"Neutered" bunny still has balls!

[sammyjp27]

So we have two gorgeous sibling dwarf bunnies called Misha (girl) and Meeko (boy). We adopted them from a rescue about 6 months ago and they are about 15 months old. They had both been neutered/spayed by the rescue when they were 4-5 months old... or so we thought! We had a bit of a surprise the other day at the vets when we went to get their vaccines. For a while now Meeko has been very honky and humpy towards his sister, he also occasionally flicks his pee everywhere. We were obviously very confused at this behaviour but they seemed bonded other than that and we just put it down to spring fever or potentially him being neutered when he was very young and some of his testicles being missed and still producing hormones. While we were at the vets we decided to ask if he could just do a quick check just in case he still had some remnants. We were very shocked to hear that he has two fully functioning and healthy testicles! We called the rescue and they were very shocked and think what must have happened is that because they took a litter of 10 in to get done that he must have just accidentally been missed. So yeah, we've booked him in for his op in a few weeks after the second round of jabs has been done, and the rescue has got a refund from their vets and kindly paid for the new op.
We have since had to split up him and his sister because he just constantly chases her around and flicks pee on her and it's really not fair on her. She's such a good little bun bun but it's got to the point where she just doesn't want to be near him anymore. Even if he walks over gently to her she still runs away because she is expecting to be humped.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before? Have you got any tips for rebonding the two of them once he has had his op? We are really scared that this will have become a learned behaviour for both of them now and that they will never go back to being happy in each other's company. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Abi :)]

So we have two gorgeous sibling dwarf bunnies called Misha (girl) and Meeko (boy). We adopted them from a rescue about 6 months ago and they are about 15 months old. They had both been neutered/spayed by the rescue when they were 4-5 months old... or so we thought! We had a bit of a surprise the other day at the vets when we went to get their vaccines. For a while now Meeko has been very honky and humpy towards his sister, he also occasionally flicks his pee everywhere. We were obviously very confused at this behaviour but they seemed bonded other than that and we just put it down to spring fever or potentially him being neutered when he was very young and some of his testicles being missed and still producing hormones. While we were at the vets we decided to ask if he could just do a quick check just in case he still had some remnants. We were very shocked to hear that he has two fully functioning and healthy testicles! We called the rescue and they were very shocked and think what must have happened is that because they took a litter of 10 in to get done that he must have just accidentally been missed. So yeah, we've booked him in for his op in a few weeks after the second round of jabs has been done, and the rescue has got a refund from their vets and kindly paid for the new op.
We have since had to split up him and his sister because he just constantly chases her around and flicks pee on her and it's really not fair on her. She's such a good little bun bun but it's got to the point where she just doesn't want to be near him anymore. Even if he walks over gently to her she still runs away because she is expecting to be humped.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before? Have you got any tips for rebonding the two of them once he has had his op? We are really scared that this will have become a learned behaviour for both of them now and that they will never go back to being happy in each other's company. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Bonding varies between buns, so my advice may or may not work for you and your buns. But personally I would recommend keeping your male away from your female for around a month after the surgery so his hormones can calm down (of course this is up to you but it may help you male rabbit's behaviour around your female). Then after a month has past you can keep their enclosures near to each other or if that isn't possible then you could swap their toys and litter boxes (or even areas!) so they get used to each others scent again. Then it is up to you you could try bunny dates or something like 24/7 bonding. For bunny dates you can start small, maybe in a small x-pen? It has to be in a neutral area though otherwise the buns may get territorial and this may cause fights. Personally I would recommend you sitting in the pen or if that isn't possible be next to the area so you can break up any fights. Veggies are a great way to bond, you could try putting both the buns in the pen around their veggie time and place the veggies in the middle so they can eat together (some buns can be food protective so they might take a piece of food and run off and eat in the corner but as long as they aren't fighting that should be okay). I would recommend you have gloves and a large dustpan just in case you need to separate their fights you won't get bitten. You can continue bunny dating and keep them in the neutral pen for longer periods of time as they get more comfortable with each other, eventually if you are confident that they have fully bonded you can try extending the pen space (keeping it in the neutral area) so they get more space, you can begin to add toys, litter boxes, hay and other necessities so it would be as if they live together, you could even start to leave them together overnight (but only do this if you are 100% certain they are bonded). Eventually you can place them back into their old enclosure (or wherever they were living together previously) but before you do this I would recommend fully cleaning their area, using vinegar and water so neither of them get territorial over the area.

