do it so they can make more babies, lol!

At any rate, feel free to email the pic to me. I'll PM you my email addy.

Edited to add: Just realized, my email address is in my profile information. Email away!

 

[fitchik]

I just did another look and Cocoa may just be a boy...it's a little protrudding thing with a tiny tiny little circle inside, no slit. Once again though, Cocoa's genitals are so tiny that it's hard to tell.

Cocoa used to be so much smaller then her sister Lil Fluff when I got them at 8 weeks old. Cocoa is now double the weight of her sister at 3.5 months. So, perhaps she is a he since I'm sure boys grow larger than girls:-(.

I haven't seen them hump for two days, but should I now buy a new cage and seperate them for 2 months until they are old enough to get them fixed? I don't want them to be lonely since they have been joined by the hip since birth.

...so much for my two little "girl" bunnies...

PS. I really appreciate all your help forum members I'm a new "mom" and I'm learning!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

It sounds likely that Cocoa could be a boy! Boys definitely have a little hole versus a slit. When we went to get Phoebe Mae, we wanted a girl and were handed one of Phoebe's siblings who they said was a girl. They said Phoebs was a boy. We were about to buy the sibling when I decided to check the sex. Sure enough, the bunny had a little hole on his "protrusion" rather than a slit. So I picked up Phoebe and checked her, and she had a little slit. This was my first time sexing rabbits and the babies were only 8 weeks old, but on these babies at least the differences between the sexes was clear enough. The vet assured me the next day that she was a girl. Phoebe Mae is almost 10 months old now and definitely all girl

It probably would be best to separate Cocoa and Fluff. Even if you can't tell for sure if Cocoa is a boy, you can at least compare him/her to Fluff. If they look the same down there, well, ya know they're the same sex. If they look different then separation is in order, regardless of which is the boy and which is the girl!