humping issue

[Luluznewz]

Hey,

So this is kind of an awkward question but whatever. Both my rabbits are fixed and over a year old. Zeppelin, the male, has recently started humping Lulu. Its not like, all the time or anything, but it does happen enough that im posting about it.

For almost everything that doesnt seem to result in real harm I just let them work it out, but I am a bit concerned. Lulu really doesnt seem to like it. Sometimes she will run away and he will chase her around the cage. Other times she doesnt hop away but make a pretty upsetting squeaking noise and grinds her teeth.

That being said, she has never actually bitten / attacked him because of it. Neither of them ever really seem to be hurt, but I dont know If I should try to stop him, or if I would even be able to. I feel bad that she doesnt like it, but I'm not sure if intervention is possible / advisable. Thoughts?

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

He is doing it to show her who is boss. Are your bunnies free roaming and how big is your cage setup? You might have an issue if they feel there cage is not big enough.

 

[LakeCondo]

Yes, giving more space should help. Too bad she can't take karate lessons, lol. But then he'd learn too & ....

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Dominance display. Even females do it.

 

[ZRabbits]

Nancy McClelland wrote:

Dominance display. Even females do it.

:yeahthat:

 

[Luluznewz]

Yeah I thought it was a dominance thing. I did actually move them into a slightly smaller cage while i was remodeling the other one. That could be it. So I take it you guys dont think I should be trying to stop them?

 

[MILU]

I don't know about stopping them.. but definitely give them plenty of space, maybe if they can roam free for as long and as far as they want, they'l forget about it and act normal again

 

[LakeCondo]

I was hoping you could give them more space & then it wouldn't be an issue, especially if there was a place for her to hide that there wasn't room for both of them in.

But if it still goes on, the only real way to stop it would be to separate them, so only you can decide if that becomes necessary.