If you'd like further advice you can watch the videos below-



Even though the rabbits in the video below are two females her techniques could be helpful-


Hope this helps! (Sorry it is so long!)

 

[zuppa]

So we have two gorgeous sibling dwarf bunnies called Misha (girl) and Meeko (boy). We adopted them from a rescue about 6 months ago and they are about 15 months old. They had both been neutered/spayed by the rescue when they were 4-5 months old... or so we thought! We had a bit of a surprise the other day at the vets when we went to get their vaccines. For a while now Meeko has been very honky and humpy towards his sister, he also occasionally flicks his pee everywhere. We were obviously very confused at this behaviour but they seemed bonded other than that and we just put it down to spring fever or potentially him being neutered when he was very young and some of his testicles being missed and still producing hormones. While we were at the vets we decided to ask if he could just do a quick check just in case he still had some remnants. We were very shocked to hear that he has two fully functioning and healthy testicles! We called the rescue and they were very shocked and think what must have happened is that because they took a litter of 10 in to get done that he must have just accidentally been missed. So yeah, we've booked him in for his op in a few weeks after the second round of jabs has been done, and the rescue has got a refund from their vets and kindly paid for the new op.
We have since had to split up him and his sister because he just constantly chases her around and flicks pee on her and it's really not fair on her. She's such a good little bun bun but it's got to the point where she just doesn't want to be near him anymore. Even if he walks over gently to her she still runs away because she is expecting to be humped.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before? Have you got any tips for rebonding the two of them once he has had his op? We are really scared that this will have become a learned behaviour for both of them now and that they will never go back to being happy in each other's company. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Hi! Yes I have a bonded pair she is spayed more than 6 months ago and he was neutered just 5 weeks ago, I never separated them since she has her little hides and she's good at hiding and she generally is very brave girl and she doesn't mind she grooms him and all, so he is still spraying but not that much, and he finally stopped humping, at least I've seen him humping quite a long time ago maybe more than a week or two. So he's getting better definitely.

It is advised that you wait 6-8 weeks after neutering because males are still active and even can get pregnant a female up to 4 weeks after neutering, but in your case since she is already spayed I wouldn't separate them probably just would make more hidey places for her so she could feel safe there. He should stop spraying/humping after a few weeks.

I have another bonded pair I've tried bonding them first time 8 weeks after his surgery but he kept spraying her and humping so I separated them and waited another month then bonded them and this time was excellent.

You know your situation better, if you separate them now it is okay too, you will need to rebond them after he is ready, so if you go that way it would be best to limit their space for now so no one of them free roam because they can get territorial with another 'new' rabbit in their turf.

What I do before bonding I keep them separately in smaller cages (like 100x50cm) and fully separated from each other so they can't see or smell each other, for a few weeks. We interact and they completely forget each other. Then I start bonding process from zero in a small totally new place to both so they are both foreign to it and it works most of time.

Again, you see your situation best and you will go way you choose, please keep us updated and good luck!

 

[sammyjp27]

Thanks for your replies We have him booked in for his op on the 13th July. We've been keeping them separated for the majority of the time just to give her a bit of a break from the humping. They have both actually got on very well on their own. We swap them between their enclosures every couple of days so they stay used to each other and we also let them in with each other occasionally just to say hello. When he gets humpy we just separate them again. They don't seem to have lost their bond at all and have sometimes even groomed each other through the bars of the puppy pen we use to separate them. Hopefully once he has had his op and a few weeks have gone by then we can let them be in each other's company full time again. We are thinking to start with a small enclosure because at the moment it seems to be learned behaviour for her to run away from him, so we are hoping that if we start small she will learn that he has calmed down now.