I carefully examined Eowyn's genitals and confirmed that she was female-- or, at least, I was fairly certain that she was. Still, to double-check, I called her original breeder and asked for advice. As it turns out, females frequently hump one another at the time that they reach puberty; it is their way of asserting dominance without any bloody battles.
If your female rabbit has begun humping another doe, it's likely that they're simply involved in a mild argument over territory or dominance. If it continues for more than a few days, you may need to separate them to prevent a serious fight. Most of the time, mounting or "humping" behavior in does is very temporary and will not last long.
There is, however, another possibility behind your female rabbit displaying "humping" behavior. Your rabbit's sex may have been mis-identified, especially if you got "her" at a young age or from a breeder who did not examine her carefully enough. If your rabbit is male, you need to know this as quickly as possible to prevent an unwanted litter of kits.
To accurately determine the sex of your rabbit, press gentle on each side of its vent area. If it is male, a pointy tube with a hole at the end will protrude. If it is female, a smaller wedge-shaped organ will protrude. Un-neutered males also usually have palpable testicles, which descend between 9 and 20 weeks of age. These appear as sagging bags on each side of his vent area. There's nothing pleasant about sexing a rabbit, it's necessary to make sure that your female rabbit is, in fact, a female.
Is it safe to keep the male and female together after the babies are born....will he harm the litter....all the searches I've done on this no results....
ReplyDeleteNo it is not safe. A male rabbit may harm or even eat parts of the baby bunnies. He is still territorial and doesn't care that that are babies. Also remember his goal is to mate, and your doe may become pregnant again right after giving birth. In some cases, the mom will eat parts of the bunny due to stress or keeping the dad from harming them. Please remove the dad, because if the mom becomes aggressive to protect the bunnies, they can be injured during the commotion.
DeleteI am glad to see that my Rex is not the only one. However, mine are much younger and are siblings. I'm going to separate them as soon as possible and see if the mounting continues when they get play time. If it does then a trip to our local bunny savvy vet will be in order for a double check and possible spay/nute. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteHi one of my doe is mounting other female rabbits and i thought she is on heat. When i put her with the buck she is morning and won't allowing buck. Is she pregnant.she was with the male rabbits in last month.
ReplyDeleteMy rabbit has twice when I’m sleeping started nibbling at the back of my hair then pounces on my similar to humongous. She nibbled on my ear. It felt like she was showing dominance, I carefully pushed her off as I had no idea how she would react if I was aggressive and she simply ruffled a minute and bounced around. When she did it I locked her in the kennel. Is this common? I was a little freaked the first time. My small Maltese dog used to do that also to my let’s and foot. My vet said to hold her down on her back gently until she submitted. I don’t think can do that with Dottie. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteOk not homogenous but humping.
ReplyDelete