Introducing my two buns to each other....questions!

[texasreb]

I have a 3-4 year old recently neutered male rabbit and a 1 year old recently spayed female rabbit. I've had Jasper (the male) for about two years. I was given SnoBall (the female) in December. They've been caged side by side since her arrival.

SnoBunny was spayed in March of this year and Jasper was neutered in April. I've been doing introductions in a neutral outdoor 10'x 10' dog kennel. It's been going well enough, I think. I've hauled their individual cages into the play area and let them go. I had towels, gloves, a water bottle, a broom and a dust pan to break them up in the event of a fight. There has been no fighting at all. Lots of mutual chasing and sniffing. And lots of humping on Jasper's part--he humps the front, the side the back--where ever. She tolerates it for a few seconds and then hops off. They ignore each other for a bit and then back to sniff, chase, hump. Each meet and greet has lasted about 10 to 30 minutes. Today, I left them alone in the pen for 45 minutes while I sat outside the door.

My question is: when will the humping stop? SnoBunny seems over it. She doesn't seem distressed by it, but neither is she thrilled with it. She's ready to move on. Jasper just wants to hump and chase.

Am I doing anything wrong?

 

[Ptbunny8087]

I am doing the same thing as you are. I have a neutered male and a female. They do the same thing as yours do. It only goes on for about a couple days or untill they know they cant do anything. If they are in a small area together they may hump. If you have them in a larger area they will be fine. For me to see I do see anything you are doing wrong.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

If bucks are anything like horses, he may always be "studdy" due to being castrated later in life, and may never stop that behavior.

In any case, it takes at least 30 days for all of the sperm in the vas deferens (ducts coming from the testes to the penis) to die. He probably still has quite a bit of testosterone in his system as well.

All in all, it sounds like they are doing well together!

I have never owned spayed/neutered rabbits, but many of our members have. I am sure you will get their input shortly.

:hi: to RabbitTalk! Glad to have you aboard!

 

[DarayTala]

I've introduced spayed and neutered rabbits before. It is mostly likely just a show of dominance. I've had my female bunnies just as likely to persistently hump during introductions if they are more dominant then the male. My recommendation would be to leave them alone for longer, but make sure they have a few tunnels big enough for one to hide in from the other. I've used everything from old bookshelves, speaker boxes, small cabinets, and so on, to make tunnels. I think the humping is persistent because they are only together for a short bit, not enough to truly establish a pecking order, and then separate again, so when together the next time it all starts over. When I've created rabbit colonies, it has taken a few days for them to settle down. With trying to bond fixed rabbits I've always found that if left together, after about a week or two of scuffling or humping they relax. The important thing it to just let them do their thing and only separate if any real fighting or injury occurs. Even a little nipping and fur pulling is fine as long as they don't draw blood. You can tell when they get into a dangerous fight because instead of one running, they become an furious rolling ball of fur. That's when you get the gloves on and separate for a while. I hope this helps, and best of luck!

 

[texasreb]

Thank you all for the responses! They help tremendously!

I was following a written protocol from a pet forum which indicated that I should initially put the two rabbits together for brief periods of time--and if all goes well; gradually lengthen the time they are together. Since they are not fighting, I think I'll leave them together for several hours today.

Unfortunately, they will have to bond on my <work> schedule! I don't want to leave them unsupervised while I am not near until I'm sure that they will not harm one another.

Thanks again for the advice and tips.